Brad Beal takes sky-high stock to NBA combine
Thursday, June 7, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The NBA, in taking a cue from “The King” (a.k.a. the NFL), is televising its draft combine -- not 60 hours worth, mind you, but enough to watch workouts and interview executives -- so I tuned in Thursday to see if a could get a look at Brad Beal.
Remember him?
By all accounts, the first Gator freshman ever to be named first-team All-Southeastern Conference is a rock-solid high pick. And when we say “high” we mean maybe even as high as any player not named Anthony Davis can go.
That would be second to the Charlotte Bobcats (hopefully not, for Beal's sake), third to the Washington Wizards (they need scoring while rebuilding around youth and character), fourth to the Cleveland Cavaliers (could put him alongside point guard Kyrie Irving) or sixth to the Portland Trailblazers (perimeter scoring wanted).
Note: I passed the Sacramento Kings at No. 5 because I think they'll go big.
Beal, the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder, bypassed the shooting guard group workouts Thursday at the University of Illinois-Chicago. When you're stock is already as high as his, the only direction to go on draft boards is south.
But check out the below video, courtesy of the folks at SlamOnLine.com, of Beal's one-on-one session.
Watching it, Florida fans, you won't be able to help yourselves but go back to wondering -- as you did while “Real Deal Beal” pondered whether to turn pro -- how good the 2012-13 Gators would have been had No. 23 returned for his sophomore season.
