NBA Draft: adding perspective to Kristaps Porzingis workout hype

Kristaps Porzingis is an impressive physical specimen to watch and certainly brings NBA-caliber athleticism, but open gym workouts must be taken at face value.

Kristaps Porzingis is capable of a lot athletically. When he finishes, his head is level with the rim, his arms extended high over it. He can comfortably lace his way around the arc and drill three-pointers with a pretty, fluid stroke. All of the tools are there for Kristaps to be an impressive NBA player.

But tools are just tools, and it has to be remembered that Porzingis is working in a controlled environment with a dictated gym workout featured on Draft Express. This is not game play, and he is not encountering actual defenders in these drills. It shows the raw outline of a player who can be imposing with his athleticism who has feathery soft shooting touch.

However, for all of these features to take form into an NBA talent it requires a lot more than just being able to run the floor, dunk and shoot threes. The NBA is a mental grind, and it is a club of the most elite 400 players on the planet.

Next: An Impressive Workout