Sixers Work Out Meyers Leonard Two Days Before NBA Draft

Last weekend I ranked all 33 prospects the Philadelphia 76ers have worked out. On Tuesday, they conducted one final workout, involving two players – one of which is projected to go in the lottery. The scoop, according to Tom Moore:

Former St. Joe's big man Todd O'Brien joined Meyers Leonard at Tuesday's #Sixers workout.

— Tom Moore (@tmoorepburbs) June 26, 2012

Tuesday's workout – the final workout before Thursday's draft – increases the prospect count to 35. I profiled the first 33 over the past few weeks, which you can find in our '2012 NBA Draft' section of the blog. Now, I'll finish it off by briefly writing about the two guys they had in for a workout today, which you will find after the jump, along with an updated ranking of all 35 prospects.

Meyers Leonard

I like me some Meyers Leonard, and I'm very pleased the Sixers had him in for a late workout. I've already seen a lot of Sixers fans look at his skin color and write him off immediately, which is an extremely lazy thing to do, if you ask me.

The intrigue with Leonard begins with his size. He stands an easy 7'1" in shoes, with a wingspan of 7'3" – a frame equipped with a solid 250 pounds of muscle (5.7 percent body fat). And his 19 reps on the bench were among the most in his class.

Leonard is also a tad more athletic than most white center prospects fans are quick to compare him to. Check out his athletic testing numbers compared to the most common guys I see him associated with:

(Other things of note: Leonard had the lowest body fat percentage of the four. He was also the strongest of the four, by far. Leonard is 7'1", 250, with 5.7 percent body fat, with 19 reps on the bench. Coming out of Washington, Spencer Hawes was 7'1", 244, with 13 percent body fat, and only nine reps on the bench – big difference).

Now that we have the 'you can't teach size' and the 'yeah, he's white, so' portions of this write-up out of the way, we can proceed with the actual basketball aspect of it.

Leonard has the potential to be a very good overall defender, which includes: a man-to-man post defender, pick and roll defender and weak-side shot blocker. He's also shown the ability to be an above average rebounder in college – a skill that typically translates to the pros.

Offensively, Leonard's upside is a bit questionable, but from day one he should be able to convert at the rim off both pick n' rolls, as well as alley-oops – two attributes the Sixers desperately need from at least one of their big men.

There's a lot to like about Leonard. He fills almost every glaring need, and if he falls, he very well be the most talented player available when the Sixers pick at 15. He has a modest amount of upside.

He's generally projected to go at the back end of the lottery, but could very well fall to the Sixers. I wouldn't mind if the Sixers selected him one bit.

(Here's a good scouting video on Leonard.)

(FWIW, one of my favorite draftniks compared Leonard to Tyson Chandler and Samuel Dalembert.)

Todd O'Brien

Who? Exactly. He was just brought in as someone for Leonard to work out against.

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There you have it. The Sixers have officially worked out 35 players, and all three of their picks (15, 45, 54) will probably come from this list. Here's my updated rankings. Remember, these rankings are SIXERS-SPECIFIC – that's important to keep in mind – meaning I've taken need, short-term fit and long-term fit into consideration.

1. John Henson: ESPN (13), DX (11)
2. Meyers Leonard ESPN (16), DX (25)
3. Terrence Ross: ESPN (15), DX (16)
4. Perry Jones III: ESPN (11), DX (24)
5. Tyler Zeller: ESPN (14), DX (12)
6. Kyle O'Quinn: ESPN (36), DX (42)
7. Doron Lamb: ESPN (34), DX (21)
8. Andrew Nicholson: ESPN (25), DX (32)
9. Terrence Jones: ESPN (12), DX (10)
10. Arnett Moultrie: ESPN (19), DX (26)
11. Quincy Miller: ESPN (21), DX (19)
12. Moe Harkless: ESPN: (20), DX (17)
13. Marquis Teague: ESPN: (23), DX (28)
14. Darius Johnson-Odom: ESPN (57), DX (46)
15. Scott Machado: ESPN (37), DX (80)
16. Kim English: ESPN (62), DX (54)
17. Hollis Thompson: ESPN (45), DX (59)
18. Mike Scott: ESPN (47), DX (55)
19. Michael Eric: ESPN (UR), DX (UR)
20. Henry Sims: ESPN (42), DX (61)
21. Tu Holloway: ESPN (49), DX (49)
22. John Shurna : ESPN (75), DX (70)
23. Alex Young: ESPN (64), DX (94)
24. Terrell Stoglin: ESPN (67), DX (75)
25. Zack Rosen: ESPN (81), DX (85)
26. Herb Pope: ESPN (94), DX (73)
27. Renardo Sidney: ESPN (96), DX (100)
28. Ricardo Ratliffe: ESPN (66), DX (72)
29. Mindaugas Kupsas: ESPN (UR), DX (UR)
30. Temi Adebayo: ESPN (UR), DX (UR)
31. Maalik Wayns: ESPN (101), DX (74)
32. Scoop Jardine: ESPN (UR), DX (UR)
33. Terrence Henry: ESPN (UR), DX (UR)
34. Dominic Cheek: ESPN (112), DX (UR)
35. Todd O'Brien: ESPN (UR), DX (UR)