Former Tennessee guard and Nashville native Chaz Lanier earned the attention of the NBA world this week with a remarkable on-court performance during Tuesday’s NBA Combine workout in Chicago.
Lanier posted the second-highest shooting percentage during on-court drills at 77%, right below Alabama’s Mark Sears at 83%. The 6-foot-4 guard was not only able to show off his sharp shooting from different spots on the court, but the drill was the perfect event to highlight his crisp shooting form and quick release.
Chaz Lanier 3-point spot shooting drill at the NBA draft combine pic.twitter.com/GsICsa8t6o
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 13, 2025
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Lanier also had some top-notch measureables at 6’3 3/4″, 205.8 lbs with a 6’9″ wingspan, an 8’5 1/2″ standing reach, and the third-highest vertical jump amongst participants at 39.00″.
Prior to the NBA Combine and Lanier’s flamethrower performance, two prominent organizations had the former Vol tagged as a fairly early second-round draft pick in the low 40s. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo had Lanier going No. 42 overall to the Sacramento Kings via a trade with the Bulls, while Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman slotted Lanier at No. 41 to the Golden State Warriors via a trade with the Heat.
That was before the combine, though.
After the results he posted during Tuesday’s workouts (and if he continues down the same path during five-on-five scrimmages at the end of the week), Lanier could be a great candidate to move up in the draft. Former Arkansas guard Boogie Fland’s withdrawal from the NBA Draft pool and transfer to Florida also takes away a bit of competition for Lanier’s range, as Wasserman had him going 39th to the Toronto Raptors.
It won’t be easy to climb that many spots with the talent around him, but Lanier has stood out to scouts, executives, and reporters this week. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello tagged Lanier as one of the five standout players from Tuesday’s on-court drill session.
“We knew Lanier would look like one of the best shooters entering the combine, and that carried over Tuesday,” Borzello wrote. “He has been one of the premier perimeter shotmakers in college basketball over the past two seasons, making 44% of his 3s in 2023-24 at North Florida and 39.5% last season at Tennessee. He finished in the top five in all three 3-point shooting drills, and his touch and agility also caught the eyes of scouts. He had the fifth-fastest time in the pro lane agility drill, the third-highest no-step vertical leap and the fourth-highest max vertical leap.”
We’ll have to keep monitoring the storylines and movement at the NBA Combine until it closes on the 18th, but it certainly looks like Chaz Lanier has some rising stock through his workouts so far.
The 2025 NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, Jun. 25, at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Tennessee Basketball Draft Picks Under Rick Barnes
- 2019 – Grant Williams – Boston Celtics // No. 22
- 2019 – Admiral Schofield – Washington Wizards via Philadelphia // No. 42
- 2019 – Jordan Bone – Detroit Pistons via New Orleans // No. 58
- 2021 – Keon Johnson – Los Angeles Clippers via New York // No. 21
- 2021 – Jaden Springer – Philadelphia 76ers // No. 28
- 2022 – Kennedy Chandler – Memphis Grizzlies via San Antonio // No. 38
- 2023 – Julian Phillips – Chicago Bulls via Boston // No. 35
- 2024 – Dalton Knecht – Los Angeles Lakers // No. 17
