NBA Draft: NBA Draft Combine A Week Away

The NBA Draft Combine will be held in Chicago from May 11-18, and much of it will be televised on ESPN. The combine will have 75 players attending the event, including the top prospects in this year’s draft. We will get the official measurements of all 75 players while also watching many of them play in the scrimmages, which will be the first look at them in an NBA setting.

This is a great opportunity for prospects to get a final chance at boosting their draft stock and we have seen that happen in this event many times in the past. If a player measures exceptionally well or excels in the athletic drills that some scouts weren’t aware of, then that could certainly get their name higher on draft boards. Although the combine has the ability to help a prospect's draft stock, it also has the ability to hurt their draft stock as well.

If a prospect that wasn’t seen as much at the college level or is a non-college player, then getting exposure in the scrimmages could be a big deciding factor on how scouts see how they compare to the rest of the field.

For example, Leonard Miller was an interesting case several years back after his G League Ignite days. He was the youngest player eligible for the draft and looked like he had a lot of potential. Unfortunately for him, he performed poorly in scrimmages, and scouts advised him to wait a year before making that transition to the NBA. Ultimately, that was a great idea because he ended up getting drafted in the second round that following year by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

At the same time, we shouldn’t put too much stock into these scrimmages or shooting drills because a bigger sample size of stats, the eye test, and legitimate history is much more important than two games in an NBA pickup-like setting. It’s always good to have a good balance when watching these games.

The main thing many scouts look for when watching these players in the scrimmages is if they can show us anything they haven’t already shown us in college or overseas. For example, if a player shot zero 3-pointers in college, but came to the combine and made multiple 3-pointers and looked comfortable shooting from the outside, then that could really boost a player's stock and open a whole new dimension to their game.

In these scrimmages, don’t expect the top prospects to play as most of them don’t want to risk an injury or risk affecting their draft stock. So, someone like Cooper Flagg has no business competing, but he will be forced to take part in the measurements and athletic drills due to NBA rules. 

It will be a long week for these guys as they will have countless interviews with the media, NBA organizations, and many others. On top of interviews they have a lot of other activities they will participate in as touched on above. Outside of the combine, the NBA Draft Lottery will also be held next week, so a lot is happening at once. Everyone should stay tuned and be ready for a big week of NBA Draft festivities.