NBA invites 13 prospects to draft green room

Those players are as follows, sorted by their rank on ESPN’s big board:

1. Cooper Flagg (Duke)
2. Dylan Harper (Rutgers)
3. Ace Bailey (Rutgers)
4. V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor)
5. Tre Johnson (Texas)
6. Khaman Maluach (Duke)
7. Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)
8. Kon Knueppel (Duke)
9. Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois)
10. Egor Demin (BYU)
11. Carter Bryant (Arizona)
12. Derik Queen (Maryland)
13. Asa Newell (Georgia)

As Givony observes, 12 of the top 13 players on ESPN’s board have received invitations so far, with the only exception being French forward Noa Essengue, who comes in at No. 9. The 18-year-old is still playing in Germany for Ratiopharm Ulm as the team vies for a spot in the Basketball Bundesliga Finals.

Essengue’s season could be over as soon as later this week, in which case he’d have no problem attending the draft and would likely get a green room invite. However, it’s also possible his season might extend beyond June 25 (day one of the draft) if Ulm makes the BBL Finals and the series requires the maximum five games — in that scenario, Game 5 would be played on June 26.

Another 11 green room invitations are expected to be sent out to prospects prior to the draft, a source tells Givony. The players invited to the green room can usually feel pretty confident about their chances to be first-round picks, since the league only decides who to invite after asking teams to vote on the 25 prospects they expect to come off the board first.

Still, there are occasionally instances in which players in the green room slip further than expected. Last season, Givony notes, Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy received green room invites but weren’t selected until the second round, which was held a day later for the first time.