NBA Draft

NBA Saturday: Draft Combine Notebook

Basketball Insiders was in Chicago for the 2014 NBA Draft Combine. Here are some news and notes from the week.

Published

7 years ago

May 17, 2014

The 2014 NBA Draft Combine wrapped up yesterday in Chicago. Throughout the week, players completed medical testing, athletic drills, team interviews and media sessions.

Basketball Insiders was in the building and here were some of the storylines that surfaced in recent days:

• The biggest story of the combine was the introduction of Dante Exum. The 18-year-old did a terrific job dealing with the media and interviewing with teams. Over the last few days, everyone was raving about Exum and complimenting his maturity. For many teams, this was their first time meeting Exum, since the only opportunities to see him prior to this week were at the 2012 adidas Nations tournament, 2013 Nike Hoops Summit and FIBA U-19 2013 tournament. Exum met with team after team, including some that are outside of the lottery and were just curious to meet the Australian phenom.

Exum measured in at 6’6 with a 6′9.5 wingspan and 8’7 standing reach, proving that his height and length are just as impressive as rumored. Not to mention, he finished in the top 10 in all of the speed-related athletic drills. Exum really blew people away with how he handled interviews, with the media and teams. He is incredibly down to earth and friendly, and he really won some people over during those sessions. While Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid were at home, Exum was creating a lot of buzz and plenty of teams around the league.

• The 30-minute team interviews are probably the most important part of the combine. Sure, teams look at the measurements and athletic testing, but the face-to-face interviews with prospects is where they are able to learn the most about a kid. Teams ask a wide variety of questions to find out how the player thinks, whether he’s a good teammate, what he would do in certain situations, how responsible he is and what his priorities are.

Some teams ask tough questions (“If you were a few inches tall and stuck in a blender, how would you get out?”) while others just ask basic ones (“Who will you live with during your rookie year?”). Teams also ask players about their drug use, relationship with coaches, background, close friends and incidents from the past. Teams are allowed to interview 18 players. Doug McDermott, Dante Exum, Cleanthony Early, Shabazz Napier, Jarnell Stokes and Patric Young were some of the players who executives said did well in the interviews.

• Phil Jackson was in Chicago and actively involved in the New York Knicks’ interviews with players. One prospect told Basketball Insiders that after he told Jackson his wingspan, Phil didn’t believe him so he stood up and measured his wingspan against the prospect’s arms. Jackson’s wingspan was a little bit longer. Jackson was also asking players questions and providing feedback. Jackson didn’t go to the gym to watch the drills and testing (likely to avoid a media horde trying to interview him), but he was very involved in the Knicks’ pre-draft process, according to the prospects who sat down with him.

• Marcus Smart did very well at the combine, measuring in at 6′ 3.25 and 227 lbs with a 6′ 9.25 wingspan. Smart looked more like a linebacker than a point guard, to the point that it didn’t seem like he belonged in the point guard group alongside all of his skinny peers. He also did well in the athletic drills, with his 36’ max vertical and an incredible 19 bench press reps. That was tied for third-most reps of any player in attendance at the combine (only big men Patric Young and Jarnell Stokes did more) and one of the best ever bench-press performances for a point guard. It’s easy to see why teams are intrigued by Smart, with his enormous frame, potential to cause matchup problems and impressive athleticism. Smart also has an excellent work ethic. To get an idea of how much he loves the game and how hard he works, consider that he left the hotel on Thursday night to get in a late-night workout at DePaul University.

• Tyler Ennis made headlines when he said that he feels he’s the best point-guard prospect in the 2014 draft class, ahead of Dante Exum and Marcus Smart among others.

“Definitely,” Ennis said without hesitation when asked if he’s the best point guard in the class. “ I think I have the ability to lead a team, I think I have the ability to make others better and I think I’m able to put those together into a true point guard, who is also able to score when my team needs me. There are a lot of guys who can really score the ball, maybe some who can score better than me, but none that can put together the whole package as a point guard better than I can in this draft.”

Ennis said that his best NBA comparison is Tony Parker and that he grew up modeling his game after Jason Kidd. Ennis said he’s looking forward to proving he’s a top prospect and told the media that he’s going to “take names” just as he has done throughout his entire life.

• Noah Vonleh had the second-largest hands in NBA combine history, measuring in at 9.75 inches long and 11.75 inches wide. He said that he was first able to palm a basketball at “six or seven years old” and, just before interviewing with the media, Hall of Famer Wayne Embry came over and compared hand sizes. Vonleh was bigger, but not by much. The only player whose hands were larger than Vonleh’s in combine history was Greg Smith, who was in the 2011 draft class.

Mock Drafts

2020 NBA Mock Draft – The Final 60-Pick Mock

What a long and winding road the 20201 NBA Draft has been. While this draft cycle has seen its ups and down, the moment of truth if finally upon us.

Published

2 months ago

November 18, 2020

Steve Kyler

What a long and winding road the 20201 NBA Draft has been. While this draft cycle has seen its ups and down, the moment of truth if finally upon us.

Here is a final look at the 2020 Draft, and how it may play out in this final 60-pick Mock Draft of the 20202 NBA Draft process:

Mock Drafts

2020 NBA Mock Draft – First Round – 08/21/2020

The 2020 NBA Draft order is now locked in, however, there are tons of additional questions to be answered in the coming weeks. Here is a look at the first round, in this Basketball Insiders Mock Draft.

Published

5 months ago

August 21, 2020

Steve Kyler

To say the 2020 NBA Draft has been chaotic is an understatement, however with last night’s NBA Draft Lottery out of the way, things are starting to at least trend in a positive direction.

That doesn’t mean there are not challenges ahead, namely when the actual NBA Draft will take place.

There is a growing sense that the NBA and the players are going to push back the start of the next cap year, which will likely impact when and how the NBA Draft plays out.

Typically, the Draft is a major transaction window for NBA teams, and with so much unknown surrounding how the salary cap will be set, and when trades and transactions typically consummated around the draft would become official, there is a lot of uncertainty, making the 2020 NBA draft wide open on many fronts.

The hope among teams is that some clarity on all of this will surface in the coming weeks, but for now most teams are operating in uncharted waters.

With all of that in mind, here is a look at the 2020 NBA Draft First round, which will be the first of many weekly Mock Drafts we’ll be dropping all the way up to the draft, whenever that finally gets set.

The Basketball Insiders Annual Consensus Mock Drafts will begin in September, as will full 60-pick mocks starting next week, so stay tuned.

NBA Draft

NBA ANNOUNCES EARLY ENTRY CANDIDATES FOR 2020 NBA DRAFT

The National Basketball Association announced today that 205 players — 163 players from colleges and other educational institutions and 42 international players — have filed as early entry candidates for the 2020 NBA Draft

Published

9 months ago

April 29, 2020

Basketball Insiders

NEW YORK, April 28, 2020 – The National Basketball Association announced today that 205 players — 163 players from colleges and other educational institutions and 42 international players — have filed as early entry candidates for the 2020 NBA Draft presented by State Farm.

Players who have applied for early entry have the right to withdraw their names from consideration for the Draft by notifying the NBA of their decision in writing 10 days prior to the 2020 NBA Draft.

Following is the list of players from colleges and other educational institutions who have applied for early entry into the 2020 NBA Draft.

EARLY ENTRY CANDIDATES FOR 2020 NBA DRAFT

Player	School	Height	Status
Precious Achiuwa	Memphis	6-9	Freshman
Milan Acquaah	California Baptist	6-3	Junior
Jordyn Adams	Austin Peay	6-3	Freshman
Abdul Ado	Mississippi State	6-11	Junior
Ty-Shon Alexander	Creighton	6-4	Junior
Timmy Allen	Utah	6-6	Sophomore
Derrick Alston Jr.	Boise State	6-9	Junior
Cole Anthony	North Carolina	6-3	Freshman
Joel Ayayi	Gonzaga	6-5	Sophomore
Brendan Bailey	Marquette	6-8	Sophomore
Saddiq Bey	Villanova	6-8	Sophomore
Tyler Bey	Colorado	6-7	Junior
Jermaine Bishop	Norfolk State	6-1	Junior
Jomaru Brown	Eastern Kentucky	6-2	Sophomore
Marcus Burk	IUPUI	6-3	Junior
Dachon Burke Jr.	Nebraska	6-4	Junior
Jordan Burns	Colgate	6-0	Junior
Jared Butler	Baylor	6-3	Sophomore
Manny Camper	Siena	6-7	Junior
Vernon Carey Jr.	Duke	6-10	Freshman
Marcus Carr	Minnesota	6-2	Sophomore
Tamenang Choh	Brown	6-5	Junior
Kofi Cockburn	Illinois	7-0	Freshman
David Collins	South Florida	6-3	Junior
Zach Cooks	NJIT	5-9	Junior
Jalen Crutcher	Dayton	6-1	Junior
Ryan Daly	St. Joseph’s	6-5	Junior
Nate Darling	Delaware	6-5	Junior
Darius Days	LSU	6-6	Sophomore
Dexter Dennis	Wichita State	6-5	Sophomore
Lamine Diane	CSUN	6-7	Sophomore
Ayo Dosunmu	Illinois	6-5	Sophomore
Devon Dotson	Kansas	6-2	Sophomore
Nojel Eastern	Purdue	6-7	Junior
Anthony Edwards	Georgia	6-5	Freshman
CJ Elleby	Washington State	6-6	Sophomore
Mason Faulkner	Western Carolina	6-1	Junior
LJ Figueroa	St. John’s	6-6	Junior
Malik Fitts	St. Mary’s	6-8	Junior
Malachi Flynn	San Diego State	6-1	Junior
Blake Francis	Richmond	6-0	Junior
Hasahn French	St. Louis	6-7	Junior
DJ Funderburk	NC State	6-10	Junior
Both Gach	Utah	6-6	Sophomore
Alonzo Gaffney	Ohio State	6-9	Freshman
Luka Garza	Iowa	6-11	Junior
Jacob Gilyard	Richmond	5-9	Junior
Grant Golden	Richmond	6-10	Junior
Jordan Goodwin	St. Louis	6-3	Junior
Tony Goodwin II	Redemption Academy (MA)	6-6	Post-Graduate
Jayvon Graves	Buffalo	6-3	Junior
AJ Green	Northern Iowa	6-4	Sophomore
Darin Green Jr.	UCF	6-4	Freshman
Josh Green	Arizona	6-6	Freshman
Ashton Hagans	Kentucky	6-3	Sophomore
Tyrese Haliburton	Iowa State	6-5	Sophomore
Josh Hall	Moravian Prep (NC)	6-8	Post-Graduate
Rayshaun Hammonds	Georgia	6-9	Junior
Jalen Harris	Nevada	6-5	Junior
Niven Hart	Fresno State	6-5	Freshman
Aaron Henry	Michigan State	6-6	Sophomore
Jalen Hill	UCLA	6-10	Sophomore
Nate Hinton	Houston	6-5	Sophomore
Jay Huff	Virginia	7-1	Junior
Elijah Hughes	Syracuse	6-6	Junior
Feron Hunt	SMU	6-8	Sophomore
Chance Hunter	Long Beach State	6-6	Sophomore
DeJon Jarreau	Houston	6-5	Junior
Damien Jefferson	Creighton	6-5	Junior
Isaiah Joe	Arkansas	6-5	Sophomore
Dakari Johnson	Cape Fear CC (NC)	6-0	Freshman
Jalen Johnson	Louisiana	6-7	Junior
Andre Jones	Nicholls State	6-4	Junior
C.J. Jones	MTSU	6-5	Junior
Herbert Jones	Alabama	6-7	Junior
Mason Jones	Arkansas	6-5	Junior
Tre Jones	Duke	6-3	Sophomore
Corey Kispert	Gonzaga	6-7	Junior
Kameron Langley	NC A&T	6-2	Junior
AJ Lawson	South Carolina	6-6	Sophomore
Saben Lee	Vanderbilt	6-2	Junior
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	6-3	Sophomore
Matt Lewis	James Madison	6-5	Junior
Isaiah Livers	Michigan	6-7	Junior
Denzel Mahoney	Creighton	6-5	Junior
Makur Maker	Pacific Academy (CA)	7-0	Post-Graduate
Sandro Mamukelashvili	Seton Hall	6-11	Junior
Tre Mann	Florida	6-4	Freshman
Nico Mannion	Arizona	6-3	Freshman
Naji Marshall	Xavier	6-7	Junior
Kenyon Martin Jr.	IMG Academy (FL)	6-7	Post-Graduate
Remy Martin	Arizona State	6-0	Junior
Tyrese Maxey	Kentucky	6-3	Freshman
Mac McClung	Georgetown	6-2	Sophomore
Jaden McDaniels	Washington	6-9	Freshman
Isiaha Mike	SMU	6-8	Junior
Isaiah Miller	UNCG	6-0	Junior
Matt Mitchell	San Diego State	6-6	Junior
EJ Montgomery	Kentucky	6-10	Sophomore
Andrew Nembhard	Florida	6-5	Sophomore
Aaron Nesmith	Vanderbilt	6-6	Sophomore
Zeke Nnaji	Arizona	6-11	Freshman
Obadiah Noel	Massachusetts-Lowell	6-4	Junior
Jordan Nwora	Louisville	6-7	Junior
Onyeka Okongwu	USC	6-9	Freshman
Isaac Okoro	Auburn	6-6	Freshman
Elijah Olaniyi	Stony Brook	6-5	Junior
Daniel Oturu	Minnesota	6-10	Sophomore
Reggie Perry	Mississippi State	6-10	Sophomore
Filip Petrusev	Gonzaga	6-11	Sophomore
John Petty Jr.	Alabama	6-5	Junior
Nate Pierre-Louis	Temple	6-4	Junior
Xavier Pinson	Missouri	6-2	Sophomore
Yves Pons	Tennessee	6-6	Junior
Immanuel Quickley	Kentucky	6-3	Sophomore
Darius Quisenberry	Youngstown State	6-1	Sophomore
Jahmi’us Ramsey	Texas Tech	6-4	Freshman
Paul Reed Jr.	DePaul	6-9	Junior
Nick Richards	Kentucky	6-11	Junior
Colbey Ross	Pepperdine	6-1	Junior
Fatts Russell	Rhode Island	5-10	Junior
Joe Saterfield	Ranger CC (TX)	6-4	Freshman
Jayden Scrubb	John A. Logan College (IL)	6-6	Sophomore
Aamir Simms	Clemson	6-9	Junior
Ja’Vonte Smart	LSU	6-4	Sophomore
Chris Smith	UCLA	6-9	Junior
Collin Smith	UCF	6-11	Junior
Jalen Smith	Maryland	6-10	Sophomore
Justin Smith	Indiana	6-7	Junior
Mitchell Smith	Missouri	6-10	Junior
Stef Smith	Vermont	6-1	Junior
Ben Stanley	Hampton	6-6	Sophomore
Cassius Stanley	Duke	6-6	Freshman
Isaiah Stewart	Washington	6-9	Freshman
Parker Stewart	UT-Martin	6-5	Sophomore
Terry Taylor	Austin Peay	6-5	Junior
MaCio Teague	Baylor	6-3	Junior
Tyrell Terry	Stanford	6-1	Freshman
Justin Thomas	Morehead State	5-11	Junior
Ethan Thompson	Oregon State	6-5	Junior
Xavier Tillman Sr.	Michigan State	6-8	Junior
Jeremiah Tilmon	Missouri	6-10	Junior
Obi Toppin	Dayton	6-9	Sophomore
Jordan Tucker	Butler	6-7	Junior
Devin Vassell	Florida State	6-6	Sophomore
Alonzo Verge Jr.	Arizona State	6-3	Junior
Chris Vogt	Cincinnati	7-1	Junior
CJ Walker	Ohio State	6-1	Junior
Trendon Watford	LSU	6-9	Freshman
Ibi Watson	Dayton	6-5	Junior
Nick Weatherspoon	Mississippi State	6-2	Junior
Kaleb Wesson	Ohio State	6-9	Junior
Jarrod West	Marshall	5-11	Junior
Romello White	Arizona State	6-8	Junior
Kahlil Whitney	Kentucky	6-6	Freshman
DeAndre Williams	Evansville	6-9	Sophomore
Emmitt Williams	LSU	6-6	Sophomore
Keith Williams	Cincinnati	6-5	Junior
Patrick Williams	Florida State	6-8	Freshman
James Wiseman	Memphis	7-1	Freshman
Robert Woodard II	Mississippi State	6-7	Sophomore
McKinley Wright IV	Colorado	6-0	Junior
Omer Yurtseven	Georgetown	7-0	Junior

The following is the list of international players who have applied for early entry into the 2020 NBA Draft:

Player	Team/Country of Team	Height	Status
Berke Atar	MZT Skopje (Macedonia)	6-11	1999 DOB
Deni Avdija	Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)	6-8	2001 DOB
Brancou Badio	Barcelona (Spain)	6-3	1999 DOB
Darko Bajo	Split (Croatia)	6-10	1999 DOB
Philippe Bayehe	Roseto (Italy)	6-9	1999 DOB
Marek Blazevic	Rytas (Lithuania)	6-10	2001 DOB
Adrian Bogucki	Radom (Poland)	7-1	1999 DOB
Leandro Bolmaro	Barcelona (Spain)	6-6	2000 DOB
Vinicius Da Silva	Prat (Spain)	7-0	2001 DOB
Henri Drell	Pesaro (Italy)	6-9	2000 DOB
Imru Duke	Zentro Basket (Spain)	6-8	1999 DOB
Michele Ebeling	Kleb Ferrara (Italy)	6-9	1999 DOB
Paul Eboua	Pesaro (Italy)	6-8	2000 DOB
Osas Ehigiator	Fuenlabrada (Spain)	6-10	1999 DOB
Joel Ekamba	Limoges (France)	6-5	2001 DOB
Selim Fofana	Neuchatel (Switzerland)	6-3	1999 DOB
Miguel Gonzalez	Baskonia (Spain)	6-7	1999 DOB
Killian Hayes	Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)	6-5	2001 DOB
Sehmus Hazer	Bandirma (Turkey)	6-3	1999 DOB
Rokas Jokubaitis	Zalgiris (Lithuania)	6-4	2000 DOB
Georgios Kalaitzakis	Nevezis (Lithuania)	6-8	1999 DOB
Vit Krejci	Zaragoza (Spain)	6-8	2000 DOB
Arturs Kurucs	VEF Riga (Latvia)	6-3	2000 DOB
Dut Mabor	Roseto (Italy)	7-1	2001 DOB
Yam Madar	Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)	6-2	2000 DOB
Theo Maledon	ASVEL (France)	6-4	2001 DOB
Karim Mane	Vanier (Canada)	6-5	2000 DOB
Sergi Martinez	Barcelona (Spain)	6-8	1999 DOB
Nikola Miskovic	Mega Bemax (Serbia)	6-10	1999 DOB
Aristide Mouaha	Roseto (Italy)	6-3	2000 DOB
Caio Pacheco	Bahia Basket (Argentina)	6-3	1999 DOB
Joel Parra	Joventut (Spain)	6-8	2000 DOB
Aleksej Pokusevski	Olympiacos (Greece)	7-0	2001 DOB
Sander Raieste	Kalev/Cramo (Estonia)	6-9	1999 DOB
Nikolaos Rogkavopoulos	AEK (Greece)	6-8	2001 DOB
Yigitcan Saybir	Anadolu Efes (Turkey)	6-7	1999 DOB
Njegos Sikiras	Fuenlabrada (Spain)	6-9	1999 DOB
Marko Simonovic	Mega Bemax (Serbia)	6-11	1999 DOB
Mouhamed Thiam	Nanterre (France)	6-9	2001 DOB
Uros Trifunovic	Partizan (Serbia)	6-7	2000 DOB
Arnas Velicka	Prienai (Lithuania)	6-4	1999 DOB
Andrii Voinalovych	Khimik (Ukraine)	6-10	1999 DOB