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The draft season really gets underway today with the start of the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. 60+ NBA hopefuls gather to be measured, examined, interviewed, and watched by the entire league.
A rule change this year means that underclassmen who don't hire an agent can actually participate in the Combine and then withdraw from the draft and return to school if they don't think they are going to get picked where they would like, so not every player there will wind up draft eligible.
A complete list of invitees is available at the indispensable Draft Express.
A few notes on the participants:
Ben Simmons declined his invitation, as has become fairly common among top prospects in recent years. Interestingly, so did Domantas Sabonis and Dejounte Murray.
All the other college players the Wolves might consider drafting will be there.
None of the European based players will be there, since their seasons are still underway.
Some participants will only do certain activities--like medical exams or athletic testing, but won't participate in drills or scrimmages, though the NBA is trying to exert pressure, especially on more marginal prospects, that they have to commit to all activities in order to get an invite. We'll see how that goes.
While players report to the Combine today, the public action gets underway tomorrow, and will be on television for those of you in to that sort of thing:
Thursday 2pm-6pm CDT ESPN2 (Also streaming on WatchESPN)
Friday 2pm-6pm CDT ESPN2
Saturday 12pm-3pm CDT NBA TV (Also streaming at NBA.com)
Sunday 8pm-11pm CDT NBA TV
We'll do our best to keep you updated on the Combine throughout the week, and especially any Wolves related bits. It sounds like Scott Layden and Tom Thibodeau will be in Chicago (Layden actually helps run the D-League showcase that happened earlier in the week), as well as holdovers including Milt Newton and Rob Babcock.