NBA Draft Combine 2021: Full List of Participants, Schedule, More Revealed
On Tuesday, the NBA announced the full list of participants for the NBA Draft Combine, which will be held June 21-27 in Chicago.
Per the press release, "players will conduct interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games, shooting and strength and agility drills June 22-25. ESPN2 (June 24) and ESPNU (June 25) will provide coverage of the five-on-five games from 3-7 p.m. ET each day."
Notable absences from the list of participants includes potential top overall pick Cade Cunningham, expected top-five pick Jalen Suggs and projected lottery pick Franz Wagner. Chris Duarte, likely a first-rounder, is also skipping the event.
International prospects Usman Garuba, Josh Giddey and Alperen Sengun also won't be in attendance.
But a number of top prospects will be in Chicago, including USC big man Evan Mobley, G League Ignite prospects Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, Florida State forward Scottie Barnes and Tennessee Guard Keon Johnson.
Cunningham and Suggs likely would benefit very little from participating in the combine. In fact, had any of the other five prospects—Cunningham, Suggs, Mobley, Green and Kumina make up the list, not necessarily in that order—chosen to skip the combine, very few people would have been surprised. They are pretty locked in as the top five options in this year's draft.
"That top five is potentially as stout as any of the other drafts [since 2000]," a high-ranking NBA executive told ESPN's Mike Schmitz last week. "There are years where the No. 1 pick would never be the No. 1 pick ever again. Some drafts lack that No. 1 pick. This one's legit. I'm a big fan. There's legit star power [in the top 5]."
The combine is the chance for prospects further down draft boards to improve their stock and impress teams in interviews and workouts. But for the very top prospects who have already proven their upside and ability, any possibility of making a bad impression isn't a risk worth taking.
