NBA Combine 2015: Dates, TV Info and Drills Preview
It is already that time of year: The 2015 NBA Draft Scouting Combine will be held in Chicago on May 12-17, with 62 prospects in attendance.
You can view the full list of attendees here, via the Sporting News. Noticeably absent are consensus top-two picks Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor of Duke. No one can blame them: Joel Embiid was slated to go first overall last season before breaking his foot prior to the draft and slipping to No. 3.
Potential top-10 picks Kristaps Porzingis, Mario Hezonja and Emmanuel Mudiay will also not make appearances.
Only 36 of the participants in the combine will be going through basketball drills such as ball-handling, shooting and the return of five-on-five play. Don't expect the big names to take part in that last drill, though.
Here is all the viewing information you'll need, along with full previews of the drills.
Dates: May 12-17
Location: Chicago
TV Info: NBA TV, ESPN (May 14-15)
Five-on-Five Scrimmaging
May 14-15 will be the action-packed days of the combine. The other days will be filled mostly with interviews and medical checkups.
A pleasant addition to this year's combine is five-on-five scrimmages, which are back for the first time since 2008. Scouts and general managers will finally get a chance to evaluate players based on concrete basketball scenarios, as opposed to open-gym jumpers and wind sprints.
ESPN NBA insider Chad Ford has the latest list of those who will be taking part in the scrimmages. Most big names will be foregoing the activity to avoid injury, but there are still a number of guys worth watching.
"All 36 players who will play 5-on-5 at NBA Draft Combine: Dakari Johnson, Jordan Mickey, J.P. Tokoto added to list pic.twitter.com/XgKazYBwl6
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) May 8, 2015"
Five-on-five play will mostly benefit second-round prospects and guys who are at risk of not being drafted at all. It will be a welcome new aspect of the combine, giving lesser prospects an ideal platform to stand out.
Shooting Drills
Being able to stroke it during a game and in an empty gym are entirely different, but it is still important to evaluate which guys can rip it from all over the court.
Many guys thrive off the dribble. Many are spot-up specialists. A handful of shooters are streaky. These are all reasons why the evaluation process exists.
Every player's shot looks solid on paper until it's magnified on the grandest of stages. Every year, a few guys stand out in this drill; good shooters come across looking like great ones.
Keep an eye on 6'5" senior Pat Connaughton from Notre Dame. He stepped up for the Fighting Irish in the NCAA tournament but is a 42.3 percent shooter who is already fighting for his NBA draft life.
Big-program studs such as Oregon's Joseph Young and Maryland's Dez Wells, are two others who will be looking to stand out. After dominating their respective conferences, their outlooks at the next level look bleak. Huge shooting performances could elevate them well up the boards.
Athletic Drills
The vertical leap is the NBA's version of the 40-yard-dash. The three-cone drills and bench press are fun, but no one remembers how many times a prospect puts up 185 pounds. Guys like Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and Aaron Gordon blew away the competition with athletic testing last year, solidifying what many already thought of them.
Arkansas' Michael Qualls did his best to bust every rim in the SEC all season. Keep an eye on him and fellow SEC mate Willie Trill Cauley-Stein to be the standouts. The Kentucky big man made highlight dunks and blocks on a nightly basis this year. He could set a new standard for big men at the combine. Arizona's Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could also be a bit of a surprise standout.
Two huge names to watch with more at stake than everyone else are Florida's Chris Walker and Wisconsin-Green Bay's Keifer Sykes.
Walker came to Gainesville as a mega-prospect but never lived up to the hype. He is a jaw-dropping athlete and needs to put on a good showing to convince NBA teams he hasn't lost his edge. Sykes can jump out of the gym. Coming from such a small school, the 6'0" point guard has to blow everyone away in the vertical test to put himself on the map.
Justin Hussong is a Breaking News Writer at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @Hussington to talk sports!
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