NBA Combine 2019: List of Participants, Schedule and Players to Watch

Now that everyone knows that the New Orleans Pelicans defied the odds to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, this week's combine just got a lot more interesting. 

Evaluating prospects to decipher franchise cornerstones from future All-Stars or serviceable role players in the draft pool is already a tall order, but it just got harder for those teams that didn't get the kind of lucky bounce of the ping pong balls that the Pels, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers did at Tuesday night's draft lottery.

The New York Knicks, for example, were all in on selecting Zion Williamson with the first pick, but the league's new flattened odds in the lottery put the kibosh on that plan.

Now, they'll have to go back to the drawing board and be reactive with their No. 3 pick because they have no way of knowing if RJ Barrett or Ja Morant will go second to the Grizzlies. 

The two-day combine at Quest Multisport in Chicago on Thursday and Friday should help teams better prepare for the big test on June 20th in Brooklyn.

A reported 66 NBA hopefuls will converge on the Windy City later this week to be evaluated by scouts and coaches on everything from height, weight and measurements to agility, strength, athleticism and shooting.

Here's a quick summary of key players to watch and information on how and when to see them undergo drills and play in five-on-five games.

Expected Participants (per NBA.com):

• Alexander-Walker, Nickeil (Virginia Tech)
• Barrett, RJ (Duke)
• Bassey, Charles (Western Kentucky)
• Bazley, Darius (Princeton HS (OH))
• Bol, Bol (Oregon)
• Bone, Jordan (Tennessee)
• Bowen, Brian (Sydney Kings (Australia))
• Bowman, Ky (Boston College)
• Brazdeikis, Ignas (Michigan)
• Brown, Moses (UCLA)
• Clarke, Brandon (Gonzaga)
• Claxton, Nicolas (Georgia)
• Culver, Jarrett (Texas Tech)
• Dort, Luguentz (Arizona State)
• Dotson, Devon (Kansas)
• Edwards, Carsen (Purdue)
• Fernando, Bruno (Maryland)
• Gafford, Daniel (Arkansas)
• Garland, Darius (Vanderbilt)
• Grimes, Quentin (Kansas)
• Guy, Kyle (Virginia)
• Hands, Jaylen (UCLA)
• Hayes, Jaxson (Texas)
• Herro, Tyler (Kentucky)
• Hoard, Jaylen (Wake Forest)
• Horton-Tucker, Talen (Iowa State)
• Hunter, De'Andre (Virginia)
• Jerome, Ty (Virginia)
• Johnson, Cameron (North Carolina)
• Johnson, Keldon (Kentucky)
• Kabengele, Mfiondu (Florida State)
• King, Louis (Oregon)
• Langford, Romeo (Indiana)
• Lawson, Dedric (Kansas)
• Lecque, Jalen (Brewster Academy (NH))
• Little, Nassir (North Carolina)
• Matthews, Charles (Michigan)
• McDaniels, Jalen (San Diego State)
• Morant, Ja (Murray State)
• Norvell Jr., Zach (Gonzaga)
• Nowell, Jaylen (Washington)
• Nwora, Jordan (Louisville)
• Okeke, Chuma (Auburn)
• Okpala, KZ (Stanford)
• Oni, Miye (Yale)
• Paschall, Eric (Villanova)
• Ponds, Shamorie (St. John's)
• Poole, Jordan (Michigan)
• Porter Jr., Kevin (USC)
• Porter, Jontay (Missouri)
• Queta, Neemias (Utah State)
• Reddish, Cam (Duke)
• Reid, Naz (LSU)
• Roby, Isaiah (Nebraska)
• Samanic, Luka (Olimpija (Slovenia))
• Schofield, Admiral (Tennessee)
• Shittu, Simisola (Vanderbilt)
• Tillie, Killian (Gonzaga)
• Washington Jr., PJ (Kentucky)
• Waters, Tremont (LSU)
• Weatherspoon, Quinndary (Mississippi State)
• White, Coby (North Carolina)
• Wilkes, Kris (UCLA)
• Williams, Grant (Tennessee)
• Williamson, Zion (Duke)
• Windler, Dylan (Belmont)

Schedule

Dates: Thursday, May 16, and Friday, May 17

Location: Quest Multisport in Chicago

TV Coverage: From 3-7 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Stream: WatchESPN

Combine Itinerary: Shooting drills, strength and agility drills, measurements, five-on-five games, team interviews

Top Prospects to Watch

It's no secret that everyone in the building will have eyes on Williamson.

Scouts and coaches already know he's off-the-charts athletically, but they still want front row seats to the show.

Outside of the projected No. 1 overall pick, Barrett and Morant are widely considered sure-fire bets as potential NBA stars.

The picture gets somewhat murky after that, though.

There's a widespread belief that there is a big drop off in talent after the top three picks, but players like Cam Reddish, Jarrett Culver and De'Andre Hunter will be out to deliver a rebuttal to that notion at the combine.

And there are also players like Darius Garland, who will be on a mission to prove that he's still the player that analysts thought he was before his first season at Vanderbilt was abruptly cut short with a knee injury.

The Nashville, Tennessee native was ranked as the No. 1 point guard in the 2018 high school class by ESPN before suiting up for the Commodores for only four games (plus two minutes of a fifth game), where he showed flashes of brilliance as a ball handler, jump shooter and pick-and-roll floor general.

Garland, a former McDonald's All-American, will likely use the combine as an opportunity to re-establish himself as a top-tier point guard.

Again, there are those players that may not go all out or complete the entire itinerary, but the top five or six players on the board don't have to.

Players that have been injured or missed a lot of games this past season in college basketball like Kevin Porter Jr. (suspended midyear by USC for conduct issues) and Bol Bol (foot injury) will be fascinating to watch as they try to regain some of the attention they've lost while not playing.

Bol will be interesting just for the sheer mind-boggling measurements he's going to have taken.

Another interesting player to keep an eye on is Jalen Lecque out of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire

The 6'4" guard is an explosive athlete who has a cult-like following on social media. The phenom, known for his highlight-reel dunks, already has over 342,000 followers on Instagram.

The North Carolina State commit declared for the draft back in April after finishing 34-7 on the year and winning the National Prep Championship in New Haven. Oddly enough, according to ESPN's Adam Finkelstein, Oklahoma City Thunder's general manager Sam Presti attended the tournament to see Lecque.

Lecque has drawn comparisons to Russell Westbrook over the last two years, in fact, his nickname is "Baby Westbrook," so it's not a far-fetched assumption that Presti had to go see for himself.

Outside of the big names, there's always at least one under-the-radar player that establishes himself, so the event will definitely be worth a watch. 

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport