NBA Draft Combine Reportedly Could Be Held in Las Vegas, Orlando or Chicago

The NBA Draft Combine and NBA draft lottery, which were scheduled to take place this month in Chicago, have been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

There has been no word on where and when they will be held, but Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com reported the league is considering three locations.

"If there is a combine it will probably be in Chicago or Las Vegas or Orlando if that is where they are going to have the teams play if there is a season," one NBA executive told Zagoria.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski had previously reported that Orlando, Florida and Las Vegas were under consideration to host NBA games in a resumption of the season. As Zagoria noted, a combine located in Vegas or Orlando would make sense if the league in fact resumes play in one or both cities.

The NBA draft has not been delayed as of yet, per Wojnarowski, although he wrote "there is an increasing belief that it's just a matter of time" that it will.

The entire NBA calendar could also be pushed back to accommodate the end of the 2019-20 regular season should play continue this year. Wojnarowski mentioned the possibility of the 2020-21 season beginning in December and ending in the late summer.

Sixty-six players attended last year's combine, which took place at Quest Multisport in Chicago. The combine typically consists of five-on-five scrimmages, tests, physicals, drills and interviews.

If the combine does occur this year, it remains to be seen just how it will be held in light of COVID-19.

Players could go through drills and interviews virtually. Obviously, five-on-five scrimmages would not work via that method, nor could one of the most important aspects of an in-person combine.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports explained:

"What teams most want access to are the medical records on the players in the draft. At the combine, physicals are conducted with the results available to every team, however, players do not have to submit to those physicals. Often, players with a questionable medical history do not (for example, Michael Porter Jr. did not have one). Teams want those medical reports from a neutral source like at the combine, rather than having to rely on agents to get them."

Like the NBA may be forced to do, the NFL had some aspects of its pre-draft process done virtually. The league was able to hold the NFL Scouting Combine in February, but pre-draft visits to facilities were not allowed and interviews were done virtually.