Scouting combines are a necessary evil. Necessary because it’s a way to see how a guy can perform with no one around. It’s evil because it’s an evalutation of how a guy can perform with no one around.
Frankly, it’s only necessary for guys on the fringe. For sure-fire lottery picks like Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker, they have absolutely nothing to gain by participating. Therefore, they won’t.
The top three prospects in the 2014 NBA draft – Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, and Duke’s Jabari Parker – will not attend next week’s predraft combine in Chicago, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Some players, including last season’s No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, have bypassed the annual draft combine with injuries, but the bailing of the top three prospects is unprecedented.
Teams were furnished with a list of players planning to participate in the combine in recent days, and the reported absence of Embiid and Parker pushed Wiggins’ representatives with BDA Sports to pull him out on Sunday night.
NBA teams were informed of Wiggins’ decision on Sunday night, front-office sources said.
While most top prospects don’t participate in the basketball elements of the combine, most make themselves available for physicals to be distributed to the 30 NBA teams.
H/T: Yahoo
