To Combine or not to Combine? That is the question to which Kevin Durant and John Calipari are now adding their two cents. The Warriors star encourages expected lottery picks to skip the event altogether, writes Chris Haynes of ESPN. Durant expressed his strong feeling that while the Draft Combine can certainly aid lesser-known and lesser-valued players looking to raise their draft stock, those projected to be taken in the lottery should stay home and work on improving their game. Durant remarked how the vast majority of skills for which the Combine tests, including bench press at which he struggled mightily at his event, have little to no impact on how a player will perform on a basketball court.
Kentucky’s head coach said that players should attend the Combine, but that each should skip individual events if he believes it will not boost his draft value, according to Michael Singer of USA Today.
- Josh Hart of Villanova has already met with eight teams, Jessica Camerato reports. These teams are the Heat, Lakers, Mavericks, Pelicans, Pistons, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Suns.
- Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk will miss the rest of the NBA Combine due to a sprained ankle, reports Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
- Despite rumors of back spasms to Monte Morris of Iowa State, Morris himself took to twitter to reject the talk.
- Sindarius Thornwell and P.J. Dozier of South Carolina discuss their experiences at the Combine thus far, per Dwayne Mclemore of TheState.com.
Josh Hart is this years Brogdon. Will end up playing a lot for a pretty good team and b devalued in the draft
I like this comparison a lot and agree that he could be a really solid role player drafted in the 2nd round. Look for the Sixers to select him with one of their four 2nd round picks