The NBA Draft has just taken a minor, yet significant turn.
According to draft expert Jonathan Givony and ESPN, prospects who refuse to participate in the NBA Combine won’t be eligible to declare for the NBA Draft anymore, starting in 2024.
NEWS: Players who decline to fully participate in the NBA Combine will be ineligible for selection in the NBA Draft starting in 2024, according to a memo obtained by ESPN.
STORY: https://t.co/4M0XM02LW5
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 18, 2023
Needless to say, this news was met with some mixed reviews by fans on social media.
So the combine matters again because all the top prospects will be required to go? Sweet🫡
— Kambui Bomani (@BomaniKambui) April 18, 2023
LLLLLLL
— Juice 🧃 (@JuiceProphet) April 18, 2023
Does that mean they can sign as free agents after the draft or are they ineligible to play in the NBA too?
— Jeff (@512_Jeff) April 18, 2023
No more ducking the smoke
— Ant ☘️🏀 (@GangCeltics) April 18, 2023
NBA teams have tried to get this to happen for quite a while now.
It’s not unusual to see top-tier prospects deciding to skip the combine, either because of undisclosed injuries or out of fear of hurting their NBA draft stock.
They’ve also done it to try and tamper and drive themselves away from certain teams.
Notably, there will still be several excuses for players who are still in-season in other tournaments, with other exceptions such as the birth of a child, injury, or family tragedy also in play.
Nonetheless, prospects skipping the combine for any of those reasons or being physically unable to participate would still need to complete the aforementioned components at a later date.
Notably, prospects won’t have to share their medical information with all teams, and it’ll all depend on projections and rankings.
That means the projected first-overall pick will only have to share his medical history with teams picking in the top 10, and so on.
Hopefully, this will all be for the better, and top prospects won’t tank their way through the combine just to avoid being taken by struggling teams.
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