With the New Orleans Pelicans’ season long concluded, the most important thing for those with a vested/rooting interest in the team is all matters pertaining to the draft. And the next major portion of the 2023 NBA Draft cycle is the draft combine which begins on Monday, May 15th.
The combine will run from May 15th through May 21st and will be held at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois – home of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. You can find coverage of some of the events at various points during the week on the NBA App and ESPN2.
For those who are unaware, the NBA draft combine is where we measure prospects’ physical attributes and athletic capabilities. The combine measures things like height, wingspan, vertical jump, lane agility, and among other areas.
Usually, the most highly-coveted prospects forego this event to avoid somehow hindering their draft stock. After all, why would you take a chance on something going wrong when you are already in a good spot?
Still, even with some big-time names inevitably foregoing the festivities, there will be plenty of promising players participating in the combine. In total, the NBA invited 78 players to the combine. Here is the full list included in this tweet from Jon Rothstein:
The NBA has announced the official invite list for the 2023 NBA Draft Combine. pic.twitter.com/po4c33ixrJ
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 9, 2023
To clarify, just because a player was invited does not mean that we will be seeing them participate in the combine. Also, just because a player is present at the combine does not mean they will engage in all of the measurements/tests. For instance, a player could opt to run some scrimmages but refuse to have their lane agility speed recorded.
The projected first overall pick in this draft, Victor Wembanyama, was not invited to the combine due to his season in France still being in progress.
Since the draft lottery still hasn’t taken place yet, the Pelicans’ official draft spot is unknown. However, if they land the 14th overall pick (the one they are most likely to get based on their win-loss record), they could be looking at guys like Gradey Dick, Kobe Bufkin, and Keyonte George, among others. So, those are players worth keeping tabs on in the coming days.