The NBA Draft Combine doesn’t move the top of teams’ draft boards much — mainly because those players don’t do anything but get measured and maybe a couple of team interviews. At most.
However, for players farther down the draft board, catching a GM’s eye at the combine next week in Chicago could be what cements them as a first-round pick, or gets them picked at all in the second round. It can move the needle. A year ago, Bones Hyland was among the guys helping his cause with a strong combine, and then he went on to have a likely All-Rookie Team season for the Nuggets.
Who will make that leap this year? Here’s the list of 76 candidates invited to the NBA Draft Combine May 18-20, a list that has been released to teams, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. These are in alphabetical order.
Ochai Agbaji, Kansas
Patrick Baldwin Jr., Milwaukee
Paolo Banchero, Duke
Dominick Barlow, Overtime Elite
MarJon Beauchamp, G League Ignite
Hugo Besson, Australia
Malaki Branham, Ohio State
Christian Braun, Kansas
Kendall Brown, Baylor
John Butler Jr., Florida State
Julian Champagnie, St. John’s
Kennedy Chandler, Tennessee
Max Christie, Michigan State
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois
Dyson Daniels, G League Ignite
Johnny Davis, Wisconsin
JD Davison, Alabama
Moussa Diabate, Michigan
Ousmane Dieng, Australia
Khalifa Diop, Spain
Jalen Duren, Memphis
Tari Eason, LSU
Keon Ellis, Alabama
Michael Foster, G League Ignite
Collin Gillespie, Villanova
AJ Griffin, Duke
Jaden Hardy, G League Ignite
Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Jaden Ivey, Purdue
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Nikola Jovic, Serbia
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Ismael Kamagate, France
Trevor Keels, Duke
Walker Kessler, Auburn
Christian Koloko, Arizona
Jake LaRavia, Wake Forest
Justin Lewis, Marquette
E.J. Liddell, Ohio State
Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona
Matthew Mayer, Baylor
Bryce McGowens, Nebraska
Leonard Miller, Canada
Josh Minott, Memphis
Aminu Mohammed, Georgetown
Iverson Molinar, Mississippi State
Jean Montero, Overtime Elite
Wendell Moore, Duke
Keegan Murray, Iowa
Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga
Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt
Gabriele Procida, Italy
Orlando Robinson, Fresno State
David Roddy, Colorado State
Ryan Rollins, Toledo
Dereon Seabron, NC State
Shaedon Sharpe, Kentucky
Jabari Smith, Auburn
Terquavion Smith, NC State
Jeremy Sochan, Baylor
Matteo Spagnolo, Italy
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Dalen Terry, Arizona
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Jabari Walker, Colorado
TyTy Washington Jr., Kentucky
Peyton Watson, UCLA
Blake Wesley, Notre Dame
Alondes Williams, Wake Forest
Jalen Williams, Santa Clara
Jaylin Williams, Arkansas
Mark Williams, Duke
Trevion Williams, Purdue
Fanbo Zeng, G League Ignite
Sixty players will be selected in the 2022 NBA Draft, fewer than the 76 invited to Chicago. Some of the players will return to college, others will get Summer League deals from teams and work to earn invites to training camps (then they likely are headed to the G-League).
Chet Holmgren (the center out of Gonzaga), Paolo Banchero from Duke and Jabari Smith of Auburn are currently projected to be the top three picks, although what order may be determined by who wins the NBA Draft Lottery in May. After those three, a good showing at the combine can help someone’s cause.