Other players will crash the party and just show up in the stands. Others will throw their own party at home on Thursday night.
But 19 guys got official invites to the big party Thursday in Brooklyn — the NBA Draft.
The NBA announced the 19 guys who got invites to the green room Thursday night, meaning they are expected to go in the first round.
- Devin Booker (Kentucky)
- Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)
- Sam Dekker (Wisconsin)
- Jerian Grant (Notre Dame)
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona)
- Stanley Johnson (Arizona)
- Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin)
- Kevon Looney (UCLA)
- Trey Lyles (Kentucky)
- Emmanuel Mudiay (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Jahlil Okafor (Duke)
- Kelly Oubre, Jr. (Kansas)
- Cameron Payne (Murray State)
- Bobby Portis (Arkansas)
- Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia)
- D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Kentucky)
- Myles Turner (Texas)
- Justise Winslow (Duke)
According to DraftExpress.com, three players were offered green room invites by the league but turned them down: R.J. Hunter, Delon Wright and Tyus Jones.
What seems certain is that Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor will go first and second to the Timberwolves and Lakers. After that... who knows? Sam Hinkie and the Sixers are leaning D’Angelo Russell according to the reports I hear, but Kristaps Porzingis is in the mix. And a lot of teams want Porzingis and might be willing to trade up to get him.
If you want to get some prep in on this guys before draft night, I recommend checking out the most recent PBT Podcast, with Ed Isaacson of NBADraftBlog. We talk about a lot of these guys, their strengths and weaknesses, and where they might land.
