The NBA’s invitations to the draft are a good indicator of when players will get drafted. The league samples executives, who are more likely to be honest here than in leaks to the media, about how they rank players. So, the list is worth monitoring.
The players who will attend tonight’s draft nearly match the leaks – with one exception. O.G. Anunoby is going, and Harry Giles isn’t.
Here are the players who will be at the draft – a reasonable placeholder for the players most likely to get picked in the top 20 – via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England:
- Bam Adebayo (Kentucky)
- Jarrett Allen (Texas)
- O.G. Anunoby (Indiana)
- Lonzo Ball (UCLA)
- John Collins (Wake Forest)
- Zach Collins (Gonzaga)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kentucky)
- Markelle Fultz (Washington)
- Jonathan Isaac (Florida State)
- Josh Jackson (Kansas)
- Justin Jackson (North Carolina)
- Luke Kennard (Duke)
- T.J. Leaf (UCLA)
- Lauri Markkanen (Arizona)
- Donovan Mitchell (Louisville)
- Malik Monk (Kentucky)
- Frank Ntilikina (France)
- Justin Patton (Creighton)
- Dennis Smith (N.C. State)
- Jayson Tatum (Duke)
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress:
Did Giles decline his invite because, with his extensive injury history, he feared falling too far? Or did he just prefer to watch elsewhere?
Was Anunoby simply 21st on the NBA’s list of players to invite? Or was the league too unsure of his medical status to include him until getting a stronger grasp now?
I don’t know, but the possibility that Giles could slip or Anunoby is more secure alters my perception of their draft stock (Anunoby up, Giles down).