Projected top three picks Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and Emmanuel Mudiay are among the players expected to skip next week’s Draft Combine in Chicago.
Mario Hezonja of Croatia and Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia are also not expected, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
The 7-foot Towns, out of St. Joe’s-Metuchen and Kentucky, is training and said on Sunday he’s looking forward to picking an agent and working out for some NBA teams.
“It would be awesome to play for anyone,” he said. “Wherever the chips fall, the chips fall. It’s just going to be an honor to be in the fraternity that is the NBA, to be able to play with the greats who have ever played this game, to put the jersey on as they put it on. I just can’t wait. I just can’t wait to see what happens.”
Below is the full list of participants, including six Kentucky players in Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson and Trey Lyles.
All invited players will play 5-on-5, a change from past years which pleases the NBA personnel who will be in attendance.
“We are tired of watching glorified shooting drills,” one NBA scout told SNY.tv. “I hope they can pull it off.”
I will be in Chicago next week providing coverage of the Combine.
