Philadelphia 76ers Meet Prospects At 2017 NBA Combine

The 2017 NBA Combine Begins May 9 through May 14 in Chicago, Illinois. Which prospects will the Philadelphia 76ers have their eyes upon?

The NBA Combine is not nearly as headlining as the NFL Combine. On one hand, perhaps it’s a smaller number of invitees. On the other hand, perhaps its the fact that many of the nations top talents simply pass on the event. For the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s the WalMart of NBA scouting. Everything under one roof, even if the results are not as specialized.

As recently as last year, the “who didn’t attend” included Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons, Los Angeles Lakers  Brandon Ingram, Oklahoma City Thunder Domantas Sabonis, and San Antonio Spurs Dejounte Murray.  In fact, that failure to attend did not seem to hurt their chances of selection in the 2016 NBA Draft.

As a result, you can expect some of the bigger names in this year’s NBA Draft to avoid showing up for the competition as well.  But there will be NBA executives attending, as well as plenty of press, so that makes it almost obligatory for all players to put in appearances. After all, it’s never too soon to get on the good side of the press.

Many Invited

While there are only 60 NBA Draft slots, more than 60 players are invited to the combine. Not only does that afford all players who might hear their name have the opportunity to attend, but the attendees may revoke participation in the NBA Draft if they have NCAA eligibility remaining and they have not hired an agent.

Those who attend and are still on the fence can use the NBA Combine to focus their work in NCAA Men’s Basketball.  After returning to collegiate competition, they can return the next year improved – both in skillset and in draft projections.

Several No-Shows

Unfortunately, many of the top talent of the NBA are expected to pass on the event. Names so far include Jayson Tatum, Josh Jackson, Lonzo Ball, Jonathan Isaac, Dennis Smith, Malik Monk and Lauri Markkanen.

And so, the event continues in the tradition of having far less impact on the upcoming NBA Draft.  But why would players miss the opportunity for networking?

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Economies Of Scale

Simply stated? They are already rest assured of getting an audience with NBA Teams.  In the NFL, 32 teams are trying to process large numbers of players rapidly and objectively. Each team begins the offseason with up to 90 players on a practice roster.  Doing the math, that is 2800 roster slots at stake.

In the NBA, there is a maximum of 600 roster slots.   It’s simply the number game. Not all NBA teams have been as open as the Philadelphia 76ers to opening roster spots to young players.

Guest List

This year, the guest list is equally likely to have the obligatory “no shows”.  But for right now, the list is as follows:

2017 NBA Combine Invitees

That’s just the who’s who of the event.  But there is so much more to extract from the process.  For example, what is the NBA Combine?

NBA Combine History

Some come, some don’t. But what is really at stake during the NBA Combine?

Canes Warning

Well,  much like the NFL Combine, the event is a multi-day series of testing, competitions, measurements and interviews .  On one hand, athletic tests include standing vertical jump, maximum vertical jump, bench press, three-quarter-court sprint time, lane agility time, and modified event time.

On the other hand, physical measurements include height with shoes, height without shoes, wingspan, weight, standing reach, body fat, hand length, and hand width.

And finally, there are a series of shooting tests which include three-point field goals from various distances (high school, college, and NBA) depending upon position, shooting off the dribble, and timed moving jump shots.

Modern Changes

In 2010, the NBA added a two-day NBA Development League elite mini camp prior to the combine. But there were more changes to come.

In fact, why not check out this video from the 2016 Day 1 coverage.  As you will find, It opens with details about the changes in 2016.

Last year, the NBA and NCAA agreed to allow prospects to “test the waters” by testing at the Combine. If the prospect does not hire an agent and has NCAA eligibilty remaining, the prospect has 14 days to rescind their NBA Draft intentions and return to college.

Event Schedule

May 9 through 11

And so, all players form into groups by position. The point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers all separated into groups.

Each group is taken through specific drills which reflect specific responsibilities of each position.

There is nothing magical.  Since the spectators are the higher level NBA executives, this is merely to showcase prospects to the NBA. So the drills are rather familiar to anyone who attended basketball camps: Three-man weaves, two-on-one fast breaks, stop-and-pops at various distances marked by cones.

The drills are intended to add progressive stress to prospects. Think of doing huge volume of simple addition problems  timed.   It’s the combination of instinctive function and how a player handles stress which is the true attribute being measured.

The event itself is quite the production. Many in attendance are under 21 years of age.  It’s a true test just to remain focused throughout the ordeal.

May 12 through 14

The final three days of the event include athletic testing and recording physical measurements.  By all accounts, this will be the time the Philadelphia 76ers will be most interested in.  In fact, what is placed on the records in the final days of the combine become the raw data for basketball analytics programs across the NBA.

Athletic testing includes:
No step vertical jump
Vertical jump
Bench Press
Lane Agility
Court Sprints

Physical Measurements include:
Height without shoes
Height with shoes
Weight
Wingspan
Standing Reach
Body Fat
Hand size/width

When it is all over, 30 NBA teams depart with full files on each and every prospect in attendance. But what of the players?

What of the Players?

Likewise, over 60 prospects with better insight into their immediate future.  On one hand, should they remain in the NCAA?  On the other hand, do they stack up favorably to land a lucrative NBA Career?  In conclusion, getting it right could mean millions of dollars. Getting it wrong could be dashed hopes.

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Max Holm at Hoops Habit wrote an excellent article recently about three players to keep an eye on at the 2017 NBA Combine. In keeping to the focus on players without agents, Holm segregates three players whose NBA Combine results could decide whether to return to the NCAA or take the plunge into the NBA.

Philadelphia All In

Lest we lose sight of the results here, this is a very major event for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers have from five to six draft choices in the 2017 NBA Draft. That equates to one in nearly ten attendees landing on the roster of the Philadelphia 76ers.  One in ten. Let that sink in for just a minute or two.

We’ve some thoughts that the NBA Lottery holds the key to the Philadelphia 76ers off-season strategy.  But the team has been down this road before. And the results emerged with far fewer transactions than originally projected.

So this week hosts the 2017 NBA Combine. No other team in the NBA has more invested in this draft class than the Philadelphia 76ers.  So it’s only fitting that the Philadelphia 76er fans be the most knowledgeable of the NBA Combine.

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After all, this is the future of the Philadelphia 76ers at stake.