In an effort to find a middle ground given the circumstances surrounding the league and the country, the NBA looks to be set to hold regional draft combines ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that the league is moving forward with plans to hold draft workouts at regional team facilities. The combines would take place throughout the month of September and would allow teams access to measurements and health records.
In what’s likely to become one of the most wide-open draft processes in years, prospective players would attend selected regional team facilities throughout the country, sources said. The plan would include team doctors administering physicals at local hospitals and league officials recording body measurables and putting players through physical testing at team facilities, sources said.
The plan would have a set number of prospects allowed at each team facility at a time. The sites, which have yet to be determined, would also have coronavirus testing available.
Interestingly, Wojnarowski also noted that top prospects would be unlikely to attend these regional sites.
It is unlikely that many, if any, top 2020 draft prospects would agree to the workout sessions that would be shared virtually with the league’s teams from the combine sites. But there will be an opportunity for players who want to be evaluated in a limited combine workout environment to do so for NBA teams, sources said.
The draft lottery will be held on Thursday with the draft coming in mid-October.