How important is this year’s combine to teams, given that much of the scouting this season has been virtual?
Sam Vecenie, NBA draft analyst: The most important parts of the combine are always the medical checks and the ability to sit down with players and get interviews with them one-on-one. That doesn’t change this year. Teams will always value those things most, and those aspects are the biggest part of why NBA teams will be excited to have an in-person combine this year. Five-on-five, athletic testing, measurements … those things are nice, but the most important stuff is the medical and the interview.
Which player could benefit most from a full combine?
Vecenie: I would say that any player who will interview well and get a clean bill of health, first and foremost, will help themselves.
In terms of the on-court stuff and testing, I think someone like Trey Murphy III could really help himself. He’s a guy that NBA teams are really excited about right now due to his natural talent level at 6-foot-9 or so as a shooter. He’s going to test really well as an athlete. But he didn’t always get to show his full range of talent within the Virginia scheme.
That scheme was good for his development because Virginia guys typically enter the NBA ready to defend from the experience and focus on that end in college. But teams are very interested to see him outside of what can obviously be a relatively repressing scheme offensively in terms of overall skillset.
Is this an encouraging sign for a typical Summer League?
Seth Partnow, NBA league analyst: Encouraging? Yes. Definitive? Not quite. Leaving aside the question of fans, the combine is a far more controlled environment than is Summer League. Far fewer players, fewer execs from each team, shorter duration. And of course in a hotel complex in Chicago as opposed to, well, Las Vegas.
I would expect this event to operate as something of a test run with any lessons learned being incorporated into what I’m sure are ongoing plans for some kind of summer event.
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
