NBA to require FULL participation in Draft Combine in 2024

[clyde21]

This just occurred to me - what's preventing a potential top pick from skipping the combine, not getting drafted, and then signing with whatever team they want?

Say for instance this rule started this year and Victor Wembanyama didn't take part in the combine. Could be he sign with the Lakers, Heat, etc. as an undrafted player?

They can't, you have to declare yourself for the draft, if skipping the combine makes them ineligible for the draft, they won't be considered FAs

I am guessing this enforcement mechanism technically only works for early entrants into the draft as draft eligibility before 4 years after high school is more of a white-list kind of situation.

Technically anyone on these forums older than 4 years after high school or roughly 22 is a free agent right now and no one has gone to nor will be going to the combine anytime soon. In the future, some undrafted free agent who never attended combine but played in Europe for 1-2 years after college would be signed into the league. Would they be a free agent? I assume so.

So my question is, what is stopping college seniors who have finished 4 years of schools from skipping the draft combine? If they do, how is this different from my scenario above? Unless there are provisions not mentioned in the twit stipulating that there is some cooldown perid before being declared de-facto non-eligible for not entering the combine and automatically becoming a free agent.

probably nothing but why would they? if you're a college senior you're most likely an afterthought, participating in the combine would actually put you on more teams radars.

if someone REALLY wants to be an UDFA, they can just get their agent to tell teams not to draft him. usually they'll be fine with it you're a fringe guy anyways and they'll take someone else they like.

[The-Power]

I dont think teams care at all about the top guys performing well in the scrimmages and stuff. This no doubt is more about the measurements, medical, and interview portion.

I'd rather not know all that tbh. If you know a guy can play all of that stuff is meaningless.

If Im getting ready to possibly invest hundreds of millions into a guy. Ya I would like to make sure his medical is clear, id like to have a face to face with him and make sure he is as big as I think he is.

Yeah, what an odd comment. If you personally don't want to know, just don't look at the results. But of course teams – and tons of fans – want to know as much as possible. It's a good rule change.

[RookieStar]

Good. We finally see the real measurements. Also, the injury/medical reports.

Didn't Chet hide his medicals last year? Pretty sure dude has Marfan's syndrome.

I don't know if he really hid them from us. However, there were a lot of talks that his camp was making it difficult for us to access them.

[MemphisX]

This should have always been a requirement. Glad things are moving in the right direction. For draft geeks, measurements and athletic testing is fun stuff.

[CptCrunch]

They can't, you have to declare yourself for the draft, if skipping the combine makes them ineligible for the draft, they won't be considered FAs

I am guessing this enforcement mechanism technically only works for early entrants into the draft as draft eligibility before 4 years after high school is more of a white-list kind of situation.

Technically anyone on these forums older than 4 years after high school or roughly 22 is a free agent right now and no one has gone to nor will be going to the combine anytime soon. In the future, some undrafted free agent who never attended combine but played in Europe for 1-2 years after college would be signed into the league. Would they be a free agent? I assume so.

So my question is, what is stopping college seniors who have finished 4 years of schools from skipping the draft combine? If they do, how is this different from my scenario above? Unless there are provisions not mentioned in the twit stipulating that there is some cooldown perid before being declared de-facto non-eligible for not entering the combine and automatically becoming a free agent.

probably nothing but why would they? if you're a college senior you're most likely an afterthought, participating in the combine would actually put you on more teams radars.

if someone REALLY wants to be an UDFA, they can just get their agent to tell teams not to draft him. usually they'll be fine with it you're a fringe guy anyways and they'll take someone else they like.

Fringe second round seniors can force their way to a specific team as UDFA with some collusion. You are thinking of logical sane person, not as someone who is looking to break the system. This can occur without more details about a cooldown period.

[BostonCouchGM]

Honestly, the biggest thing this does for many diehards like us is give access to measurements which give the most standardized way to compare prospects not only in the current class, but going back through the years as well.

you can't even trust the "official" measurements for height though. Different times of the day could give different results plus head size and hair play a role too. I don't know they they even measure height. The only importance of height is the ability to see over defenders. Measure at the eyes. That way, if a guy has a 7 inch forehead but is eye to eye with another player, we'll know there's really no practical difference. But hey, at minimum we'll at least get measurements, whether accurate or not, from the top players.

[JMAC3]

This just occurred to me - what's preventing a potential top pick from skipping the combine, not getting drafted, and then signing with whatever team they want?

Say for instance this rule started this year and Victor Wembanyama didn't take part in the combine. Could be he sign with the Lakers, Heat, etc. as an undrafted player?

$$$

Really don't see players passing on 4 year rookie scale contracts so they can go sign for the minimum or close to for teams over the cap like the Lakers and Heat.