The NBA has released its list of the participants in this week’s draft combine (link via Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress), and the names of Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins are missing, as expected. Wojnarowski reported Sunday afternoon that Parker and Embiid would skip the combine. He followed Sunday night with confirmation that Wiggins had also withdrawn (Twitter link), hours after Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe reported that Wiggins was unlikely to show up. Here’s more on the draft:
- Payne and McGary are still expected to travel to the combine and take part in interviews with teams, even though they won’t do any physical work, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com clarifies (on Twitter).
Earlier updates:
- Michigan State power forward Adreian Payne and Michigan big man Mitch McGary are on the list of participants, but they’ll miss the combine because of health issues, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links).
- The absences of Wiggins, Embiid and Parker from the combine probably won’t knock any of them from the top three picks, but it presents an opportunity for players further down the rankings to impress, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
- South Alabama junior Mychal Ammons entered this year’s draft, but he’s already signed a deal to play in Europe next season, officially inking a two-year deal with KK Feni Indistrija of Macedonia, Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia reports. Fellow Sportando scribe Enea Trapani initially reported the agreement. Ammons can withdraw from the draft anytime between now and June 16th, but he’d be automatically eligible for next year’s draft if he were to do so.