NBA
What You Need to Know About the 2021 NBA Draft Combine
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished21 Jun 2021
Most sports fans are familiar with the NFL draft combine. Thie annual event involves football prospects converging on Indianapolis, Indiana. Front office personnel then poke, prod, measure, test, and interview the prospects. The NBA Draft Combine in 2021 is a similar event that involves NBA players heading to Chicago, Illinois.
This year’s version of the NBA combine is here and can help determine where these young basketball stars end up in the upcoming draft. Here is what you need to know about the 2021 NBA draft combine, including how it differs from the NFL version, when it happens, where to watch it, and which future NBA stars are participating.
What is the NBA Draft Combine, and how is it different than the NFL draft combine?
The main thrust of the NFL and NBA combines are the same. The league gathers team officials and invited draft prospects in a central location to look at the players and get official measurements and medical evaluations.
The NBA draft only has two rounds as opposed to the NFL’s seven and smaller rosters. This means that the NBA version usually invites fewer than 100 players (2021 will have 69 attendees), while the NFL combine generally has over 300 prospects.
The other big difference between the two combines is that, in the NFL combine, the players’ activity is limited to drills and athletic testing. In the NBA, they also do this but add five-on-five scrimmages as well.
The addition of real basketball makes the NBA combine much more compelling television than its football counterpart.
2021 NBA Draft Combine dates, times, and TV channel
The Microsoft Surface NBA Draft Combine 2021 starts Monday, June 21, and runs through Sunday, June 27, at Windtrust Arena in Chicago.
Viewers will see a good amount of the combine live on TV this year, thanks to ESPN and its various platforms. According to NBA.com, ESPN 2 will show the five-on-five games on June 24, and they will be on ESPNU on June 25. The games will be on television between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. EST each day.
The 2021 NBA Draft Lottery will happen during the combine as well. It takes place at 8:30 p.m. EST on June 22.
Who is at the NBA draft combine 2021?
This year’s NBA combine will feature 69 top NBA prospects. There are several top U.S.-born and international players skipping this year’s event, though. Some of the expected top picks – specifically ones represented by CAA, Klutch, and Wasserman – are skipping this year’s event in favor of holding their own Pro Days, per ESPN. For some international prospects, COVID-19 restrictions prevent them from being at the event.
Expected number one draft pick Cade Cuningham will not be at the combine, nor will another top prospect, Jalen Suggs. Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Evan Mobley, and Scottie Barnes, who should round out the top six picks, will all be there but may not participate in the scrimmages.
There will be plenty of other well-known names to college basketball fans at the combine. This list includes Mobley’s brother Isaiah, Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert, UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, Duke’s Jalen Johnson, Michigan’s Isaiah Livers, Iowa’s Luka Garza, and Davion Mitchell from Baylor.
Watching all the scrimmage runs during NBA draft combine 2021 is not for every fan. For diehards, though, watching the league’s future stars go head-to-head in the late afternoon and evening is the perfect appetizer for the playoff games that will follow.
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