svi invited to combine





  • Record low number of NBA Combine invites for seniors this year. Appears to be 11, a shockingly low figure. Early Entry rules a game changer.



  • Heard earlier, Andrew white did not get an invite.



  • Low number of senior invites can’t be good!



  • Crimsonorblue22 said:

    Heard earlier, Andrew white did not get an invite.

    Makes sense. He isn’t really an NBA level athlete. Maybe he will prove me wrong and have a career, but I think he’d be better off in Europe.



  • Well, we can only hope as KU fans to see SVI not satisfied with his draft stock, return for another year to KU to work on his game.
    I mean, one more year at KU isn’t going to hurt him. He is barely old enough to be a soph. Right now, he’s a trifectate only player with some ability to handle the ball and drive. One more year at KU could see him add other facets to his game. He’s got handles, he can play point, but that’s never been his main focus at KU. He isn’t big enough or strong enough to guard NBA wings, that’s another thing he can build on with one more year.



  • I wish Svi the best, I see some negative comments sometimes about guys going too early and I agree that the guys that don’t go first round(they get a contract) as under classmen should stay. People get mad because they don’t get a degree, why do people get a degree? To help your career, right? What does being drafted​ in the NBA do? It helps your career.



  • I would be interested in the number of seniors who tested the waters last time, and then didn’t get invites this year. Not aware of any. One theory I have heard is that once scouts and GMs form opinions, it’s hard to change them after workouts. A supposed reason not to test the waters – in contrast to the “there’s no harm in declaring without an agent.”



  • @HighEliteMajor Definitely an interesting thought. I think that is true for some guys, like Dedric Lawson. You probably never know that he isn’t a top tier athlete unless he flops in the combine like he did. The guy scores all day long, but he measured in at 6’7 instead of 6’9, doesn’t have a 40 inch vertical and has poor lateral movement. So now he is pegged as a bad athlete.

    In reality, he is absurdly coordinated, has the reach of a 7-Footer and knows how to position himself for rebounds like a Tristan Thompson or Kevin Love. I can’t believe he will be in a KU uniform in 2 seasons… Thank you NBA scouts.



  • I think the number of senior invites reflects the fact that the system is working. College seniors are not going to often get drafted at this point, particularly in the first round. If you haven’t made your mark by the time your senior year rolls around, chances are its because you aren’t good enough to play in the NBA. You at least need to be on the NBA radar before then.

    Frank is an interesting case.

    The good - he has demonstrated a work ethic and ability to improve. He’s strong and tough. He has developed his outside shot. He can handle the PnR. Good basketball IQ.

    The bad - he’s not getting any bigger. He may have trouble guarding bigger people. Self PGs don’t have a great NBA track record (again, this is just for NBA careers, not college) - Deron Williams was a success. Mario Chalmers did well. Dee Brown was a bust. Sherron Collins was a bust. Josh Selby was a bust. Tyshawn Taylor was a bust. All but Taylor were McDs All Americans when they entered college. All were very good college players (except maybe Selby). That matters to NBA folks.

    The things to work on - NBA shooting range. Frank didn’t shoot a lot of deep threes. He’s gonna have to step back another foot or so in the NBA. I think he can, but that is something scouts will be watching closely at the combine. It actually hurts Frank that Ball and Fultz won’t be on the floor at the combine. Frank needs to show that he can handle bigger guys and those two are among the biggest. Athleticism. As a smaller guy, Frank needs to show that he is as explosive as the bigger guys.



  • @justanotherfan Frank is a perfect 2nd round type, IMO. High possible ceiling, but no need to keep paying him via guaranteed contract if he doesn’t pan out.



  • Archibald.

    Nash.

    Rondo.

    Murphy.

    Cousy.

    Frank has to show them the afterburner now.

    They won’t risk on a short player without seeing the blinding speed.

    He also needs to show a lonnnnng Trey.

    If he shows these two things plus his freaky vertical, he is Worth a risk.

    Remember, Frank is reputedly only 2-3 inches shorter than Curry. His hops are good enough to make up that difference.

    But can he stay Curry deadly another 3 feet out?

    God I would love to see him make it! Go, Frank, go!!!



  • HighEliteMajor said:

    I would be interested in the number of seniors who tested the waters last time, and then didn’t get invites this year. Not aware of any. One theory I have heard is that once scouts and GMs form opinions, it’s hard to change them after workouts. A supposed reason not to test the waters – in contrast to the “there’s no harm in declaring without an agent.”

    Nigel Hayes of Wisconsin is the only one I believe that wasn’t invited back to the combine this year.

    Players who attended last season, invited again.

    Jaron Blossomgame of Clemson

    Josh Hart of Nova

    Justin Jackson of UNC

    Melo Trimble of Maryland

    Caleb Swanigan of Purdue

    In this case Swanigan, Hart & Jackson all improved their stock by coming back. Trimble and Blossomgame are who they are.

    Interesting to Note. Only 3 players that attended last years Combine are still in College. 2 of them, Newman and Lawson are now on KU. The 3rd, Marcus Lee sat out a yr at Cal and is scheduled to play his final year there.



  • @BeddieKU23 Interesting to me that Bronson Koenig wasn’t invited to the combine either. I always assumed he was a future pro also.



  • The question for the combine is simple. Are you a pro or not?

    For some guys, they are kind of in a prove it position (Frank is in this group). NBA scouts want to see how they perform against top prospects to see if they have a chance to handle NBA level competition. If you have NBA level athleticism and skill set, there is no harm in declaring and testing the waters. If, however, your skillset is lacking or your athleticism is subpar, there is definitely some harm in being exposed, but if that’s the case, you may not be a pro anyway.

    @wissox brings up Bronson Koenig. He’s a nice player. Very good college player who took and made a ton of big shots in his career at Wisconsin. But if you evaluate him like an NBA scout would, here’s the report:

    1. Average athlete at best
    2. Undersized 2 guard
    3. Cannot play PG
    4. Solid shooter (but not elite) - never shot above 45% from three in college
    5. Secondary skills below average - doesn’t rebound, pass or handle at above average level

    If that’s the consensus scouting report (and it likely is), why bother inviting him when his ceiling is D-League rotation guy.

    As opposed to say, Melo Trimble. Trimble did not have as strong a collegiate career as Koenig. But Trimble’s report would read something like this:

    1. Decent size for a PG
    2. An average to above average athlete
    3. Below average perimeter shooter
    4. Rebounds well for a PG (nearly 4 per game in his career)
    5. Solid defensive chops, needs to be drilled on scheme and technique
    6. Turnover happy

    Ceiling as a fringe starter, floor of a backup PG.

    That’s the cold reality of NBA scouting. Koenig doesn’t get the invite because his best hope in the NBA is a shorter, poorer shooting Kyle Korver (Korver is 6-7 and never shot lower than 42.9% from three in his college career - Koenig is 6-4 and never shot higher than 40.5% from three in his college career). Trimble does because his worst case scenario is something like Cameron Payne - a career backup PG.



  • @justanotherfan Good explanation! I agree with your assessment. I just like to think of Bronson as a good enough player to play at the next level. Overseas might be his place!



  • justanotherfan said:

    The question for the combine is simple. Are you a pro or not?

    For some guys, they are kind of in a prove it position (Frank is in this group). NBA scouts want to see how they perform against top prospects to see if they have a chance to handle NBA level competition. If you have NBA level athleticism and skill set, there is no harm in declaring and testing the waters. If, however, your skillset is lacking or your athleticism is subpar, there is definitely some harm in being exposed, but if that’s the case, you may not be a pro anyway.

    @wissox brings up Bronson Koenig. He’s a nice player. Very good college player who took and made a ton of big shots in his career at Wisconsin. But if you evaluate him like an NBA scout would, here’s the report:

    1. Average athlete at best
    2. Undersized 2 guard
    3. Cannot play PG
    4. Solid shooter (but not elite) - never shot above 45% from three in college
    5. Secondary skills below average - doesn’t rebound, pass or handle at above average level

    If that’s the consensus scouting report (and it likely is), why bother inviting him when his ceiling is D-League rotation guy.

    As opposed to say, Melo Trimble. Trimble did not have as strong a collegiate career as Koenig. But Trimble’s report would read something like this:

    1. Decent size for a PG
    2. An average to above average athlete
    3. Below average perimeter shooter
    4. Rebounds well for a PG (nearly 4 per game in his career)
    5. Solid defensive chops, needs to be drilled on scheme and technique
    6. Turnover happy

    Ceiling as a fringe starter, floor of a backup PG.

    That’s the cold reality of NBA scouting. Koenig doesn’t get the invite because his best hope in the NBA is a shorter, poorer shooting Kyle Korver (Korver is 6-7 and never shot lower than 42.9% from three in his college career - Koenig is 6-4 and never shot higher than 40.5% from three in his college career). Trimble does because his worst case scenario is something like Cameron Payne - a career backup PG.

    Really good post.

    Do you think Devonte is in a similar situation? He didn’t even test the waters for whatever reason but there may have been concern that his scouting report wouldn’t have been favorable in some of the things like Athleticism, Size, consistent perimeter shooting etc and that made it easier for him to skip and hope for the best next season. I have read that some really loved him but others wanted to see him be the leader and be the main PG before they could trust him at the next level.



  • @BeddieKU23

    Devonte has to show that he can play PG. He just doesn’t have the size and strength to dabble at the 2 in the NBA. He has to be a PG, and that means he has to show he can run the point all year without a guy to trade off time at the point with. That’s why he’s back.

    Devonte can shoot. He can pass. He can defend (everyone remembers his work against Buddy Hield). He just needs to show that he can be exclusively a PG (and that he doesn’t need to move off the ball to get his own offense) and that he can play that position every night (instead of the occasional 2-9, 3 assist, 2 turnover “What’s going on with Devonte” nights he has every now and then).



  • What kills me is, if Devonte with increased effort, can elevate his game to remove the bad games…why couldn’t he do it a a Jr.? If he had, Frank’s last game would’ve been a w. It seems very difficult to get enough players to peak in the same season to win it all.



  • @dylans

    Its not just a thing of Devonte needing to try harder. It’s an issue of focus, conditioning and working on specific aspects of his game so that he doesn’t have to be playing his best in order to play well.

    The NBA is a grind. You’re gonna play your best maybe 4 or 5 times during the entire season. But you have to be able to raise what average and poor mean to your game. Devonte has to raise his floor. His ceiling is NBA quality, but that’s a handful of games during the season. He either has to make sure the “floor” games are less bad, or that he can play average literally every other night so a coach will accept 5 great games, 5 duds and 70 very solid outings.


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