Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker planning to skip NBA predraft combine
The top three prospects in the 2014 NBA draft – Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, and Duke's Jabari Parker – will not attend next week's predraft combine in Chicago, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Some players, including last season's No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, have bypassed the annual draft combine with injuries, but the bailing of the top three prospects is unprecedented.
Teams were furnished with a list of players planning to participate in the combine in recent days, and the reported absence of Embiid and Parker pushed Wiggins' representatives with BDA Sports to pull him out on Sunday night.
NBA teams were informed of Wiggins' decision on Sunday night, front-office sources said.
While most top prospects don't participate in the basketball elements of the combine, most make themselves available for physicals to be distributed to the 30 NBA teams.
"To be honest," one general manager told Yahoo Sports, "I'm surprised more guys don't do this. It's the only thing they can really control."
Embiid, Parker and Wiggins are DraftExpress.com's top three prospects and virtually every NBA executive expects them to go 1-2-3 in some combination in the draft.
Embiid and Parker are both represented by Arn Tellem and B.J. Armstrong of Wasserman Media Group. Bill Duffy of BDA Sports represents Wiggins.
Once the draft lottery order is set, the players can later selectively choose teams with which to undergo physicals.
"They may have to do multiple physicals now," one NBA general manager told Yahoo Sports. "It's more of a concern about Embiid than Parker, given [Embiid's] back issues."
Embiid, a 7-footer, is still recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back, and high-lottery teams will be anxious to have him examined by their own physicians. Embiid suffered a stress fracture in his lower back, but expectations have been that he's on his way to a full recovery.
Embiid hasn't been cleared for full-contact workouts, but has been on the court shooting in recent weeks, sources said. Ultimately, Tellem and Armstrong can simply be waiting for Embiid's back to further heal before exposing him to physicals. With Embiid a potential No. 1 overall pick, Tellem could simply allow the team with the overall top choice to examine him later – or perhaps let the Nos. 1 and 2 teams do it.
Parker, a 6-foot-8 forward, suffered a fractured foot in the summer of 2012, but his senior year of high school and All-American season at Duke have more than eased teams' concerns about his long-term fitness. Parker will be willing to take physicals for the top teams in the lottery later, a source briefed on his plans told Yahoo Sports.
The predraft combine begins on Wednesday.
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