The NBA sent out a list to teams of 69 players who have accepted invitations to the 2018 draft combine, which will be held May 16-20 in Chicago.
Around 40 of the 69 will play in competitive 5-on-5 games, while others will only conduct medical evaluations, go through team interviews, get measured and/or do athletic testing. The list of participants remains fluid, with several alternates waiting for last-minute invites as prospects elect to withdraw from the competitive action or the entire event.
While it's interesting to note which players will be in attendance, it is often just as notable to observe which players are not on the list. Because the NBA strives to invite the best prospects possible, the list gives us a pretty decent idea of which players are considered likely to be selected on draft night.
Of course, there are always outliers who get drafted without combine invites, such as Josh Richardson, Sterling Brown and Darrun Hilliard in recent years. The ultimate outlier: Oklahoma City Thunder wing Josh Huestis, who starred at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament but didn't get invited to Chicago and ended up getting picked in the first round.
Players who will attempt to join that list in 2018 include Gary Clark (No. 62 in the ESPN 100), Vincent Edwards (No. 76), MiKyle McIntosh (No. 80) and Theo Pinson (No. 89).
This year, only two players have willingly elected to decline invites to the combine: Deandre Ayton (No. 1) and Robert Williams (No. 13). That's the fewest elite prospects to turn down invites since 2009, but expect this number to rise as we get closer to May 16. Still, the fact that the NBA elected to hold the draft lottery on the day before the combine (and invite 15 elite prospects to attend the draw) likely helped combat the trend of top players skipping the event altogether.
There are 15 international players in our Top 100 still competing in-season with their teams, making them unable to participate in Chicago, including Luka Doncic (No. 2), Dzanan Musa (No. 20), Elie Okobo (No. 39) and Rodions Kurucs (No. 41).
Eight underclassmen in our Top 100 (mostly in the Nos. 70-100 range) who have yet to hire agents were not invited, perhaps a sign that NBA teams think they need to return to school for another year. That includes Florida's Jalen Hudson (No. 45), St. John's Shamorie Ponds (No. 63), Purdue's Carsen Edwards (No. 71), Texas' Kerwin Roach (No. 72) and Iowa State's Lindell Wigginton (No. 73). These players can still conduct NBA team workouts prior to the combine and in the 10 days after the event concludes, giving them a last chance to gather feedback before they likely decide to return to school.
Three underclassmen in our Top 100 who weren't invited to Chicago have already indicated their intent to hire agents and forgo NCAA eligibility: Louisville's Ray Spalding (No. 59), Texas A&M's DJ Hogg (No. 68) and Wake Forest's Doral Moore (No. 91). Their road to the NBA is far from over, but this is certainly an unexpected hurdle. Other notable underclassmen who have already hired agents but weren't invited: Lagerald Vick (Kansas), Deng Adel (Louisville), Drew Eubanks (Oregon State), Terry Larrier (UConn), Robert Franks (Washington State), Mustapha Heron (Auburn) and LiAngelo Ball (UCLA/Vytautas). Four players on our Top 100 are injured and unable to participate: SMU's Jarrey Foster (No. 56), Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson (No. 86), Texas Tech's Keenan Evans (No. 90) and Purdue's Isaac Haas (No. 99).
Finally, we would be remiss not to mention the four players who are not on the ESPN 100 who have been invited to participate at the NBA combine: Kansas' Udoka Azubuike, Georgia's Yante Maten, UCLA's Jaylen Hands and Maryland's Bruno Fernando. Clearly NBA teams see them as better prospects than we do, and they will all be entering the ESPN Top 100 in the next update.