NBA Draft Rumors: Will Missing Workouts Hurt Luka Doncic's Stock?
Real Madrid's Luka Doncic is one of the players expected to go early in this year's NBA draft, and some analysts have even indicated that he could be selected first overall.
Obviously, before a team spends such a valuable resource on a player, that franchise would like to know all it can about the prospect in question first, but the thing is, that may not be possible with Doncic.
Speaking recently to the Sporting News, Doncic's agent, Bill Duffy, revealed that the 19-year-old Slovenian will be unavailable to take part in individual pre-draft workouts, not even for the team that snags the first overall pick in the draft.
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Duffy said that Doncic will be unable to attend those workouts because he is still fully committed to his current team.
Doncic is expected to play in Real Madrid's upcoming postseason games, and doing that is expected to keep him busy throughout the rest of this month and in June as well.
So, will the teams with the highest draft picks suddenly become hesitant to select Doncic because he will be absent throughout most of the pre-draft process?
Well, teams would probably prefer to bring Doncic in just to get a closer look at him and his abilities, but missing workouts will not mean that the Slovenian will suddenly slide down draft boards.
For one thing, scouts will still be able to evaluate Doncic while he continues to play for Real Madrid during those postseason games.
Another reason why missing workouts may not hurt Doncic at all is that he's always seemed like a player who is best evaluated when he's on the court playing with teammates and against others.
The Ringer's draft guide points out that Doncic's passing is one of the real strengths of his game, and individual workouts will do little to shed more light on just how good he is at that aspect of basketball.
Now, the individual workouts could have offered greater insight into just how athletic Doncic is, but that was never his selling point anyway.
The teams that are already harboring concerns about Doncic's level of athleticism are probably not going to take him first overall anyway, but those who don't feel like that is such a big deal are still likely enamored with him.
Where Doncic will ultimately go when draft night comes remains a mystery at this point, but there's a good chance that his decision not to take part in pre-draft workouts will have no bearing on what happens on June 21.
Along with Doncic, other players who have been mentioned as potential number one overall picks include DeAndre Ayton of the Arizona Wildcats and Marvin Bagley III of the Duke Blue Devils.
Ayton's case for being the first player taken overall is based on the potential he has to be the next do-it-all big man in the NBA. Bagley, meanwhile, is winning scouts over with his relentless style of play and top-notch athleticism.
More news about the upcoming NBA draft should be made available in the near future.
