Ex-Kansas Jayhawk Josh Jackson had a great freshman campaign, averaging 16.3 points & 7.4 rebounds on the way to winning Big-12 freshman of the year, so it’s no wonder he feels the combine couldn’t help him.
Jackson recently sat down with Rebecca Grant for an exclusive interview and touched briefly on why he feels players slotted at the top of the draft have no business attending the NBA combine:
EXCLUSIVE: #NBADraftLottery #TopPick @j_josh11 explains why he’s not going to the #NBACombine #RockChalk #Jayhawks @KUAthletics ? pic.twitter.com/ajshqWsqC8
— Rebecca Grant (@rebeccagrants) May 12, 2017
Jackson is pretty much correct. Players like him, De’Aaron Fox, Lonzo Ball, & Kevin Durant, knew were freshmen superstars with a pedigree long before they stepped foot on campus. They knew they’d be going near the top of the draft, so yes, why risk having a bad workout or an injury to drop your stock?
However, even near the top of the draft, some players are coming out with questions. Maybe they don’t need to scrimmage, but if NBA scouts are whispering about laziness or lack of quickness…things NBA teams can use to justify taking another player instead; it would be wise to do the footwork or workout drills.
So in a nutshell, Jackson is right, but every individual case is different.
