The good news is that the Chicago Bulls have a brand new front office, with two new, really smart guys from outside the organization leading the franchise into a new era of Bulls basketball. They’ll also soon have a new head coach, and, for the first time in a long time, a pick that’s NOT No. 7 in the draft. The bad news is that thanks to the pandemic, scouting players is much tougher than ever. And in a draft with no clear cut hierarchy near the top, that was a particularly frustratingly reality for a team with the No. 4 overall pick and a greater need to get it right than most. But now everything’s changed.
Against the backdrop of pushing the draft back yet again, the league has made progress in actually giving teams a chance to scout the players they’ll eventually select:
Sources: The NBA is planning for Draft Combine process beginning later this month with two parts:
– Mid-September to early October: In-market medicals and on-court; virtual interviews
– Mid-October to Draft date: In-person interviews; no workouts— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 11, 2020
Charania expands on this news here at The Athletic:
The NBA is planning a Draft Combine process beginning later this month and in two parts:
— Mid-September to early October: In-market medical exams and on-court drills and virtual interviews.
— Mid-October to Draft date: Teams will be able to conduct in-person interviews with prospects — but no workouts.
Also of note, the NBA and G League, which have already acquired several top prospects such as Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga for the new elite team Ignite, now have significant interest in pursuing top international players prior to their draft season.
The league is also reportedly planning for the draft to happen on November 18th, 2020, and remember, we know the next NBA season isn’t going to start until at least Christmas day.
For a team that’s still without a head coach, I can’t say I hate the continued delay of these big league dates. That certainly gives the deliberate Arturas Karnisovas more time to work through things on his terms.