In a rare occurrence, the invitations to the NBA draft green room possibly will not include a non-collegiate player, league sources told ESPN.
ESPN’s second-rated prospect, Slovenian Luka Doncic, will not be attending the draft unless his Real Madrid season in the Spanish ACB league ends with a playoff loss on Tuesday. Otherwise, Doncic will have another playoff game Friday and will be unable to travel to Thursday night’s draft.
No other non-college prospect made the cut of those the NBA expects to be selected in the first round at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The green room is a staging area near the draft podium where players, families and associates await commissioner Adam Silver to call a player’s name upon selection.
Among the known invitations: Arizona’s Deandre Ayton, Duke’s Marvin Bagley III, Michigan State’s Jaren Jackson Jr., Texas’ Mo Bamba, Alabama‘s Collin Sexton, Oklahoma’s Trae Young, Duke’s Wendell Carter Jr., Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., Villanova’s Mikal Bridges, Kentucky’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, Kentucky’s Kevin Knox, Texas A&M’s Robert Williams, Miami’s Lonnie Walker, Villanova’s Donte DiVincenzo, Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, Boston College’s Jerome Robinson, Boise State’s Chandler Hutchison and UCLA’s Aaron Holiday.