Sources: Duke, UK stars among draft invitees
The NBA is expected to invite at least 20 players to the draft next Thursday in Brooklyn, with as many as three off national champion Duke, two from national runner-up Wisconsin and four representing 38-1 Kentucky, multiple sources with knowledge of the list said.
Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones will be in attendance, sources said. So, too, will Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, as well as Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and Devin Booker.
Towns is the favorite to be the top pick when the Minnesota Timberwolves select No. 1 at the Barclays Center on Thursday night (ESPN, 7 ET).
Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell, expected to be picked in the top four, as well as 7-foot-1 Latvian Kristaps Porzingis also will be in attendance, sources said. Porzingis, who worked out in Las Vegas on June 12 in front of representatives of all 30 teams, could fall anywhere among the top five picks, with sources saying the Orlando Magic are unlikely to pass on him if available at No. 5. A number of NBA sources have said Porzingis could be the best player in this draft, but some teams may shy away from taking him over a more established name like Towns, Okafor or Russell.
Emmanuel Mudiay, who is from Dallas, signed at SMU but instead chose to play professionally in China, is also a lottery lock and a candidate to be picked among the top five. He joins Arizona’s Stanley Johnson, Texas’ Myles Turner, Murray State’s Cameron Payne and Kansas’ Kelly Oubre as invitees, sources said.
The rest of the invites, according to multiple sources, are expected to be Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arkansas’ Bobby Portis, Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter and Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant.
Mario Hezonja, a 6-7 Croatian, is considered a lock for the lottery as well, but he is still playing for FC Barcelona in Europe and may not be able to attend Thursday’s draft, sources said.
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