The NBA is making progress on plans for a virtual concept combination that will be held on regional sites throughout September, sources told ESPN.
Formal plans could be completed and shared with teams next week, sources said.
In what is likely to become one of the most wide-ranging design processes in years to come, leading players would attend selected regional team facilities across the country, sources said. The plan would include team physicians administering physics at local hospitals and league officials recording body measurements and placing players through physical tests at team facilities, sources said.
The NBA has not yet made a final decision on the location or format for the October draft event, sources said.
The NBA canceled the original pre-draft combination in Chicago, which was scheduled for May, and it configured a virtual plan in a way that would limit travel and change the number of players at each location. The combined sites would include coronavirus testing for participants, sources said.
The NBA is conducting its draft lottery to determine the selection destination from 1 to 14 on Thursday night from Secaucus, New Jersey.
It is unlikely that many, if any, top 2020 concept perspectives would agree with the workout sessions that would be virtually shared with the teams of the combined sites. But there will be an opportunity for players who want to be evaluated in a limited combined workout environment to do so for NBA teams, sources said.
Agents are careful to check what NBA evaluators can testify in the pre-draft process and typically invite NBA drivers for pre-draft proceedings – which were not allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the outbreak, teams are not allowed to do anything with potential picks, except for virtual interviews. Teams can request that players participate in virtual interviews from the Combine sites, just as they can in Chicago during the annual combine. Those interviews are usually 30 minutes each. Teams often ask for interviews with players they may not be able to convince to come to their cities and facilities to conduct longer workouts and meetings.
So far, it is unclear whether players at any point will be allowed to travel to the cities of teams that want to consider selecting them. Currently, the NBA has banned personal meetings and workouts. Agents are also prohibited from sending teams video of player workouts prior to the league’s original shutdown on March 11th.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz contributed to this report.
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