Ben Simmons to forgo NBA draft combine
The 2016 NBA Draft Combine will be without at least one notable name.
Ben Simmons - the No. 2 prospect, according to DraftExpress - won't attend the event next month, which will be headlined by Duke's Brandon Ingram (No. 1), California's Jaylen Brown (No. 4), and Providence's Kris Dunn (No. 5).
It's not uncommon for top prospects to forgo the combine, as Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor chose to skip the event last year, while Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Jabari Parker failed to show in 2014. Agents prefer to have their clients skip the combine to avoid the exhaustive medical screening that prospects are subject to, according to DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony.
Top international prospect Dragan Bender will also miss out on the combine, as he finishes up his season with Maccabi Tel Aviv.