Washington State basketball: CJ Elleby invited to NBA Pre-Draft Combine
Chip Clark
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CJ Elleby, the Washington State Cougars 2019-20 All-Pac-12 basketball star, was one of 85 hopefuls invited to the NBA pre-draft combine.
Former Washington State Cougars guard CJ Elleby declared for the NBA Draft after the NCAA canceled the rest of the college basketball season in March. Since then, he’s been getting ready to impress league scouts. He’ll get his chance to do just that over the next month.
The combine is Elleby’s chance to impress. Wazzu fans saw him light up the court in Pullman last year. The 6-6, 200-pound swingman averaged 18.4 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Cougs. His efforts earned him first-team All-Pac-12 honors. It was good enough to get him an invite to the combine as one of the top 85 prospects.
2020 NBA Draft and Combine
Along with everything else in 2020, the NBA offseason will be completely different this year. Usually, the draft is in May, but that date went out the window with COVID-19. When the NBA announced its restart, they moved the annual event to mid-October. It moved once again this week to November 18.
The predraft process is new too. In standard times, the NBA holds a combine for teams to meet prospective players. Like the NFL, combine prospects are measured, put through drills, and meet one on one with prospective employers.
In 2020, the difference in how the combine works is that the whole process will be virtual. Among other things, player physicals and measurements are held at the NBA facility closest to the player, interviews are via video conference, as will individual standard drills. Other drills can be put together by the players themselves and sent to central scouting, which is an opportunity to control the narrative more than in years past.
Unfortunately, Elleby still doesn’t show up on many expert’s big boards. Aside from nbadraft.net which has him 39th, the other boards he shows up on don’t have him in their top 60. If he doesn’t get drafted, Elleby said he is OK with signing as a free agent and proving it in the NBA’s developmental G-League.
Do you think CJ Elleby will join Washington State alums Aron Baynes and Klay Thompson in the NBA next year? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.