Trail Blazers Open Predraft Workouts With 6 Prospects
Florida's Rueben Chinyelu and former G League Ignite prospect Dink Pate headlined the Blazers' first group workout.
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📍TUALATIN, Ore. — Less than a week before the Trail Blazers find out exactly where in the draft they'll be picking, the organization held its first group workout with six prospects.
None of the six players who were at the practice facility in Tualatin on Tuesday are in contention to be drafted in the range of the Blazers' only pick, which will be in this year's lottery. These early workouts are more about getting feedback and setting a baseline.
The headliners of Tuesday's session were former G League Ignite prospect Dink Pate, who spent last season with the Mexico City Capitanes after Ignite folded, and Florida big man Rueben Chinyelu. The others were Devon Pryor, who is transferring from Texas to Oregon for next season if he doesn't stay in the draft, Wisconsin guard John Blackwell, and two Australian prospects Ben Henshall of the Perth Wildcats and Lachlan Olbrich of the Illawarra Hawks.
For the Blazers and other teams doing workouts this early, it's an opportunity to scout potential Summer League, G League and training camp invitees. For these players, who are in many cases on the border of being drafted and not, visiting NBA teams' facilities and meeting in person with coaching and front-office staffers is an opportunity to get a gauge of where they would stand if they stay in the draft.
There are two dates to watch for many of these players, both of which are after next week's predraft combine in Chicago. The NCAA's early withdrawal deadline is May 28—players who want to return to college have to withdraw from the draft by then in order to retain their college eligibility. The NBA's deadline is not until June 15—players who withdraw by then will still be draft-eligible in future years.
"It's just seeing how teams feel about me" Chinyelu said. "If there's a team that really wants me and wants to give me a contract, then I'll definitely stay in the draft. But if my feedback is that I wasn't up to what they were [expecting], I'll just go back to school and do what I have to do to get myself there [next year]."
On Monday, the Blazers and the rest of the NBA will find out their lottery position. As the 10th worst team in the NBA this season, Portland will have a 3.7 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick and a 16.9 percent chance of jumping into the top four; otherwise, the highest pick they will have is No. 10 overall. They do not have a second-round pick.
The same week as the lottery, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin and his front-office staff, along with the rest of the NBA's decision-makers and scouts, will be in Chicago watching players work out at the combine and begin meeting with players and their agents.
After that, with the draft order settled, teams will spend the next six weeks bringing players in for in-person workouts at their own facilities, much like the one the Blazers held on Tuesday.
The names in the post-lottery workouts will be much flashier than the ones that are participating in these early sessions. These ones are more exploratory and informational, both for the teams and the prospects.
"I'm not in a rush, but [I want] as much feedback as I can get, because I know there's still a lot of ways for me to grow," Pryor said. "I'm open to everybody's opinions and what they think I can do better."
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