Draft is fraught with more unknowns than usual

There’s never been a class like the one up for grabs in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday night: Teams have never had more time to prepare, but they’ve never had less to work with.

Workouts and interviews have largely been conducted through Zoom instead of gyms. March Madness was canceled, denying scouts and executives one of the most critical evaluation periods for incoming talent. With conditions for next season in flux — most teams playing without fans and the likelihood of atypical travel schedules — teams have less certainty than ever about the prospects they’re considering and how they might perform.

The most coveted prospects in the draft have some of the least available film. While most of the basketball world is well acquainted with the family of 6-foot-6 guard LaMelo Ball, the youngest of the three SoCal brothers only played 12 games in Australia for the Illawarra Hawks last year. James Wiseman played just three games for Memphis before the 7-foot-1 center was hamstrung by NCAA rules and decided to pass on the rest of the season. Both are expected to be among the top three picks.

That’s the kind of mystery that shrouds this process — one in which NBA executives have reasons to feel the most prepared yet also the least confident when the draft begins at 4 p.m. PST from a studio in Bristol, Conn.

“For us, this is not a decision for one night — this is a multi-year decision,” Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said on ESPN’s “The Jump” on Tuesday. “That takes a lot of diligence. That takes a lot of time. We’ve been fortunate during this pandemic that we’ve had more than enough time to make this decision.”

Prognosticators largely observe there is no “sure thing” at the top of this draft, no one in the mold of MVP-level stars such as Anthony Davis or Luka Doncic. Even the best ones — generally regarded as Ball, Wiseman and Georgia’s Anthony Edwards — have glaring on-court weaknesses. Further down the line, there are plenty of

prospects who traditional evaluation methods would judge as hit-or-miss.

But for players such as Obi Toppin, a Dayton big man who has been a rapid riser in the draft process, the extra five months have been occupied by weight room sessions and on-thecourt workouts. He spent his offseason in New Jersey playing pick-up games with NBA players, which he says has provided valuable feedback and vaulted his confidence for when he finally plays in an NBA game.

“I feel like I’m more prepared and mentally prepared for when the time comes,” Toppin said recently. “When I’m on the court and that jump ball goes up, I feel like I’ve been waiting so long, it’s gonna be an amazing feeling.”

But since a Monday start to a wild trade season that has already seen significant shifts among NBA contenders, it’s also reasonable to think that 2020 draft picks might continue to fly around as trade capital.