CHICAGO – The city is the same.
But the venue, global spotlight and ultimate stakes seem to all have intensified in the 20 years that have passed since Tony Allen was an emerging prospect at the NBA Draft Combine.
As he surveyed the action on the court Monday at Wintrust Arena, the retired Grizzlies legend insisted there should be a clear approach among those working to solidify their NBA draft stock.
“Seek and destroy,” Allen surmised from a perch overlooking some of the top lottery prospects pushing through drills and workouts. “It’s, ‘I’m trying to get ahead, for sure.’ Because everybody is looking at those mock drafts, whether they’re talking about it or not. And they’re trying to move up. Then you see guys that are (supposedly) better than you, and you just want to go out here and impress. That’s the whole mindset.”
Featuring projected No. 1 pick Alex Sarr to the intrigue surrounding Bronny James, the weeklong NBA Combine opened Monday with nearly 80 draft-eligible prospects pushing through drills, measurements and meetings with NBA executives from all 30 teams.
That includes a front-office and coaching contingent from the Grizzlies, who emerged from Sunday’s NBA Lottery with the No. 9 overall pick in next month’s draft. Although president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman has indicated since last month’s season finale that the priority is to bolster the power rotation, he also stressed there are multiple options to do so.
Neither Kleiman nor vice president of player affairs Tayshaun Prince tipped their hand after the Lottery as to whether the Grizzlies would use the No. 9 pick on a post player next month. The Grizzlies options remain open, from using the draft pick to select the best available player at that time to potentially packaging the pick in a trade to land veteran help or additional assets.
“The doors that are open may well be different, depending on which players can be in a certain range, which players might be available in trades, depending on where that pick lands,” Kleiman said at last month’s season exit interviews. “That will really allow us to start working through it.”
The Grizzlies are looking to continue building around a core of Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant and Desmond Bane as they regroup from an injury-plagued 27-55 season. Memphis missed the playoffs for the first time in four years after posting the second-best record in the Western Conference in each of the previous two seasons.
And they’re drafting in the lottery for the time since selecting Morant No. 2 overall in 2019 and Jackson the previous year with the No. 4 pick in 2018.
Morant, limited to just nine games due to league suspension and season-ending shoulder surgery, vowed that it won’t take Memphis long to regain status among top contenders when healthy.
“I think we can do it next season, honestly,” Morant said entering the offseason.
For now, the franchise’s focus – and the NBA’s attention outside the playoffs – is on the Combine. Monday’s activities started with some of the more high-profile big men working their way through on-court drill stations. That initial group included Sarr, the 7-foot-1 versatile forward-center from France who is aligned with the No. 1 pick, owned by the Hawks.
Sarr spent time on the floor Monday alongside NCAA Tournament champion and UCONN center Donovan Clingan and two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Zach Edey from Purdue. Neither Sarr, Clingan or Edey are expected to participate in 5-on-5 scrimmage games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday between teams consisting of lower-tier draft prospects.
Yet, those scrimmage sessions won’t lack for attention as players work to position themselves late into the first round or onto the draft board altogether as potential second-round picks. One of the most-watched prospects in this week’s scrimmages is expected to be James, the combo guard out of USC who is the older son of NBA superstar LeBron James.
After recovering from a heart condition that limited his freshman season in college, the younger James was reportedly cleared last week by a medical panel to be draft-eligible by the NBA. Reports on Monday also indicated Bronny James is expected to remain in the draft and will bypass his option to return to college or pursue the transfer portal.
James is listed on the NBA Combine’s scrimmage roster of Team St. Andrews, which will be coached by Grizzlies assistant coach Patrick St. Andrews. Others with local ties are also participating in scrimmages, including University of Memphis standouts David Jones and Nae’Qwan Tomlin.
For Allen, being back in his hometown and in the Combine environment on the 20th anniversary of his journey to the NBA Draft, was a bit nostalgic. It was a strong combine showing in 2004, then held at Chicago’s Moody Bible College, that solidified Allen a month later as a first-round pick out of Oklahoma State when he was selected No. 25 overall by the Boston Celtics.
Competing in scrimmages allowed Allen to work his way up the draft board and into the late first round alongside the likes of Jameer Nelson, J.R. Smith, Delonte West and Kevin Martin.
Allen spent six NBA season with the Celtics, where he won a championship in 2008 before joining the Grizzlies for a decade-long stint as an architect of the beloved Grit-and-Grind era. He was a six-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection.
These days, Allen is a team ambassador. He’s not part of the front-office contingent working the Combine this week, and he’s not involved in the Grizzlies draft or personnel process.
He was simply back home, and in the neighborhood.
And thankful for the opportunity to stop by the Combine and share his perspective on the grind it takes to make a draftable impression on NBA teams during a week like this.
“Looking back at the mock drafts then, I always thought I was going to be in the second round, maybe a late first-rounder,” Allen recalled. “But the combine itself helped me get into the first round. I didn’t need all 30 teams to like me. I only needed just one. And if you can impress that one team, my dream can come true. So, this is the time to get your game on right now.”
Allen was shocked it’s been 20 years.
“Twenty, huh . . . makes me feel old,” he said before a short pause, then smile. “Old and wise.”