UCLA Basketball: Three Bruins heading to the NBA Combine
UCLA basketball’s Aaron Holiday, Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes are all headed to the NBA Combine which takes place in Chicago next week.
Three UCLA basketball players will be heading to the NBA Combine next week, one to try to improve his stock and two looking to get feedback about their chances in the NBA Draft.
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As of now, Aaron Holiday is the only Bruin from last season that looks to have a legimate chance of being selected in the 2018 NBA Draft. He made a formal announcement about foregoing his final season of eligibility at UCLA and is projected to be a late first-round to early second-round selection.
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Last season, Holiday led the Pac-12 in scoring with 20.3 ppg and was second in assist with 5.8. Time and time again he was able to put the Bruins on his back as he led his squad to impressive victories over Kentucky, Arizona and USC.
Hands and Wilkes are taking a different path, it seems, as it seems that neither are locks for the draft. Both have declared, but are simply “testing the waters” as they have not hired agents, leaving the door open for a return to Westwood. At the Combine, both Hands and Wilkes will also look to improve their stock, though the information they receive could be along the lines of what they need improve on with another year in college.
Both Hands and Wilkes had impressive outings throughout last season, but the big issue is that they did not do it consistently. Hands sometimes had ball control issues and Wilkes would sporadically run cold with his outside shooting. The upside to both is that they are very athletic and can score at will when so inclined. Wilkes was second on the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) while Hands was 4th (9.9 ppg).
The National Basketball Association announced today that 69 players are expected to attend the 2018 NBA Draft Combine. The following is the list: pic.twitter.com/3YUCihCVY7
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 7, 2018
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The NBA Combine takes place int Quest Multisport in Chicago, Illinois from Wednesday, May 16 to Sunday, May 20 and will be televised on ESPN or you can stream it from WatchESPN.