John Blackwell was not invited to the NBA Draft Combine, which, in a way, already helped indicate how the NBA views Blackwell: not ready yet. However, he has yet to pull his name out as he continues to do his due diligence. He's had a couple of workouts with NBA teams like the Portland Trailblazers and the Milwaukee Bucks. There could be others, too, that haven't been reported.
Those workouts are doing what he wanted by entering into the NBA Draft, giving him the feedback he needs. The plan has always been to test the waters, learn what needs to be learned, play for Wisconsin, and become a high pick next year. That all being said, there is always a part of this decision that changes if the cards fall right. We see it happening with other players who planned to do the same thing as Blackwell but now are remaining in the draft. Why? They were told they should and that they would be a high enough selection to justify it.
However, that may be the very reason why the NBA Combine has made the decision for John Blackwell.
The amount of players staying in the NBA Draft is pushing John Blackwell further down the draft lists.
The NBA Draft Combine is hurting Blackwell's NBA chances for this year because players who perform well at the combine are opting to stay in. Carter Bryant from Arizona and Thomas Sober from Georgetown have already made the decision, but it looks likely that Cedric Coward, Yaxel Lendenborg, and RJ Luis are planning to stay in the NBA Draft.
Those players staying in only push Blackwell further down the lists, and he doesn't have the same luxury that they do. He wasn't invited to the combine, so he can't show off his skills.
Not being invited to the combine and then watching players stay in the NBA Draft after the combine is a big reason why John Blackwell may be back at Wisconsin next season.
It was unlikely that Blackwell would stay in the NBA Draft this season, but it seems as if the decision is slowly being made for him. He does have until May 29 to decide for sure, but the reasons are piling up for him to have one more season at Wisconsin and then make his NBA dream a reality.