2023 NBA Draft Combine: Zach Edey, Oscar Tshiebwe decisions among top storylines

With the lottery, some game action and various drills in the books for players in the 2023 class, NBA Draft Combine week is in full swing and the countdown has hit 35 days to the big night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 

The lead headline was an obvious one in Chicago, as the San Antonio Spurs will go home as the golden ticket winner, being awarded the No. 1 pick in the draft and therefore, 7-foot-3 Frenchman Victor Wembanyama. 

The debate will ramp up as to what happens at No. 2 and No. 3 with the Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers selecting at those slots, respectively. The Hornets are expected to choose between Alabama’s Brandon Miller or G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson. 

But beyond those top stories, there’s plenty of variance in this draft class, which has made this a pivotal combine week … well, for some.

Here are 10 thoughts from the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.

1. The NBA’s changes to the combine coming in 2024 are needed.

The majority of the top prospects in this year's draft class aren’t participating in the 5-on-5 contests and drills laid out for evaluators to watch. That diminishes the whole point of the event, and while it’s understandable for players and agents to be aware of their draft stock and fearful of hurting it, the fact is that changes need to be made as this is a big part of the combine.

Some evaluators aren’t even focused on the action because none of the players on their draft boards are participating in activities this week. Thanks to the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, this won’t be an issue in 2024. While players won’t be required to do 5-on-5 scrimmages, they will be required to go through drills, strength and agility testing, medical exams and more. A player who does not go through this will be ineligible for the draft. While scrimmage action has typically never been an area for top prospects to compete, the belief is that these requirements will lead to more players being involved than what we saw on Wednesday. 

2. Twin brothers receiving a lot of buzz.

If this is any other draft year besides this one with Wembanyama, and next year with the likelihood of Bronny James declaring early, Amen and Ausar Thompson would absolutely be the main storyline. The twin brothers, who are locks to go in the top 10 of this year's draft, are unique in that they took the non-traditional route of Overtime Elite, a six-team league based out of Georgia that just concluded its second season. Both brothers stand at 6-7 and feature elite athleticism, making them highly desirable. Amen is projected as a top-four pick due to his exceptional ball handling abilities, while Ausar is not far behind.  Need to know more about them? Here’s our latest mock draft. 

3. Two Michigan Wolverines will go in the first round, but who will go first? 

Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard both have a ton of upside, and it’s interesting because the opinions seem to differ from evaluator to evaluator on who they like more. The way Bufkin finished his sophomore season, averaging 17 points per game while shooting 45% from 3, was really encouraging and allowed for his stock to build. When you combine that with his playmaking ability and his defensive intensity, there’s a lot of lottery buzz surrounding Bufkin. That said, there are some out there who still prefer Howard between the two Wolverines. He is an elite shooter, and there are no changes needed to his release and mechanics. Howard is a knockdown guy from all over the floor and as the son of a 19-year NBA player and a coach, Howard’s feel for the game is on point. While Michigan will lose a lot of talent from last year's group, it should be a special night for the Wolverines at the draft and an emotional scene for the Howard family. 

4. There’s a lot of good buzz surrounding Jalen Hood-Schifino.

"He saved Indiana’s season in a lot of ways," one team representative told FOX Sports on Tuesday when asked about the Hoosiers' one-and-done prospect. Between his 6-4 frame with a 6-10 wingspan and the muscle he’s added, there’s a lot of love from evaluators when it comes to Hood-Schifino. The way he took on the point guard slot for Mike Woodson after Xavier Johnson went down this past season kept the Hoosiers from going in the wrong direction. A 35-point, seven-rebound performance in a Saturday primetime game on FOX back on Feb. 25 was his way of showing everyone just how much upside he has. While the perimeter shot could use some work, the way Hood-Schifino evolved as a playmaker and defender in just one year of college basketball was impressive. 

5. Zach Edey and Oscar Tshiebwe are both testing the waters. Both should come back to college. 

Right now, the wealth of NIL opportunities offered to the top stars in the sport mean that it’s valuable to come back to school to finish off a degree(s) and take advantage of your brand. When Tshiebwe came back to Kentucky last year, it marked the first time a defending Naismith Player of the Year returned to school since Tyler Hansbrough in 2008-09. Edey is likely to make it back-to-back years when he does in fact decide, and as a result, Purdue is tracking to be a preseason top-five team. John Calipari did not get Hunter Dickinson, so he’d like to have Tshiebwe back, but it doesn’t seem like the Kentucky product is as much of a lock as Edey seems to be. I think at the end of the day, it’s in both players’ best interest to return to school, and we will see them back. 

6. The key UConn decision: Andre Jackson 

The do-it-all Swiss Army Knife for Dan Hurley’s Huskies did participate in scrimmages on Wednesday and by all accounts, it only helped his stock. Jackson is looking like a first-round pick and those around his circle tell FOX Sports that the lean is he will stay in the draft and call it a career at UConn – but of course, these cases are extremely fluid and a return to Storrs can never be completely ruled out.

Jackson has genuinely liked being at UConn and playing for a passionate fan base in the Big East. At 6-6 with a 6-10 wingspan and top-level speed, Jackson can switch on anybody defensively, and he’s a playmaker on the offensive end. Averaging 6.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on the Huskies' national title run, the one knock was his perimeter shooting. But, Jackson shot 16-for-25 in 3-point drills earlier this week, something evaluators liked to see. My take: Jackson should stay in the draft. The stock and momentum for him to do so may never be better. 

7. Marquette’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper picking up steam on boards.

Look out for Prosper, who is a versatile and explosive athlete that has shown the ability to be a knockdown shooter. Between a 40.5-inch max vertical leap and a 35-inch standing vertical leap, Prosper’s athleticism checked out as he was among the best in testing and in scrimmages, recording 21 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. The NBA is all about positional size on the wing and Prosper fits that. He also won a lot of games at the college level, having played a key role in Shaka Smart’s offense as Marquette won the Big East regular season and tournament titles while notching 29 victories on the year. Scoring performances of 29 against St. John’s and 24 against Baylor certainly showed that he can get into microwave mode when his shot is in rhythm. Watch out for this prospect. 

8. A Santa Clara Bronco is making headlines at the combine for a second straight year.

A year after Jalen Williams shined at the combine and went from off the radar to being the Oklahoma City Thunder’s No. 12 pick, there’s another Santa Clara Bronco helping his cause this week: Brandin Podziemski. 

After a quiet year at Illinois, he transferred to the WCC and flourished this past season, averaging 19.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 48% from the floor and hitting 81 triples to the tune of 43%. The offensive skill set is really intriguing. There are some questions about Podziemski's athleticism, but his vertical jump did stand at 39 inches. He’s an example of a guy who needed the scrimmages to show evaluators that he has in fact gotten better. 

9. There’s so much to like about Jaime Jaquez.

The 22-year-old UCLA Bruins great had a remarkable four-year career that included three runs to the Sweet 16 and a Final Four in his sophomore season. For all the talk about his quickness and verticality perhaps being flaws, Jaquez showed in Chicago that he’s a better athlete than he’s getting credit for, posting a 39-inch vertical. One scout likens him to some of the Villanova players (Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, etc) in recent years in the way that Jaquez just willed his team to victories over the course of his college career and made clutch play after clutch play. At 6-6 and 225 pounds, scouts like his unique size and his fundamentals. Jaquez is a quality defender as well as a pull-up shooter, and if the perimeter game keeps climbing, he could carve out a nice rotation role for a team. More than anything, his character as a California kid had Mick Cronin call him a "dream" to coach. 

[UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr.: Putting the Bruins ‘back on the map’]

10. A really curious case entering NBA Draft night and beyond: The previous No. 1 recruit out of high school in the 2023 class … until he wasn’t — GG Jackson.

Last July, the top high school recruit in the 2023 cycle announced he was decommitting from North Carolina. Jackson then committed to South Carolina, and in the process announced he was reclassifying to enroll and play in the 2022-23 campaign. That leads us to this week, where Jackson is the youngest player in this draft class and won’t turn 19 until Dec. 17. This past year, he averaged 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Gamecocks. 

There are some evaluators who believe Jackson could be the steal of the draft. There are others who might take him late-first, or could even see him dropping out of the first round. He’s a 6-6 wing with a 6-11 wingspan and a tremendous frame that is NBA ready. The shot has nice potential, and he can create off the dribble, but at South Carolina, he struggled to be efficient. What he did do was show an ability to run the floor well and finish in transition. Watching him in workouts and looking at his physical traits makes you think that he could be getting undervalued. Nobody will be at fault for taking him in the back-half of the first round, and this type of class – which has mixed reviews – is where betting on upside might be the move. It will be very intriguing to see where Jackson lands. 

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.