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Less than a month after earning MVP Honors at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, BYU product Brandon Davies has marked the next significant milestone in his quest to make an NBA roster.
On Thursday, Davies' name was included on the list of 60 players invited by the NBA to its draft combine in Chicago. The event is scheduled for May 16th and 17th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. MDT each day, and will be televised on ESPNU.
Davies is one of two West Coast Conference prospects to receive combine invitations; the other is projected lottery pick Kelly Olynyk of Gonzaga. Olynyk's teammate Elias Harris and St. Mary's star Matthew Dellavedova were not among those on the 60-player roster.
With a strong finish to his senior season and his performance in Portsmouth, Davies has gone from an under-the-radar option to a possible if not likely second-round selection. NBA writer and columnist David Aldridge lists Davies as the 10th-best power forward prospect in the upcoming NBA Draft (June 27th in Brooklyn).
"Davies has been solid the last two seasons," writes Aldridge, "including a senior season when he averaged 17.7 ppg and 8.0 rpg for the Cougars, finishing 29th in the country in PER (27.65) and earning all-West Coast Conference team honors."
After the BYU season concluded, Cougar head coach Dave Rose addressed Davies' NBA potential and said "absolutely," when asked whether Davies could turn into a draft pick. "Right now the odds are against that, but he can work his way through it."
"(The NBA draft combine) is probably the biggest goal for him right now," said Rose at the time. "There's no way to trick your way into Chicago. NBA teams have a list of who they want there, and that's who shows up there. We need to get Brandon in enough GMs' curiosity level that they want to see him there."
Clearly, Davies has interested enough of the decision-makers in NBA front-offices to earn the Chicago invite. The next step is showing well enough to go from curiosity to a player expecting to hear his name called seven weeks from tonight.
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