The next step has arrived for Kansas point guard Devon Dotson.
According to Dotson’s father, Dana Dotson, the KU freshman who finished as the Jayhawks’ fourth leading scorer and led the team in assists and steals during first season in Lawrence, has received an invitation to the NBA’s pre-draft combine, slated for May 14-19 in Chicago.
Dotson, who has spent the past couple of weeks working out in The Windy City in preparation for his shot at the combine, was one of four Jayhawks to throw his name into the draft pool before the deadline, joining Dedric Lawson, Quentin Grimes and Silvio De Sousa.
All four now have decisions to make and skills to showcase and each is taking advantage of the new rules that allow underclassmen to declare for the draft, hire an agent and yet still return to school if they desire. The deadline to pull out of the draft and return to school is May 29.
Whether you’re a lottery pick with a multi-million dollar future or a fringe player just trying to find his way into the draft, the decisions that are made leading up to team workouts, the combine and the June draft can be stressful, intimidating and overwhelming.
But that’s not the case for Dotson, who is moving forward with the idea of improving as much as possible and showcasing his skills to get accurate feedback from NBA folks about his chances in this summer’s draft.
Sure, the stakes are high and the situation is serious. But Dotson is looking at his current circumstances with a best-of-both-worlds view.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s a win-win scenario,” the 6-foot-2 point guard who earned all-freshman honors in the Big 12 this season said after the Jayhawks’ season-ending banquet earlier this month. “I feel like I can’t lose from this situation that I’ve put myself in and I feel like there’s no negatives to the process.”
Shortly after Dotson declared for the 2019 draft, his father told the Journal-World that his son was on “an information-seeking quest.”
Dotson confirmed as much during his recent meeting with the media and explained in a little more detail exactly what he was looking for from the next few weeks.
“Just feedback from NBA personnel and getting the feedback of where I’m at and things I can get better on,” Dotson said. “I’m taking the process very seriously and just hoping for the best.”
The full list of combine invitees has not been released and the process has changed a bit from years past. What used to include a total of around 70 combine participants now has been expanded to include invitations to likely G League candidates and alternates, as well.
Dotson, Grimes and Lawson received full combine invitations and De Sousa was invited to the G League combine, which also will be held in Chicago May 12-14, during the three days leading up to the main event.
According to ESPN.com draft expert Jonathan Givony, this year’s early-entry list included 233 prospects, 175 college underclassmen and 58 international players.
Considering the June draft includes just two rounds and 60 picks, there clearly are some tough decisions ahead for a bunch of draft hopefuls.
