NBA nearing final steps on moving draft combine to a virtual event at regional sites, sources say

The NBA is progressing on plans for a virtual draft combine to be held at regional sites throughout September, sources told ESPN.

Formal plans could be completed and shared with teams in the next week, sources said.

In what's likely to become one of the most wide-open draft processes in years, prospective players would attend selected regional team facilities throughout the country, sources said. The plan would include team doctors administering physicals at local hospitals and league officials recording body measurables and putting players through physical testing at team facilities, sources said.

The NBA still hasn't made a final determination on the location or format for the Oct. 16 draft event, sources said.

The NBA canceled the original pre-draft combine in Chicago that was scheduled for May, and it reconfigured a virtual plan in a way that would limit travel and modify the number of players at any single location. The combine sites would include coronavirus testing for participants, sources said.

The NBA is conducting its draft lottery to determine the selection order from 1 to 14 on Thursday night from Secaucus, New Jersey.

It is unlikely that many, if any, top 2020 draft prospects would agree to the workout sessions that would be shared virtually with the league's teams from the combine sites. But there will be an opportunity for players who want to be evaluated in a limited combine workout environment to do so for NBA teams, sources said.

Agents are careful to control what NBA evaluators are able to witness in the pre-draft process and typically invite NBA executives to pre-draft pro day sessions -- which won't be allowed this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of the outbreak, teams haven't been allowed to do anything with prospective picks, save for virtual interviews. Teams can request that players participate in virtual interviews from the combine sites, just like they can do so in Chicago during the annual combine. Those interviews are typically 30 minutes each. Teams often ask for interviews with players whom they might be unable to convince to come into their cities and facilities to conduct lengthier workouts and meetings.

So far, it is unclear whether players will be allowed at any point to travel to the cities of teams that would want to consider selecting them. Currently, the NBA has prohibited in-person meetings and workouts. Agents also are prohibited from sending teams video of player workouts preceding the league's original shutdown on March 11.

ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz contributed to this report.