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Now Ford is lauding the opportunity to be the first in the world to see the next Phoenix Sun walking up to David Stern for a handshake sometime about 4:55pm on Thursday, June 27. He dreams of watching that draft pick don a Suns cap, flash those pearly whites and point to the sky over his great fortune.
Ford anticipates standing as close to the dais as possible, hoping to lock eyes with the kid and maybe even share the knuck-bump as he heads off to his first NBA interview as a Sun.
Ford loves the Suns.
Amiright, Suns fans?
Seriously though, Ford did post the names of the first ten NBA players who were invited to sit in the 'green room' on Draft Night.
Those invited are: Nerlens Noel (Kentucky); Victor Oladipo (Indiana); Otto Porter (Georgetown); Alex Len (Maryland); Anthony Bennett (UNLV); Ben McLemore (Kansas); Trey Burke (Michigan); Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse); C.J. McCollum (Lehigh) and Cody Zeller (Indiana).
Surprisingly, the top ten invited to ESPN's 'green room' are the same top ten that Ford lists on the ESPN Big Board for 2013.
Hand to mouth.
ESPN is airing the broadcast, and somehow perchance the first ten players invited are the top ten on Ford's Big Board. But Ford does introduce some room for differences, though there were none.
NBA general managers are polled to determine which players are likely to be drafted in the lottery.
In the past, the NBA has expanded the list of green room invites as the draft date nears. Typically, the NBA has invited 13-to-15 players.
This year, the league has told a number of agents it may add a few names to the list as the draft approaches.
In 2011, the NBA invited both Morris brothers to the 'green room' despite being ranked only 21 and 22 by Ford. This year, Ford names a few guys who could get the late call:
Several others players, including Georgia's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Pittsburgh's Steven Adams, UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad, Russia's Sergey Karasev, Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk and Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo, could be extended invites.
Ford inexplicably left Rudy Gobert off the list of possible late invites. Not sure how that happened, but I'm sure there will be a retraction/apology/re-write very soon. Possibly later tonight.