NBA Draft: Green Room Invitations Announced

June 28, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; A general view of the first round draft board at the conclusion of the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

One of my favorite things about the NBA draft is the green room. For those who don’t know what that is, the green room is where expected high draft picks hang out, waiting to be drafted so they can go up and shake David Stern’s hand.

Back in the day, anyone could show up and go to the green room. That led to moments like Rashard Lewis being left to languish all the way into the second round before finally being picked, embarassed and defeated. Though it might sound terrible, it made for great television.

Nowadays, the NBA has changed the process around, the now send out invitations to top prospects to sit in the green room. Today, Yahoo has reported that that invitees have been announced.

"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)."

Among those listed, there are only a few that might free fall lower than expected. Those players would be Cody Zeller, Michael Carter Williams, CJ McCollum and possibly Anthony Bennet. With Bennett, I expect that if he is not drafted early on in the first round, he might fall to the double digits but it is not likely.

Ultimately, there will probably not be any disappointments on the level of the Rashard Lewis saga. To make up for that fact, one can only hope that a few late round prospects, or even second rounders, pay their own way to the draft and sit in the crowd in order to surprise Stern with an unannounced appearance.