Tuesday Discussion: Injured Draftees?

Two of the bigger prospects in this year's draft -- Anthony Bennett and Alex Len -- are coming off injury.

Len suffered an ankle stress fracture that will leave him sidelined for months. Following the discovery of the partial stress fracture, Len had surgery and wasn't able to participate in this month's pre-draft combine (though he was measured). By all appearances, Len will be selected in the lottery, if not the top 10; Draft Express currently has him slotted into the 6th spot.

Bennett had surgery on May 7th to deal with a torn rotator cuff. His timeline for recovery sounds similar to Len's, if not longer. For now, he too remains in the top 6ish spots of the draft, with Washington, Charlotte, and Phoenix all serving as potential destinations.

Len and Bennett have had plenty of on-floor time this year of course, with both players getting 27 minutes a night over 38 and 34 games respectively. In terms of video footage and draft analysis, scouts probably won't be treating Len and Bennett too differently from those that were able to make the combine. But it's an open question whether the lack of individual pre-draft workouts as well as the potential of lingering long-term injury effects sway teams into dropping them.