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NBA Draft 2014 Rumors: Wiggins, Parker and Embiid Reportedly Skipping Combine Despite Good Health

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Arguably the first three picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid will not be taking part in the combine next week in Chicago.

First reported by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the three apparently are not hurt, a common reason for NBA prospects to skip the combine. The NBA insider called the notion that the top three draft prospects skipping the combine while healthy "unprecedented."

Unnamed NBA front office sources said they were informed of Wiggins' decision Sunday night. They said they noticed Embiid and Parker were not on a list of combine participants and that their absence influenced Wiggins to drop out as well.

"To be honest," one general manager told Yahoo Sports, "I'm surprised more guys don't do this. It's the only thing they can really control."

Embiid dealt with a bad back toward the end of his freshman season for the Kansas Jayhawks and it kept him out of the majority of the team's postseason play. However, the highly-touted seven-footer from Cameroon announced recently he is fully healthy.

Typically, draft prospects decline to participate is select aspects of the combine, but will at least submit to physicals to be distributed to general managers around the league.

Unlike Embiid, who was an utter surprise, Wiggins and Parker were highly regarded as future NBA stars before their freshman season even began. Neither sustained any injury during the season.

An ESPN NBA draft insider, Chad Ford put Wiggins atop his latest big board, followed by Parker and Embiid. Those three are widely considered to be the first three selections in any order and regardless of which teams pick where.

The 2014 NBA Draft is set to start Thursday, June 26 and the lottery drawing to determine the order will be held Tuesday, May 20.

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