Three hoopers with Pacific Northwest connections received an invite to the 2016 NBA Draft, which is to be held this Thursday, June 23rd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Representing the Washington Huskies will be Marquesse Chriss and Dejounte Murray, and representing Gonzaga is Domantas Sabonis. Chriss and Murray are the first Huskies to be invited to attend the draft since Terrance Ross in 2012.

Both Chriss and Murray were on the receiving end of a lot of criticism for coming out early as "one-and-done" players, with many initial projections pegging them towards the end of the first round if not the second. However it seems that both have made up some major ground as Chriss has even gotten a workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, who hold the no. 2 pick.

Of the two, Chriss is viewed as the one who will be selected first, due to his tremendous upside. While both are widely viewed as being more upside picks than near-finished products, Chriss has even more freakish measurables with the same, if not more athleticism. Measuring out at 6-foot-10, 233 pounds, with a 7-foot wingspan, he tantalizes NBA front offices with the movement of a guard to go along with big-man size. Plus unlike Murray, he has a jump shot. Rumors are that he will be picked within the top-5 for sure.

Murray on the other hand, has Tony Wroten written all over him. He might as well have his last name changed to Wroten to make things easier. A Seattle product, one-and-done at the UW, 6-foot-4 point guard with no jump shot, but what makes him a pro prospect is his ability to get to the cup at will. He has a 6'9 1/2" wingspan, and therefore has the potential to be a defensive star, adding to the intrigue. He definitely would have benefitted from more playing time under Lorenzo Romar, because if Tony Wroten is an example, just because you are getting paid to improve your jumper, it doesn't always come.

Proof that if nothing else, Lorenzo Romar is a fantastic recruiter lies in the fact that Washington is the only other school to have more than one former player invited to attend the draft. With the D-League's - I mean SEC's University of Kentucky being the other school with two players getting invites.

Here's a list of the other invitees:  

Wade Baldwin, Vanderbilt
Dragan Bender, Maccabi Tel Aviv
Jaylen Brown, Cal
Deyonta Davis, Michigan State
Kris Dunn, Providence
Henry Ellenson, Marquette
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Brandon Ingram, Duke
Skal Labissiere, Kentucky
Jamal Murray, Kentucky
Jakob Poeltl, Utah
Malachi Richardson, Syracuse
Ben Simmons, LSU

Photo: Flickr/Dave Sizer