How the NBA Combine Could Impact Amari Allen's Future: Just a Minute

The NBA Combine begins in just four days, as Alabama prospects Labaron Philon Jr. and Amari Allen hope to improve their draft stock and showcase their skills in front of the league's scouts and coaches in Chicago.

Philon wrapped up his sophomore year in Tuscaloosa with Third Team All-American and First Team All-SEC honors. He's widely projected to be selected within the first 15 picks of the 2026 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 23.

Last year, Philon declared for the draft following his freshman campaign and he competed at the NBA Combine. But after evaluation from the league's coaches and scouts, he decided to withdraw at the deadline and return to Alabama.

Allen could take a similar path. He said immediately after the season-ending loss to Michigan in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 that he'll "definitely be back here next year...unless my agent says the NBA is the best option." Allen declared for the draft on April 19, but his announcement also included that he's maintaining his collegiate eligibility.

Allen will compete in various drills next week, and his performance in them will determine his placement in the draft. Coaches and scouts will inform him and his agent of where he's truly projected to be picked after the NBA Combine.

As of Wednesday, several outlets, including ESPN, The Athletic and CBS Sports, have Allen being picked in the later portion of the first round. He's mostly in the 20-25 range, but there are a few outliers on both edges of that sword.

Allen started in 24 of his 32 games played this past season, as he averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.7 blocks. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week three times, which led to him being named one of five players on the All-SEC Freshman Team.

He was consistently featured in the first round of mocks for the 2026 NBA Draft throughout the season. Head coach Nate Oats was adamant that NBA teams would want him because he's "all about winning," and Nick Saban was also impressed by him when he attended a game.

However, he hit a bit of a slump in March, as his numbers in every stat category took a dip. Allen's projections proceeded to move from the late teens to the mid-20s/early second round of the draft, and it's a big reason why he could return to Alabama for 2026-27 pending his NBA Combine performance.

Should Allen thrive at the NBA Combine, it's likely that he'd stay in the draft process, as he could hear his name called even earlier than the aforementioned projections. But if he stumbles a bit during some of the shooting drills and doesn't love what he hears from front offices, a return to Tuscaloosa is a realistic possibility.

Should he return, pending Aden Holloway's legal battle, Allen would become the primary scoring option and leader of Alabama's roster. Those who stay in Oats' system improve significantly from Year 1 to Year 2, as Herb Jones, Mark Sears, Grant Nelson and Philon are just a few great examples of that.

The deadline to withdraw from the 2026 NBA Draft is May 27. What should Allen do?

Oats was asked on April 29 how he's viewing Allen at the NBA Combine. Here's everything he said...

"Here's my philosophy on all of this: it's win-win-win all around," Oats said. "I've said this with everyone of our guys. I remember talking to [Josh] Primo about it, [Noah] Clowney about it. Look, if you play well enough to get drafted, we did a great job, we're going to use it with all of the next recruits, which we currently are. Primo, Clowney, Kira [Lewis]. All these guys that left after the first year they could leave.

"If Amari plays well enough [at the NBA Combine] that he's going to be top half of the first round, we did a great job. We'll use it for all these kids moving forward. Great for him and his family. Shoot, I go back to when I was a high school coach and you're in the gym with these guys non-stop and you think about the goals they have and trying to make it and the joy that brings being in the green room. I plan on being there with [Labaron] Philon this year. I was there with Brandon [Miller] and Clowney.

"Hopefully he plays great. It's a lot different, you see everybody come back to college now. If a kid is not 100 percent ready to step in, and it's not just the basketball side, if you're 19, 20-year-old kid, you're stepping in there with grown men. The fact that we've been able to pay players like we've been able to do in college, I think the product on the floor is way better in college because of it. I think the product in the NBA is going to get better because of it because guys have to be ready on all fronts before they go or you just don't have to go.

"Hopefully he does great. He's definitely getting better, when I went up there and watched him work out [on April 28]. If we get a chance to coach him for another year, great too. Whatever happens, happens. I'm going to be super happy for him. He's going to be one of the best players in college basketball next year if we get him or he's going be a guy that came in and one year, out-did all the rankings. He was not McDonald's [All-American] and any of that stuff. We're win-win-win on all fronts on that."

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