Even players most project as fringe prospects are choosing to skip the 64-player, four-day postseason tournament that pits top college seniors against one another in five-on-five games in front of scouts from all 30 NBA teams.

In the past, players such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman Tim Hardaway and Ben Wallace have proven themselves in Portsmouth. And just last year, Landry Fields, now a key contributor on the New York Knicks, burst onto the scene with a strong showing at Portsmouth.

“Agents hold the players out and I think a lot of them make a mistake,” said Ryan Blake, the NBA’s assistant director of scouting. “They can make the NBA here. You can become a first-round draft pick here. But now we’ve got [21] people that pulled out, and as a result, you’re going to have 15 guys that don’t get into Chicago, and they’ll probably not get drafted. Sometimes you can’t just blame the player; you blame bad advice.”

This year 172 credentials were handed out to NBA personnel, including a record 13 from the Knicks.