NBA Draft Combine rosters: Bronny James, Mark Sears headline players to watch in 2024 5-on-5 drills

Jacob Camenker

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NBA Draft Combine rosters: Bronny James, Mark Sears headline players to watch in 2024 5-on-5 drills image

The NBA Draft Combine is becoming an increasingly important event on the league's offseason calendar, and the 2024 edition of it may be the most important one yet.

As part of its new collective bargaining agreement, the NBA has made it mandatory for prospects to attend the combine to be drafted. Some prospects are excused from this, but those are mostly international players whose seasons are still ongoing. And they still have to complete the combine activities at a later date.

This attendance benefits the NBA immensely. Their talent evaluators get to see a larger sampling of prospects because of the rule and better understand which ones have the athleticism and skills needed to thrive at the professional level.

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NBA scouts also get an up-close and personal look at the players in game action against one another. The 5-on-5 scrimmages are arguably the most important part of the NBA Combine, as they allow players to stand out from the crowd and show how quickly prospects can assimilate themselves into a team of players with whom they haven't played much — if at all.

Not every prospect will participate in the combine scrimmages, as some don't want to risk getting hurt or harming their draft stock if they appear to be lottery locks. But the fringe first-round picks and second-rounders? They benefit immensely from working out in such a fashion.

That's why it's no surprise to see that Bronny James is participating in these scrimmages. The USC product — and son of Lakers star LeBron James — is viewed by many as a potential second-round pick, but he has to stake his claim to that balling. After an up-and-down season with the Trojans, what better way to do that than at the NBA Combine?

Plenty of other talented players who starred in the NCAA Tournament will get a chance to show off their skills as well. Mark Sears, Jamal Shead, Baylor Scheierman and Alex Karaban are just a few of the recognizable names who will be on the court during the 5-on-5 drills.

Here's what to know about the rosters for the scrimmages at the 2024 NBA Combine.

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