NBA Scouting Combine Invitees Must Participate to Be Drafted Starting in 2024

As part of the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and tbhe National Basketball Players Association, draft-eligible players are required to participate in the scouting combine to be drafted.

Per a memo from the NBA and NBPA obtained by ESPN's Jonathan Givony, the rule will be implemented in 2024. All invited players who don't attend and participate in the combine will be deemed ineligible to be drafted until the "first subsequent draft for which the player attends and fully participates."

Givony noted that participation includes "league medical examinations, sharing of medical history and biomechanical and functional movement testing, as well as strength and agility testing, shooting drills, performance testing and anthropometric measurements."

Players will also be required to participate in interviews with teams, media circuits and player development sessions. The NBA will also consult with the NBPA to determine other assessments for players during the combine.

Participation in 5-on-5 scrimmages won't be required under the new rules.

If a situation prevents a player from being able to participate in the combine—physical injury, family tragedy, international club still in season, etc.—they will be required to complete elements of the combine at a later date or be deemed ineligible for the current year's draft.

According to Givony, these changes represent "a significant shift" for teams because previously agents of top prospects "would regularly strategize to keep medicals of clients away from less-attractive franchises in hopes of steering their players to preferred destinations" in the draft.

There will be limits on the sharing of medical information among teams based on the projected draft range of top prospects. The NBA and NBPA will decide upon a method of ranking the top 10 prospects in a draft before the lottery by "using a blend of publicly available rankings, an appointed panel of experts and a retained-scouting service."

The NBA and NBPA agreed to a seven-year collective bargaining agreement on April 1. The deal will begin with the 2023-24 season and includes a mutual opt-out after the sixth year.