NBA Draft Combine Buzz: Is Bronny going to the Lakers? Is Caleb Love going back to Arizona?

CHICAGO – Greetings from the Windy City. I’m here this week to cover the NBA draft combine, which is more relevant this year because of a new rule requiring prospects to participate. The change was included in the most recent collective bargaining agreement, and it applies to everything except the five-on-five scrimmages which will take place today and tomorrow at Wintrust Arena. Forty-two players will be competing in those scrimmages across four teams. Not surprisingly, none of them is projected to be a first-round pick, and most are unlikely to be drafted. So it’s not exactly appointment viewing.

One of the players scheduled to play today is Bronny James, who made news Monday morning when it was reported that he has decided to stay in the draft. On the one hand, this was surprising because James averaged just 4.8 points for a USC team that didn’t even make the NCAA tournament. That’s not the profile of someone you’d expect to stay in the draft, but of course there is nothing ordinary about James’ situation.

Before he could participate in the combine, James had to be medically cleared by the league’s panel of three physicians. Once that was done, he was able to go through the