ESPN spoke to multiple NBA executives about Bronny James’ future and potential as a 2024 Draft selection. One Eastern Conference executive believes Bronny needs to go back to USC for another season.
“I don’t know if he’s going to come back [to school]. We’d recommend he go back, just because this season didn’t get off on the right foot. He was behind due to the cardiac episode, being away from the team, the rehab, etc. So I think going back and continuing to fine-tune these skills [would help], because the offseason is when you really develop stuff. College coaches are trying to win games [during the season]. With the time he lost, he was trying to play catch-up all year. But I don’t know what Klutch is going to advise him to do.”
Amidst extensive feedback, one Western Conference executive made it clear that Bronny overcame something incredibly challenging to even play this season which makes it harder to judge his overall ability.
“You miss four months of the offseason and try to rush back, that’s really tough to do. So I grade him on a heavy curve, personally. I imagine from a basketball perspective, the best thing would have been for him to not play because he missed so much time over the summer to adjust to college basketball, and you get thrown in the middle with this kind of weird team that wasn’t functioning anyways. I thought it made for what I think ended up being a clunky situation in every direction. To the kid’s credit, I think he did his best.”
Another Eastern Conference executive believes if Bronny was to enter the Draft, he’d likely end up on the Lakers.
“[The idea of pairing LeBron and Bronny] would be different if LeBron [were younger]. He’s still really good at 40, All-Star good — but there’s a lot that comes along with [adding him]. If you do that, you got to sacrifice and think about the other players that are on the roster, too. He’s going to help you win basketball games, but there’s a sideshow that comes along with it. But I can see it — he’s already on the Lakers, and they know how to deal with [that spotlight] so I’m hard-pressed to see him going anywhere else.”
Bronny ended his freshman season averaging 4.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 37.4% field goal percentage in a down year for the USC Trojans, who went 15-18 this season. Bronny didn’t look well-adjusted on the court all season, clearly being out of rhythm after missing the entirety of pre-season prep due to his cardiac arrest.
Should Bronny Declare For The Draft?
There’s definite value for Bronny to extract from going back to college. He has promising fundamentals for a player in the NBA that could do with another year of seasoning in college. But the risk of another bad season killing any possible stock after that would be a disastrous outcome.
People focus on Bronny’s poor numbers too much to criticize him. There have been other players thriving in the NBA right now after disappointing college seasons. One of the best examples from the 2023 Draft Class is Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II, who had a very disappointing freshman season at Duke before declaring for the Draft.
More examples such as Peyton Watson on the Nuggets could sway Bronny to hope his development is better-served around the purposes of an NBA team. If his heart concerns are major and his skill-set so unenticing, it’s likely he enters the draft just because it might be simple for the Lakers to acquire him and keep LeBron James in town.
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