The 2024 NBA Draft is now just a week away and there continues to be a lot of speculation on which team will select Bronny James. Many assume Bronny will go in the second round, but Bill Simmons thinks otherwise. On the Bill Simmons Podcast, he said he believes the 19-year-old will go in the first round and added there is a lot of buzz about the Phoenix Suns selecting him.
“I think Bronny is going to go in the first round because I think that’s going to be encouraged,” Simmons said.
Co-host Ryen Russillo asked whether the encouragement would be from the NBA or from Klutch Sports, which represents Bronny and his father LeBron James.
“The latter,” Simmons replied. “Encouraged in a way like, ‘If this happens, then this will happen.’ There’s a lot of Phoenix buzz right now; I’m just going to say it. There is and I don’t know if it’s real or not.”
Russillo asked if that was down to the Suns actually wanting Bronny or if they were trying to mess with the Los Angeles Lakers and Simmons brought up their owner Mat Ishbia.
“Well, Mat Ishbia has the same media strategist that LeBron and his camp has, Adam Mendelsohn. So, that makes me a little suspicious,” Simmons said. “But they seem really confident that he is getting drafted in the first round. And if you’re Mat Ishbia and the draft sucks, and it’s like let’s get Bronny, and they’re telling us that if we take Bronny, there’s a chance that we can get LeBron too, you got to think about it.”
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The Suns own the 22nd pick in the draft this year, and Simmons seems to think they could pick Bronny if he’s still available. That just seems way too high to me and the chance at getting LeBron would really be the only reason they would do it.
The Suns are very much in win-now mode and a prospect like Bronny would be the last thing they would look at under normal circumstances. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game for USC as a freshman and clearly needs time to develop.
If the Suns do end up getting LeBron with this maneuver, I suppose that would be great, but I doubt the 20-time All-Star just goes to whichever team picks his son. I think it’s very likely LeBron will opt out of his $51.4 million player option for 2024-25 with the Lakers and then re-sign with them. If that does happen, then the Suns would have egg on their face.
The Suns Have A Second Workout Scheduled With Bronny Later This Week
NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony shared an interesting update regarding Bronny recently as well. Unlike Simmons, Givony expects the teenager to go in the second round but revealed that except for the Suns, NBA teams are struggling to get a meeting with Bronny.
“I don’t think it’s going to surprise anybody that we have him going 55th to the Lakers. This is the way it’s been trending for years now and NBA teams that I’ve talked to say they cannot get Bronny James into their building, teams that are drafting in the late twenties and in the thirties. The Phoenix Suns have a second workout scheduled with Bronny later this week but other than that we have not seen any NBA teams be able to work him out. The sense among teams is that his agent, Rich Paul, does not want him on a two-way contract, and the range that he’s gonna be picked, that 40-58 range, those are where two-way contracts are handed out.”
This whole situation really is quite puzzling and I am not sure we have ever seen anything like it. At the end of the day, I think no one seems really sure about where Bronny is going to end up.
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