For months now, there has been speculation that some NBA teams would be willing to draft Bronny James as a means to get his father, LeBron James, to sign with them. At the 2024 NBA Draft Combine, Bronny was asked if he wanted to send out the message that teams should only draft him if they think he’s good enough, and not because of his father.
“Honestly, I feel like this is a serious business,” Bronny said. “And I don’t feel there would be a thought of, ‘I’m just drafting this kid just because I’m going to get his dad.’ I don’t think a GM would really allow that. I’ve never really thought about it. I think I’ve put in the work and if I get drafted (it would be) because of not only the player but the person I am.”
(starts at 9:41 mark):
Bronny has made it clear he wants to forge his own path. I do believe there would be some teams, though, that would consider bringing him on board just for a shot at landing his father, who can become a free agent this summer by opting out of his $51.4 million player option for 2024-25.
I sure hope for Bronny’s sake, that if a team does pick him, it’s because they believe in his abilities. The 19-year-old averaged just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game for USC last season after suffering a cardiac arrest and is nowhere near good enough to play in the NBA right away.
It’s clear Bronny needs time to develop and he needs to go to a team that has a clear idea of how to help him grow as a player so that one day he becomes a solid contributor on the court. That is why I don’t think it would be ideal for his career if a team only selected him in the hopes of landing his father.
I believe that is a big reason why LeBron has changed his public stance as well on this matter. For the longest time, the 39-year-old had stated that a goal of his was to play with his son.
Then last year, LeBron said he wouldn’t mind it if Bronny didn’t want to play with him. He stated he was fine with the idea of them not playing together if his son didn’t want it.
Just a couple of weeks ago, NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski also reported that playing with Bronny was no longer a priority for LeBron. As per Bronny’s agent Rich Paul, what’s key for the James family is finding the right developmental system for the teenager and that certainly would be the right approach.
Bronny James Named The NBA Players Who Affect Winning The Way He Would Want To
During this interview at the combine, Bronny was also asked which NBA players affect winning the way he would want to in the league. (starts at 15:41 mark in the above video):
“Guys like Davion Mitchell, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White just to name a few,” Bronny said. “Just guys that excel in their role and get good money and get good playing time from it. Because they are locked into that role and know what they’re supposed to do.”
While there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Bronny, what we can say for sure is that he is not going to be a superstar like LeBron. He does not have that kind of a skill set but could turn out to be a fine defensive guard like Holiday, White, or Mitchell. I think Bronny becoming as good as Holiday is probably the best-case scenario.
Getting back to the present, we saw Bronny impress on the first day of the combine. In the second, he took part in a scrimmage and made a couple of highlight plays.
Bronny James in his first scrimmage 👀
(🎥 @Frankie_Vision) pic.twitter.com/cHlChz7f43
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 14, 2024
Bronny finished the game with 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. You would have liked to see more, but with some of his teammates having a hot hand, he took a bit of a backseat.
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