Sharing his thoughts on the chatter surrounding his son Bronny's NBA readiness, LeBron James wrote on social media Monday, “Can you please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball?”
In posts that have since been deleted
“Ultimately, no matter what he chooses, the work and the results will be what matters,” LeBron posted on Earned Not Given!”
“And to all the other kids out there striving to be great, just keep your head down, blinders on and keep going,” LeBron continued in his post. “These mock drafts don’t matter at all! I promise you! Only the work counts!! Let’s talk REAL BASKETBALL PEOPLE!”
The Athletic previously reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are “ready to explore the idea of signing Bronny James next season” to secure LeBron's services for the immediate future. LeBron has repeatedly expressed his desire to play with his son before his Hall of Fame career ends.
Bronny, 19, is a freshman at USC, where he is averaging 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 19 contests this season. He started six games for the Trojans (11-16 overall, 5-11 in the Pac-12), who are second to last in the conference.
According to a spokesman for the James family, Bronny – a 6-foot-2, 210-pound guard – was returning to the court after suffering cardiac arrest last summer when he collapsed during a team practice in July, likely due to a congenital heart defect.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic does not list Bronny in his 2024 NBA Mock Draft.
Is Bronny a legitimate NBA Draft candidate?
This potential is definitely there. Bronny's blend of athleticism, length and defensive intensity makes him a legitimate weapon on the outside. He has a chance to become an absolutely great perimeter defender down the road.
Additionally, he showed real progress as a perimeter shooter last year and now looks confident of winning it at USC. He only hits 27 percent of them, which is a problem. But I think his true shooting talent is probably a little better.
But right now, I don't see Bronny as a draft prospect for the 2024 NBA Draft based on the merits of his own game. He's an undersized guard who isn't particularly skilled with the ball at the moment. I'm a little skeptical about his 6-foot-2 appearance at USC unless he's all grown up since I saw him at Hoop Summit in April 2023.
He looked more like a 1.90 meter tall baseball player, which makes him more of the size of a point guard. And all season he really struggled to get consistent contact with the ball. According to Synergy, he has made just 11 half-court shots at the rim in 19 games this year.
Only six of those shots were created by his own dribbling, and he only made two of those shots. He is not overly agile and does not have the control necessary to realistically break down defenses and create chances. Even NBA 3-and-D players of this size have to be able to do this.
The best course of action for Bronny, in my opinion, would be to stay at USC or, depending on his preference, transfer to another school and follow a similar path to what Devin Carter did at Providence. Another son of an NBA player – in this case, former longtime backup point guard Anthony Carter – Devin began his career at South Carolina and was a useful defensive wing who took advantage of what the opposition offered him on offense.
He played more of a minor role last season, averaging over 13 points per game as a two-guard and continuing to play elite-level defense while handling the game at a high level. Then Devin blossomed that year and became one of the best players in college basketball. He averages 19 points, eight rebounds and 3.6 assists. He's drilling threes at a clip of nearly 40 percent. He is tough and energetic and will likely be a first choice this year.
However, based on the merits of his own game, it would be far too difficult for scouts to buy into that improvement, considering they would have to develop Bronny for several years before he would be ready to play in the NBA, and even then there would be no guarantee that it would work. — Sam Vecenie, NBA Draft writer
Why was Bronny James never a first pick in The Athletic's 2024 mock drafts?
The rating of his game above is why. The weaknesses in Bronny's game that he has shown this year have always been pretty obvious. Honestly, I thought he would be a little more impactful offensively than he was this year, but the cardiac arrest he suffered this summer undeniably left him behind the eight-ball from a basketball perspective. He deserves a lot of grace for that.
Although some NBA evaluators believed Bronny had a chance to be a once-in-a-lifetime player this season, by and large the NBA scouting community that works for teams didn't quite have that touch at the start of the year.
In general, teams don't necessarily create ranked draft boards at the start of a season, but they do have baseline grades for players to prioritize who they need to go to at the start of the year. Most NBA team sources who evaluated James prior to this season viewed him as more of a multi-year college player with intriguing upside due to his athleticism and shooting ability. – Vecenie
Should he take part in the draft even if he is currently not a real candidate on his own?
This is a family decision that Bronny, LeBron, his mother Savannah and the people at Klutch Sports must make. If it's important to them that Bronny plays on an NBA court with LeBron, then LeBron has enough influence league-wide to get a team to sign Bronny regardless of his play.
As The Athletic recently reported, the Lakers are willing to explore that idea. If that's more important to the family than Bronny's overall development as a player, then I understand that decision.
But I'm skeptical that Bronny will be able to immediately get the reps he needs on the ball next season to reach his performance ceiling and improve his weaknesses at the professional level. It would be easier for him to find a situation at the college level that would better support his development. – Vecenie
Required reading
(Photo: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)