Bronny James has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft and Rachel Nichols believes he will be a member of the Los Angeles Lakers next season if that’s what LeBron James wants.
“It depends on part on what LeBron James, Bronny James, and Savannah James want,” Nichols said on Undisputed. “Because if they want him to play in the NBA and LeBron wants him to play a year with him and Bronny wants that… Then he will play in the NBA on the Lakers next year because Jeanie Buss has a history of treating her star players like stars, doing what they want.
“And by the way, it wouldn’t be like plucking some guy off the street,” Nichols continued. “Bronny James has gotten evaluated by scouts as a potential late second-rounder, someone you might put on a two-way contract. He has got high basketball IQ. He is willing to be an on-ball defender…He has got more of an NBA body than you would expect.”
Nichols stated that Bronny’s averages this past season at USC of 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game don’t accurately represent how good he can be, as he did suffer that cardiac arrest last year. She added that if LeBron told the Lakers that he would like to play with Bronny, then they would draft him in the second round.
Nichols also pointed out that we still don’t know for sure whether Bronny wants to play with his father. We have seen LeBron go from stating how he wants to play with his son to saying it’s down to what the 19-year-old wants to do. If Bronny decides he wants to start his career on a different team than LeBron, I doubt the 20-time All-Star would try to force him to change his mind.
The only thing, at this point, that does seem fairly clear is that if both sides want to play together then that’s what will happen. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss has always treated her superstars well, and if LeBron puts in that request, she is very unlikely to reject it.
Shams Charania Says Teams Think Bronny James Is Entering The League As An NBA-Caliber Defender
While some don’t think the younger James is ready to play in the NBA, it appears that the teams in the league disagree. Shams Charania is reporting that teams believe Bronny will enter the league as an NBA-caliber defender.
“When I talk to NBA teams there’s a clear consensus that as a defender, he’s already at that caliber of an NBA defender. We know about his basketball IQ, obviously, great genes there. Shooting, offensive game, ball-handling, I think those are things scouts and talent evaluators will keep an eye on as he goes through the pre-draft process.”
Charania stated that this draft class not being a great one does help Bronny. He also added that Rich Paul and Klutch Sports will ultimately ensure the teenager finds himself in the right situation.
Wherever he lands, former NBA star Baron Davis believes we will see him play better than he did at USC. Davis predicts Bronny will be much better in the NBA than in college. He also added that he wants to see the father-son duo play on the same team, as that would be special.