As expected, Bronny James is staying in the 2024 NBA Draft and giving up his remaining college eligibility, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony. Klutch Sports' Rich Paul confirmed the decision ahead of Wednesday's NCAA deadline to withdraw from the draft.
Bronny has seen his stock rise thanks to a strong pre-draft process, including an impressive showing at the NBA Draft Combine. Paul opened up on the guard's prospects and again reiterated that Bronny won't be signing a two-way contract.
“Bronny's [draft] range is wide,” Paul told ESPN. “He's a really good prospect who has a lot of room for growth. It only takes one team. I don't care where that team is — it can be No. 1 or 58 — [but] I do care about the plan, the development. The team's strategy, the opportunity and the financial commitment. That's why I'm not doing a two-way deal. Every team understands that.”
Paul also addressed all the speculation about Bronny going to the Los Angeles Lakers to play with his dad, LeBron James, who has expressed in the past a desire to play with his son before he retires.
“The Lakers need to look at Bronny like everyone else,” Paul told ESPN. “If they value him enough and he's there, that's great. If it's not the Lakers, that's great. I won't be mad if it's not. It's obvious that people hear the conversation around the dad and son playing together, but that's not our focus. If it happens organically, great. I'm not building on that.
“I'm not putting unrealistic expectations on Bronny. He's far from a finished product. But he has a hell of start. He's positioned well. … I don't see him not getting drafted, but if it got to a point where the situations didn't make sense and we needed to go undrafted, that's fine.”
Bronny James' NBA Draft workouts
It was reported earlier in the week that Bronny James had secured at least 10 invites for pre-draft workouts, but he would likely only make a few actual visits. The Lakers and Phoenix Suns were among those teams he would visit. Rich Paul didn't specifically confirm those two workouts but seemed to confirm Bronny would be declining many of the invites.
“We're still figuring it out,” Paul told ESPN. “Many teams have called. It's a matter of hashing out workouts and figuring out who is real and who is not. There are only two or three teams that might take him. That's how I am going to approach that.”
Bronny's NBA Draft stock
Bronny James was viewed as a potential first-round pick before his lone season at USC, but then a cardiac arrest scare changed everything for the young guard. While he was able to return to the court and play for the Trojans, the season didn't go as hoped and questions emerged about whether he would even be drafted.
There are still no guarantees, but it seems as if Bronny's pre-draft showings will put him in position to at least go in the second round. ClutchPoints' most recent mock draft has him going to the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 46, while ESPN has him as the No. 54 prospect in the top 100.
As for the two teams Bronny is currently slated to do workouts with, the Lakers are set to have the No. 17 pick (as long as the Pelicans decide to defer their usage of the pick to 2025 as expected) and the No. 55 pick. The Suns hold the No. 22 pick in the draft.
Picking Bronny in the first round still seems like a pretty significant reach, but at this point we can't rule anything out. There was some buzz about Phoenix taking Bronny and then trying to get LeBron to join on a cheap contract in order to play with his son, but that's just not a realistic scenario.
Whatever the case, it seems clear Rich Paul is orchestrating this process in order to get Bronny James drafted and to a place he wants to go. There's just under a month until the draft, so we'll see how this all plays out.
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