Bronny James entered this week’s NBA Draft Combine as a potential undrafted free agent after a bad freshman season for the USC Trojans.
James’ primary reason for being in the spotlight was due to his dad being among the greatest players in basketball history. LeBron James has also not shied away from the fact that he’d love to play with his son in the NBA, leading to speculation that some team might draft Bronny to entice LeBron.
However way we spin it, this week at the combine was absolutely huge for the younger James. He needed to solidify himself as a real prospect leading up to next month’s NBA Draft.
Apparently, that was the case.
“This was a positive week in Chicago for Bronny James. He’s moved into the late second round of our latest projections. We’re gonna have him at 54 in our next update. That’s all the way up from the back end of the top 100. Talking to NBA people out here, they feel like he’s legitimized himself as a real NBA prospect.”
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony on Bronny James
This comes after several reports that Bronny might end up going undrafted next month. While being a late second-round pick can’t be seen as a huge jump up the boards, he has more time to impress teams with individiual visits leading up to the annual event.
Related: NBA insider reveals if Los Angeles Lakers plan to draft Bronny James with 17th overall pick
Latest Bronny James report shakes up the 2024 NBA Draft
This year’s iteration of the NBA Draft is seen as the weakest in recent league history. With James now ascending draft boards, we could see the dynamics change big time.
Will some team reach for Bronny late in the first round in an attempt to lure LeBron from the Los Angeles Lakers in NBA free agency? LeBron is set to opt out of his contract. And while indications are that he’ll return to Southern California, a lot of that is going to be on the Lakers’ plans and whether James agrees with the direction they are going.
As for Bronny, he made some waves at the combine when asked about playing with his father at the next level.
“No, never. My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself, and get to the NBA, which is everyone’s end goal that’s here. I never thought about just playing with my dad, but of course he’s brought it up a couple of times. But yeah, I don’t think about it much.”
Bronny James on if it’s his dream to team up with his father
Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 37% shooting for the Trojans as a freshman last season. He was able to return to the court after suffering cardiac arrest during USC practice in July. James has since been cleared for the NBA Draft.