Bronny James will take his talents to USC next season

[-Luke-]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/271473/LeBron-James-Im-Still-Serious-About-Playing-With-Bronny-In-NBA

"I've done what I've had to do in this league," James said. "My son is going to take his journey. And whatever his journey, however his journey lays out, he's going to do what's best for him. And as his dad, and his mom, Savannah, and his brother and sister, we're going to support him in whatever he decides to do. So, just because that's my aspiration or my goal, doesn't mean it's his. And I'm absolutely OK with that."

I wonder if this was purely hypothetical or if Bronny made it clear to his old man that it would be less cool for him.

[Jkam31]

He’s actually already labeled as a lottery talent due to a few factors:

- This draft class in particular, is VERY weak.
- Bronny is currently labeled as a “Marcus Smart” type of talent. Which means very good 3 and D role player at the point guard position.
- 3 and D elite role players, are VERY valuable in the NBA. Especially one as a point guard? You are definitely gonna get looked at no matter who you are.

You know they say he’s 3D cause off his off ball defense not on ball defense which is absurd dude ain’t a center why would his off ball defense matter and be the reason he’s drafted

[Shock Defeat]

Lebron will never pass up the opportunity to play with his son. Whichever team gets Bronny is guaranteed to get Lebron

[Jfh20]

yawn…. who is this player? Never heard of um.. usc?? Should have picked Duke blue devils!!! ESPN would have hyped him as the next mj!!

[Duke4life831]

He's not Marcus Smart and he's not Jrue Holiday. Those guys were elite prospects, they were more skilled on offense and on a different tier defensively.

Here is the thing, there are a lot of Bronny James every year coming out of high school. Smaller CG who cant run point and are good defensive players arent all that rare coming out of high school.

He has been brought up earlier in this thread, DeAnthony Melton is pretty much the best case scenario for Bronny in the pros (unless he has a huge growth spurt). Its pretty damn rare for a guy to go from a complete non dynamic on ball guy, to becoming a dynamic on ball player by the time he is playing in college. A dynamic handle is not something we see guys able to acquire later on like a jump shot. And he's also not Klay Thompson out there when it comes to his off ball movement and shooting ability.

He's not known to be a knockdown shooter, he is known to be a solid catch and shoot guy. So ya if you put that all together and things workout, what kind of player does that sound like? It sounds like DeAnthony Melton. But there is a very long line of guys with that same foundation that you never really hear of again once they make it to college. Now ya I do think Bronny will get the benefit of the doubt that lots of these CGs that get forgotten dont ever get. But ya I think he has the potential to be a solid rotation player like DeAnthony Melton. But if his last name wasnt James, he would be viewed like all the other small CG guards and we wouldnt be projecting him to be a OAD 1st rounder right now.

[KodiakBear]

Lebron will never pass up the opportunity to play with his son. Whichever team gets Bronny is guaranteed to get Lebron

True, but is he worth drafting just to get a 22nd year 40 year old Lebron? Lebron is still good, but he gets injured a lot more now. Since he got to the Lakers other than their championship year he has missed 27, 27, 26 and 28 games. That will likely only get worse the next few years. I'm not taking Bronny just to get Lebron unless I have a championship caliber team and Lebron isn't asking for a big salary.

[Duke4life831]

Lebron will never pass up the opportunity to play with his son. Whichever team gets Bronny is guaranteed to get Lebron

True, but is he worth drafting just to get a 22nd year 40 year old Lebron? Lebron is still good, but he gets injured a lot more now. Since he got to the Lakers other than their championship year he has missed 27, 27, 26 and 28 games. That will likely only get worse the next few years. I'm not taking Bronny just to get Lebron unless I have a championship caliber team and Lebron isn't asking for a big salary.

I think the case for this wont be about on court ability. It will be more about marketability. Say youre a team that struggles to sell out games and get zero nationally televised games. Your season tickets sales are going to go through the roof and you know ESPN are goign to want to get double digit games of LeBron and his son playing together.

[Jfh20]

Lebron will never pass up the opportunity to play with his son. Whichever team gets Bronny is guaranteed to get Lebron

True, but is he worth drafting just to get a 22nd year 40 year old Lebron? Lebron is still good, but he gets injured a lot more now. Since he got to the Lakers other than their championship year he has missed 27, 27, 26 and 28 games. That will likely only get worse the next few years. I'm not taking Bronny just to get Lebron unless I have a championship caliber team and Lebron isn't asking for a big salary.

Lebron fans can’t fandom some team turning down da goat… he could be avging 8 ppg a game but don’t matter.. he’s da goat!!! You gotta even make goat noises when he’s in the locker room now too appease his humongous ego…

[GSWFan1994]

I think Avery Bradley is a realistic comp for him, both in playing style and in production.

Bradley averaged:

12/3/2 in college (1 year)
11/3/2 in the NBA (12 years, 660 games)
16/6/2 in his career year

[Zombiesonics]

On one hand i feel bad for the kid, unless he sets the ncaa on fire he is going to get mass scrutiny... is he prepared to endure that? the other part of me realizes his dad is a billionaire and he (and HIS future kids) is set for life.

The situation he is walking into is bizarre, that USC team will get destroyed next year if they trot out three small guards. No shot of a deep run

[clyde21]

All of the strengths and weaknesses I’m reading point towards a Lonzo Ball type player. Is that a fair comparison? He lacks the height of Lonzo which may impact his defensive versatility that Lonzo has.

The finished version of Lonzo makes sense, hes ahead of rookie Lonzo in shooting touch and offball play.

but not even close in terms of playmaking, also Lonzo is 6-6 and Bronny is 6-2.

really they are nothing alike lol

[Duke4life831]

All of the strengths and weaknesses I’m reading point towards a Lonzo Ball type player. Is that a fair comparison? He lacks the height of Lonzo which may impact his defensive versatility that Lonzo has.

The finished version of Lonzo makes sense, hes ahead of rookie Lonzo in shooting touch and offball play.

but not even close in terms of playmaking, also Lonzo is 6-6 and Bronny is 6-2.

really they are nothing alike lol

Ya Lonzo was a 6'6 PG who was a freak facilitator in high school and college. Lonzo as a freshman led the entire NCAA in assists. Also Lonzo was a very good shooter in high school and college. It took him 2 years to adjust his shot to get it off vs NBA players, since then he has been a really good shooter. To be clear, Bronny isnt in the same neighborhood as Lonzo as a shooter when it comes to them in high school and entering college.

This is the thing I dont think many people quite get. People throwing around names like Lonzo and Smart and so on. I think they hear Bronny doesnt really have a dynamic handle and those are some good defensive guards without a dynamic handle. Bronny wasnt even the PG for his high school. I dont think many quite grasp just how far behind his handle is. Bronny next year wont even be the secondary ball handler for USC. He's most likely going to be playing a strictly off ball role. Nothing like Lonzo.

[clyde21]

The finished version of Lonzo makes sense, hes ahead of rookie Lonzo in shooting touch and offball play.

but not even close in terms of playmaking, also Lonzo is 6-6 and Bronny is 6-2.

really they are nothing alike lol

Ya Lonzo was a 6'6 PG who was a freak facilitator in high school and college. Lonzo as a freshman led the entire NCAA in assists. Also Lonzo was a very good shooter in high school and college. It took him 2 years to adjust his shot to get it off vs NBA players, since then he has been a really good shooter. To be clear, Bronny isnt in the same neighborhood as Lonzo as a shooter when it comes to them in high school and entering college.

This is the thing I dont think many people quite get. People throwing around names like Lonzo and Smart and so on. I think they hear Bronny doesnt really have a dynamic handle and those are some good defensive guards without a dynamic handle. Bronny wasnt even the PG for his high school. I dont think many quite grasp just how far behind his handle is. Bronny next year wont even be the secondary ball handler for USC. He's most likely going to be playing a strictly off ball role. Nothing like Lonzo.

yea, USC is getting the #2 player in the class who's a PG in Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis is going back to USC who's gonna be a 5th yr senior, Bronny will be 3rd in handling duties at best tbh

he's kinda like a 6-2 AJ Griffin imo, fwiw

[One Last Shot]

Someone will draft him because they know they're getting LeBron too.

I used to think so too, but unless he's a legit lottery-level talent, I doubt it. A team isn't going to draft LeBron's son as leverage to sign LeBron.

Then you have no idea how much marketing money LeBron has and the value he will provide to any NBA Franchise who will draft Bronny. It's a business after all.

[GSWFan1994]

I spent like 15 minutes searching for Bronny's shooting %'s while in high school... if someone has these stats, please post them here.

[clyde21]

I spent like 15 minutes searching for Bronny's shooting %'s while in high school... if someone has these stats, please post them here.

you'd have better luck finding ancient aramaic scriptures

[Duke4life831]

but not even close in terms of playmaking, also Lonzo is 6-6 and Bronny is 6-2.

really they are nothing alike lol

Ya Lonzo was a 6'6 PG who was a freak facilitator in high school and college. Lonzo as a freshman led the entire NCAA in assists. Also Lonzo was a very good shooter in high school and college. It took him 2 years to adjust his shot to get it off vs NBA players, since then he has been a really good shooter. To be clear, Bronny isnt in the same neighborhood as Lonzo as a shooter when it comes to them in high school and entering college.

This is the thing I dont think many people quite get. People throwing around names like Lonzo and Smart and so on. I think they hear Bronny doesnt really have a dynamic handle and those are some good defensive guards without a dynamic handle. Bronny wasnt even the PG for his high school. I dont think many quite grasp just how far behind his handle is. Bronny next year wont even be the secondary ball handler for USC. He's most likely going to be playing a strictly off ball role. Nothing like Lonzo.

yea, USC is getting the #2 player in the class who's a PG in Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis is going back to USC who's gonna be a 5th yr senior, Bronny will be 3rd in handling duties at best tbh

he's kinda like a 6-2 AJ Griffin imo, fwiw

Ya its going to be between him and Kobe Johnson for 3rd ball handler duties and I wouldnt be shocked if Kobe wins out on that.

At least with AJ he had the 6'6 body and the 7' wingspan. AJ also lit it up from 3 at Duke as well.

I just think if people are expecting like a Lonzo level of player, their expectations are way way too high.

[Jkam31]

I think Avery Bradley is a realistic comp for him, both in playing style and in production.

Bradley averaged:

12/3/2 in college (1 year)
11/3/2 in the NBA (12 years, 660 games)
16/6/2 in his career year

Now so high school and remember that he was the number one ranked player in his class

[NyKnicks1714]

Someone will draft him because they know they're getting LeBron too.

I used to think so too, but unless he's a legit lottery-level talent, I doubt it. A team isn't going to draft LeBron's son as leverage to sign LeBron.

Then you have no idea how much marketing money LeBron has and the value he will provide to any NBA Franchise who will draft Bronny. It's a business after all.

Sure I do. In theory it's a logical, common sense move. LeBron wants to play with his son. LeBron brings a ton of value. You have a chance to draft LeBron's son. You draft LeBron's son with the hope of either signing LeBron or making the Lakers pay a steep price for his rights (which is more likely than the former). Even though it's business, sometimes there are just understandings between teams. I truly don't believe a team will draft Bronny significantly ahead of where he's projected based on his basketball abilities. Maintaining good relationships with other teams and agents is part of the business too.

This is an unprecedented situation, so we have no idea what will happen, but it strangely reminds me of Loren Woods in the 2001 Draft. He of course turned out to not be very good, but at the time, Loren Woods was a late lottery prospect. Minnesota didn't have their 1st that year as part of the Joe Smith punishment, and Loren Woods fell to Minnesota at 46. It was widely speculated that teams deliberately let him fall to help out the Wolves. A team could have easily scooped him up, especially with little risk in the 2nd round, but no one did. He may have been a steal, but it would have hurt that front office's standing around the league.

[JasonStern]

I understand one-and-done players wanting to stay in SoCal, but I'll never understand USC over UCLA in basketball. Football, absolutely. But basketball? I get playing with a weaker roster means more chance for playing time, but that comes at the expense of team success and player development.

"Oh, you're just a bitter Duck fan!" <- No, I'm really not. College is a different game. The University of Nike is in the top 3 or top 5 for all players. The only time the basketball team has success is when they have multiple 2-3+ year players combined with a couple high profile veteran transfers. One-and-done high school recruits kind of suck because you don't get to follow their development. And just when they start to click, they're gone. Give me three years of Dillon Brooks over one year of "#2 prospect Bol Bol" anytime.