Bronny James

[Pelly24]

is he simply not athletic enough?

In a couple of ways he's super athletic. He's got a 40 inch vertical, can get his head up at the rim, gets up super fast and has blocked 6'8-7'0" guys either from a stand still or only two steps multiple times this year. He's got great balance on defense. He can basically stay in front of anyone. He's got elite processing speed. The way he snatches the ball as soon as it's in open space near him is actually pretty ridiculous, kind of reminds me of Kawhi. He's also got good open court speed and he's very strong for a kid, and I think he can still fill out.

The problem with his athleticism is that he appears to have a very slow first step and can't get low enough when he dribbles. He's also poor at changing directions off the dribble. When you see him change directions in the open court, it's not quick and abrupt, it's like his legs are really heavy so he's got to drag them to get going back in the other direction. It's like he's a 6'9" power forward in the frame of a 6'1" or 6'2" guard. He's got slow feet and limited flexibility. He doesn't have the wiggle of other elite guards I've seen his size, or even taller, over the years, so he can't regularly create his own shot against good defenders, so that means he probably can't be a primary creator in college and definitely not the NBA. People say he's almost like a Lonzo Ball type, but the difference is that even guys like that were elite creators in high school and could get by defenders with ease. Bronny has never shown the ability to do that. He could improve his handle, but his lack of innate elusiveness and burst off the dribble feel like they're just natural physical things he doesn't have.

Basically, Bronny has the type of skillset where if he were a legit 6'4" or 6'5" with a 220-pound frame, I'd pretty much guarantee he'd be a first rounder. He's not super quick or shifty, but with that size, his shooting ability and his passing and defense, he'd be an *elite* two-way wing prospect who could get like 16/7/6 on decent efficiency with well-above average playmaking ability and elite defense. But he's only about 6'2" 190. He's got a great feel for the game though and if you watch the SC games, it's clear that his stats — he's averaging like 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks on solid efficiency I think — undersell him. I would venture to say that he could be the third best player on this team this past year, maybe 4th. But he's really good, just too small and not the right skillset.

[Pelly24]

I don't understand how people even know enough about high school players to have a strong opinion. Are you guys watching a lot of Sierra Canyon games?

Being big college basketball fans (because of recruiting) or just fans of the draft and everything that leads up to it, you tend to start getting a good feel of how a player is projecting to be a solid prospect or not around the end of their junior year in high school.

Normal high school games dont mean too much. Its usually the big tournaments, the international play, the big time camps and stuff like that which are a better indicator on how good a prospect is.

You also tend to find the more reliable guys who do the scouting reports on guys in high school.

With that said, if you dont want to dig through all of that crap haha, 247 sports (the best when it comes to high school rankings in my opinion) has him ranked at 52nd overall and he's been dropping since they started ranking his class. Since the majority of his time in high school Covid has been going on, there really isnt as much big time tournaments and camps to get a great read of him. One benefit is Sierra Canyon does tend to have a good amount of games on ESPN or ESPN+, so its not too hard to watch. But with all that when Ive watched him and the majority of scouting reports on him that dont inflate him up because of who his dad is tend to all say the same thing.

6'3 combo guard with solid but not great athleticism. Solid shooting form but not great shooting production. Solid handle but not a dynamic handle or dynamic half court game. I know Pelly24 says he thinks he is one of the best defenders in high school, I disagree with that greatly. I think he is an average defender who tries hard on that side of the ball. And with that, there is a reason why he is ranked as low as he is and continues to fall down in the rankings with each passing year. He is a solid D1 prospect but nothing much more at the moment because he really doesnt excel at any aspect of the game (speaking strictly on a high end recruit aspect). Take away his name and he is probably in the 60s-70s in the rankings.

I'll say he's one of the best defenders I've seen, but I haven't seen like, every high school lol. But I'll say Draftexpress said there weren't many defenders better than him in high school. I will say that he gets into foul trouble *a lot*.

Funny enough though, I think bronny might be close to the bottom of the top 100, or even maybe outside of it if he were on a bad team and didn't have LeBron's name. Teams would just be able to shut him down since he can't dribble.

[LukaTheGOAT]

is he simply not athletic enough?

In a couple of ways he's super athletic. He's got a 40 inch vertical, can get his head up at the rim, gets up super fast and has blocked 6'8-7'0" guys either from a stand still or only two steps multiple times this year. He's got great balance on defense. He can basically stay in front of anyone. He's got elite processing speed. The way he snatches the ball as soon as it's in open space near him is actually pretty ridiculous, kind of reminds me of Kawhi. He's also got good open court speed and he's very strong for a kid, and I think he can still fill out.

The problem with his athleticism is that he appears to have a very slow first step and can't get low enough when he dribbles. He's also poor at changing directions off the dribble. When you see him change directions in the open court, it's not quick and abrupt, it's like his legs are really heavy so he's got to drag them to get going back in the other direction. It's like he's a 6'9" power forward in the frame of a 6'1" or 6'2" guard. He's got slow feet and limited flexibility. He doesn't have the wiggle of other elite guards I've seen his size, or even taller, over the years, so he can't regularly create his own shot against good defenders, so that means he probably can't be a primary creator in college and definitely not the NBA. People say he's almost like a Lonzo Ball type, but the difference is that even guys like that were elite creators in high school and could get by defenders with ease. Bronny has never shown the ability to do that. He could improve his handle, but his lack of innate elusiveness and burst off the dribble feel like they're just natural physical things he doesn't have.

Basically, Bronny has the type of skillset where if he were a legit 6'4" or 6'5" with a 220-pound frame, I'd pretty much guarantee he'd be a first rounder. He's not super quick or shifty, but with that size, his shooting ability and his passing and defense, he'd be an *elite* two-way wing prospect who could get like 16/7/6 on decent efficiency with well-above average playmaking ability and elite defense. But he's only about 6'2" 190. He's got a great feel for the game though and if you watch the SC games, it's clear that his stats — he's averaging like 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks on solid efficiency I think — undersell him. I would venture to say that he could be the third best player on this team this past year, maybe 4th. But he's really good, just too small and not the right skillset.

This is a better scouting report than anything I have seen from the HS outlets. You should be doing their job (if interested of course).

[Duke4life831]

I don't understand how people even know enough about high school players to have a strong opinion. Are you guys watching a lot of Sierra Canyon games?

Being big college basketball fans (because of recruiting) or just fans of the draft and everything that leads up to it, you tend to start getting a good feel of how a player is projecting to be a solid prospect or not around the end of their junior year in high school.

Normal high school games dont mean too much. Its usually the big tournaments, the international play, the big time camps and stuff like that which are a better indicator on how good a prospect is.

You also tend to find the more reliable guys who do the scouting reports on guys in high school.

With that said, if you dont want to dig through all of that crap haha, 247 sports (the best when it comes to high school rankings in my opinion) has him ranked at 52nd overall and he's been dropping since they started ranking his class. Since the majority of his time in high school Covid has been going on, there really isnt as much big time tournaments and camps to get a great read of him. One benefit is Sierra Canyon does tend to have a good amount of games on ESPN or ESPN+, so its not too hard to watch. But with all that when Ive watched him and the majority of scouting reports on him that dont inflate him up because of who his dad is tend to all say the same thing.

6'3 combo guard with solid but not great athleticism. Solid shooting form but not great shooting production. Solid handle but not a dynamic handle or dynamic half court game. I know Pelly24 says he thinks he is one of the best defenders in high school, I disagree with that greatly. I think he is an average defender who tries hard on that side of the ball. And with that, there is a reason why he is ranked as low as he is and continues to fall down in the rankings with each passing year. He is a solid D1 prospect but nothing much more at the moment because he really doesnt excel at any aspect of the game (speaking strictly on a high end recruit aspect). Take away his name and he is probably in the 60s-70s in the rankings.

I'll say he's one of the best defenders I've seen, but I haven't seen like, every high school lol. But I'll say Draftexpress said there weren't many defenders better than him in high school. I will say that he gets into foul trouble *a lot*.

Funny enough though, I think bronny might be close to the bottom of the top 100, or even maybe outside of it if he were on a bad team and didn't have LeBron's name. Teams would just be able to shut him down since he can't dribble.

Curious, do you know which guy from Draftexpress said that? I haven't paid much attention to Givony since ESPN bought them out and I feel like Schmitz doesnt spend too much time anymore watching the high school guys. It feels like ESPN has him booked all year long with the college and international guys.

And ya I agree with your last part for sure. I think take away his name and I think he's in that 60-70s+ range. If we are being honest, once you get past that top 40 or so, it is usually a pretty steep decline and really becomes just a random shot on who ends up being good or not. Pretty much go back through any past recruiting class and look at the 50th-100th in the class. You will see a name or two that your recognize from the NBA, another name or two that you might recognize from college. Then a bunch of guys that even struggled to carve out a solid college career.

But ya the complete lack of a dynamic handle from Bronny and again he has solid form on his shot, but he isnt anything close to being viewed as a knockdown shooter. So that combination to go with this 6'3 size, really just puts a limit to how good of a player he is at the moment.

[YamiRain]

Meh, this is his first season back after after surgery on his acl?
Won't know till his senior year, when he'd be leading the team

[Jez2983]

Meh, this is his first season back after after surgery on his acl?
Won't know till his senior year, when he'd be leading the team

Did he have an ACL repair? If so that's a big injury risk on someone young.

I wonder if he will be more of a late bloomer into the NBA? I.e. gets drafted, not at the level yet, goes away and comes back having worked out how to translate his skills into the NBA?

[Pelly24]

Being big college basketball fans (because of recruiting) or just fans of the draft and everything that leads up to it, you tend to start getting a good feel of how a player is projecting to be a solid prospect or not around the end of their junior year in high school.

Normal high school games dont mean too much. Its usually the big tournaments, the international play, the big time camps and stuff like that which are a better indicator on how good a prospect is.

You also tend to find the more reliable guys who do the scouting reports on guys in high school.

With that said, if you dont want to dig through all of that crap haha, 247 sports (the best when it comes to high school rankings in my opinion) has him ranked at 52nd overall and he's been dropping since they started ranking his class. Since the majority of his time in high school Covid has been going on, there really isnt as much big time tournaments and camps to get a great read of him. One benefit is Sierra Canyon does tend to have a good amount of games on ESPN or ESPN+, so its not too hard to watch. But with all that when Ive watched him and the majority of scouting reports on him that dont inflate him up because of who his dad is tend to all say the same thing.

6'3 combo guard with solid but not great athleticism. Solid shooting form but not great shooting production. Solid handle but not a dynamic handle or dynamic half court game. I know Pelly24 says he thinks he is one of the best defenders in high school, I disagree with that greatly. I think he is an average defender who tries hard on that side of the ball. And with that, there is a reason why he is ranked as low as he is and continues to fall down in the rankings with each passing year. He is a solid D1 prospect but nothing much more at the moment because he really doesnt excel at any aspect of the game (speaking strictly on a high end recruit aspect). Take away his name and he is probably in the 60s-70s in the rankings.

I'll say he's one of the best defenders I've seen, but I haven't seen like, every high school lol. But I'll say Draftexpress said there weren't many defenders better than him in high school. I will say that he gets into foul trouble *a lot*.

Funny enough though, I think bronny might be close to the bottom of the top 100, or even maybe outside of it if he were on a bad team and didn't have LeBron's name. Teams would just be able to shut him down since he can't dribble.

Curious, do you know which guy from Draftexpress said that? I haven't paid much attention to Givony since ESPN bought them out and I feel like Schmitz doesnt spend too much time anymore watching the high school guys. It feels like ESPN has him booked all year long with the college and international guys.

And ya I agree with your last part for sure. I think take away his name and I think he's in that 60-70s+ range. If we are being honest, once you get past that top 40 or so, it is usually a pretty steep decline and really becomes just a random shot on who ends up being good or not. Pretty much go back through any past recruiting class and look at the 50th-100th in the class. You will see a name or two that your recognize from the NBA, another name or two that you might recognize from college. Then a bunch of guys that even struggled to carve out a solid college career.

But ya the complete lack of a dynamic handle from Bronny and again he has solid form on his shot, but he isnt anything close to being viewed as a knockdown shooter. So that combination to go with this 6'3 size, really just puts a limit to how good of a player he is at the moment.

Pretty sure it's Givony, this is his IG account. Honestly though, they just kinda say stuff at times, idk we'll see.

I think his handle is pretty mediocre, but if he could explode off the dribble and get into more dynamic positions with the ball his handle would be good enough to get by people. If I were his parents in coaches, I would have him take gymnastics or dancing and I'd have him work with movement/plyometric coaches, because he needs to drastically improve his flexibility and fluidity of his movements, along with his initial explosion. People see Kyrie's handle and it is amazing, but what they don't see is that his footwork matches his handle. If you look at freeze frames, you'll see his body tilted in all sorts of strange positions, like with his knee being parallel to the ground, him shifting his waist wayyy over as he dribbles the ball behind his back, etc. That's because he's got an elite range of motion in his feet and a very elastic type of body control, so he can sink his hips and his knees and explode out of different positions no matter what position he's in. Allen Iverson, MJ, Kobe have that. Ja Morant has it. Most elite guards, especially undersized ones, have it, but Bronny has the movement patterns of a really big wing or a big man, so he doesn't have it. I think he can train so he can get closer to the level of mobility he'd need to get to, though. If Bronny could improve his mobility and initial burst to even that of just a regular above average guard prospect's, I think that would unlock a lot of his game. He's got a great ball fake, he has a floater game, is a solid midrange shooter, can knock down shots, and he's got bounce, so he would be a threat to finish. He can finish with both hands well, he's got some advanced footwork when attacking the basket at times. In the open court you can see his playing is more effective because he's picked up speed and defenders are backpedaling. If he could do that in the half court, that would drastically improve his prospects.

But alas, that's an extremely difficult to thing to teach because flexibility/body control and initial quickness are actually largely athletic traits. But that's what he needs to work on I think more than anything. I think the jumper will figure itself out.

[Lalouie]

Below is an extremely accurate scouting report on Bronny.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2953737-full-nba-scouting-report-for-sierra-canyons-bronny-james

Projected archetype: Connector/Three-and-D combo

NBA comparisons: De'Anthony Melton, Ayo Dosunmu, Lonzo Ball


If LeBron is serious about teaming up with his son, the idea that the Jameses may come as a package out of the 2024 draft could affect Bronny's stock.[b] It seems reasonable to think that playoff teams and contenders will be interested in a 39-year-old LeBron if the cost was picking his kid in the teens or 20s.

LeBron aside, Bronny still has the athletic ability, an easy-fit skill set and A-plus intangibles that NBA teams should find attractive on his own.

Given his size and questionable creation upside, he doesn't appear to possess the type of ceiling that would typically warrant lottery buzz. Offensively, will his shooting and passing be enough to offset limited half-court creation? Without on-ball offensive upside or the height to easily match up against wings, it seems more realistic to project him as a role player or reserve.

James will be in a good spot next year to receive more reps and develop as a top option with Bailey gone, so there is no reason to write his limitations in permanent marker just yet. However, his path to NBA rotations will likely depend on consistent shooting complementing his two-way IQ in a supporting role.[/b]

why???..i think this is totally unreasonable.

IF the cost is lebron joining the team of his own free will and playing for minimum, then ok,,,MAYBE. a contender would draft late. if bronny is a washout what is lebron's leverage.

in any case lebron has no leverage because teams would be doing HIM a favor. he lost his leverage when he announce he wanted to play with his son. let's say you're the cavs and you're a contender. will garland be happy or would this be kyrie 2.0.

i dont think contenders will do this because THEY'RE SET MOVING FORWARD. or if you want, look at it this way,,,does philly, bos, miami(hellz no), mil, char, gsw, dal, phx, utah, mem, chi do this. i'll tell you what, i think any team locked into their pg will NOT go for this, so that also includes atl, nets.

will lebron play with a cellar team that's hard up for publicity

lastly, 2022 has been a circus, a veritable comical confluence of bad vibes, and even though lebron can still put up numbers he's not moving the needle, bro. the lakers are a joke. this does not add to lebron's resume at all

it could very well be that the lakers are STUCK with this storyline....i'll say lakers, or as a jesture of goodwill,,,,the cavs. it might be the only two teams where bronny doesn't get razzed

[kobe tier]

If u Bronny how u gonna feel if you only make the L because of D?

Hard to see any teammates take you seriously...

If I'm bronny I'm set for life

Give up on the NBA and leech off that lebron tit for life.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Bronny wishes he had Caruso’s hops.

That's far from his biggest problem

Watch on YouTube

[BostonCouchGM]

lots of silly takes. He's intentionally taking a back seat to his teammates/friends. His handle is more than adequate and in the NBA it won't matter since everything is run off high screens. He's always in control and I've seen plenty of instances where he takes guys off the dribble. If he's not dominating more as a Senior than people should feel free to judge. But the kid is young, on a very talented team, knows he's set and will make the NBA and doesn't try to take anyone's shine because he's very aware of the negative connotations associated with being Lebron's son and how it'd look if he was a chucker and selfish.

[LAL1947]

This may be lacking in taste... but if Bronny grew up poor and eating cheap, hormone-filled beef, he might have grown to be his dad's height already and a prime SF with defensive chops. All puns intended!

[HurdyGurdyMan]

Well seems only fair that the man who invented superteams would be responsible for introducing nepotism into the league

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Cavaliers should draft Bronny with a 2nd round pick and then sign LeBron to a vet minimum contract to be the back up power forward to Mobley. But you have to make sure LeBron is willing to be a back up.

Then play Bronny 5 minutes a game as a gimmick. I prefer that LeBron retire as a Cavalier.

[Gusto1903]

Cavaliers should draft Bronny with a 2nd round pick and then sign LeBron to a vet minimum contract to be the back up power forward to Mobley. But you have to make sure LeBron is willing to be a back up.

Then play Bronny 5 minutes a game as a gimmick. I prefer that LeBron retire as a Cavalier.

Why should the Cavs risk their bright future, just to let lebron retire in cleveland? He will trade away all their assets, just to make space for Lebron Jr and stuff.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Cavaliers should draft Bronny with a 2nd round pick and then sign LeBron to a vet minimum contract to be the back up power forward to Mobley. But you have to make sure LeBron is willing to be a back up.

Then play Bronny 5 minutes a game as a gimmick. I prefer that LeBron retire as a Cavalier.

Why should the Cavs risk their bright future, just to let lebron retire in cleveland? He will trade away all their assets, just to make space for Lebron Jr and stuff.

Whether LeBron could help Clevland depends on his attitude. Give LeBron the attitude of chamionship level bench guy who just wants to help the team and LeBron would be great. I am thinking about like how David West was for the 2017 Warriors.

I think Lauri Markkanen is a good player who is being wasted in Clevland. Trade Markkanen for a guard. Markkanen Is very useful as a stretch big but he does not really have the speed to play small forward. With Markkanen gone the team has a use for old LeBron playing about 18 minutes per game. 12 mintes per game at power forward and 6 minutes per game at small forward.



You can't let LeBron be the GM. You can't let LeBron dominate the team. LeBron's attitude has to be right.

So Bronny isn't really an NBA player but at 5 minutes a game how much worse will he be than the guy that would have gotten those last 5 minutes? Maybe play him one minute a game in the playoffs. A happy old LeBron on a vet minimum contract might be a valuable asset.

[Willie Colon]

He's a 6'2" combo guard who's one of the best defenders and overall highest IQ guys in high school basketball. I've watched most of his games the last two years, he always makes a positive impact, but he's got a very limited amount of wiggle and burst off dribble so his shot-creation abilities, even in high school, are also very limited. He can be inconsistent with his jumper but he has good form. Needs to put on some actual size, and not just height. he's not a legit NBA prospect, but if he adds some bulk, perfects his jumper and gets at least a passable amount of first step quickness and handle, he can be a decent role player that gets traded often.

Sounds somewhat similar to Marcus Jordan.

[NoStatsGuy]

bryce actually looks a lot more promising so far. though younger and not playing with his dad but bryce has a way better chance being a lottery pick or 1st round to begin with.

[TravisScott55]

He wouldn't make the NBA if it weren't for his dad, but you can say the same for a lot of people in business so who cares.

[KembaWalker]

If Bronny grows 2 inches and works on his shooting he might work his way up to as good as LiAngelo Ball