Bronny James Will Be Draft Eligible in 2024

With recent news of the NBA and NBPA possibly talking about a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Bronny James, the son of LeBron James, will be eligible to enter the 2024 NBA Draft.

He may not be in college yet, but LeBron James Jr., more commonly known as “Bronny” James, is already one of the most talked about NBA prospects in the country. In fact, Bronny may not even have to go to college in order to begin his NBA journey!

On Monday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the NBA and NBPA are in “serious talks” on new items pertaining to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, one of which would lower the draft age from 19-years-old to 18.

Sources: NBA and NBPA in serious talks on new items for potential Collective Bargaining Agreement:

- Draft age eligibility from 19 to 18, return of high school-to-NBA
- Measure that allows players citing mental health similar to physical injury

More: https://t.co/ecABKkat2H

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 19, 2022

What this could mean is that James could decide to jump straight to the NBA out of high school, much like his father did in 2003 when he was drafted first overall out of St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.

He is preparing for his senior year in high school, but instead of attending college, Bronny could possibly begin to prepare and train for the 2024 NBA Draft. 

The NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement runs through the 2023-24 season, but both the NBA and the NBPA have the ability to opt out of this agreement before then. Should this happen before the December 15 deadline this year, the CBA would expire on June 30, 2023 instead.

With the two sides continuing to be in contact and things not trending towards a “lockout,” it seems very likely that we could see young talents begin making the high school-to-NBA jump as soon as the 2024 NBA Draft.

As of right now, Bronny James is listed as the No. 35 overall prospect in ESPN’s 2023 Recruiting Class Top-100 and No. 41 overall in 247 Sports’ 2023 Recruiting Class rankings.

While Bronny is entering his senior year at Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles, California and his father, LeBron James, is preparing for his 20th season in the NBA.

Just signing a contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason that keeps him under contract through the 2023-24 season with a player option for the 2024-25 season, James’ contract aligns perfectly with the timing of when his son could be prepared to enter the league.

LeBron has stated multiple times that his dream is to play with his son in the NBA and in a few years, we could very well see this happen either in Los Angeles or with another team should James opt out of his contract with the Lakers if/when Bronny James enters the NBA Draft.