This NBA Insider Report Shows How Ridiculous Bronny James Draft Cycle Could Get

Adrian Wojnarowski's report on Bronny James' G League impact may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Bronny James / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday, Bronny James mania officially kicked off with the news that LeBron James' son had been cleared by NBA doctors to enter the draft and safely play professional basketball. On Monday night, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski brought the world the first taste of what James' draft cycle will be like.

Broadcasting from the NBA combine, in which James was participating, Wojnarowski reported there are teams intrigued by the former USC guard. Not because of his talent or the possibility that LeBron will go wherever he does. No, Woj reports that there are teams interested in James' ability to boost G League revenue.

Teams are intrigued by Bronny James because of the financial impact he will have on their G League level at the beginning of his career, per @wojespn:

“He will pack G League arenas, merchandising. All of those make him an attractive player.”

Bronny could go late first-round. pic.twitter.com/4gHrAXDQTV

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) May 14, 2024

It was already quite obvious that James was not going to be covered like a normal possible second round pick, and this should really hammer that home. Stop and ask yourself if you have ever heard an insider (much less Wojnarowski, considered to be the insider in basketball) discussing a prospect's potential financial value to the G League. You haven't, because it's a bit of an absurd talking point.

No average fan cares about how much money their local G League team is raking in. They certainly do not care about how a draft pick could boost sales, nor do they want to hear that their favorite team is drafting players on that basis. So why is Wojnarowski talking about it on ESPN?

Because James is not your average prospect. Which, of course, you already realized. But the attention being paid to James far outsizes his potential impact on the court, which is very rare when it comes to the draft. The players who are talked about the most are almost always the best players, or the players who look like they could be the best players in a few years.

James falls into neither category and no number of private workouts in the lead-up to the draft is going to change that. The book has been out on him for nearly a year now— he's a good athlete with strong defensive chops but struggles to consistently make an impact offensively. His size and skillset mean he is a second round pick at best. If that's common knowledge at this stage, then what is there to talk about when it comes to James?

That question has an answer in the form of the Wojnarowski clip above. The conversations will be about his G League impact. Or how likely it is LeBron follows him to the city he's drafted in. It is going to be about pretty much anything other than the chances of James becoming a productive NBA player, because there's only so much more analysis that can be done in that area.

In other words, it's time to buckle up. We've never really seen a prospect like Bronny James, and this draft class is not helping matters. With no consensus top overall prospect and a generally underwhelming collection of talent, the conversation will inevitably turn to James more often than not. And if the well of information regarding his on-court talent has already run dry for insiders like Wojnarowski, what other directions could this possibly go?

The NBA world will find out over the next few weeks. And if the G League report is any indication, nothing is out of the question.