Lakers News: League Scouts Think Bronny James Has NBA Ability In One Department

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 8, 2024

Nov 19, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) daps up son Bronny James. / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star combo forward LeBron James' son Bronny, a freshman at USC, has declared for the NBA draft and is entering the NCAA transfer portal. Essentially, because he is a fringe second round draft selection this season, the younger James wants to explore the draft process while also considering his college eligibility.

Per Shams Charania of FanDuel TV's show "Run It Back," the 19-year-old Trojans guard is hoping to figure out if teams are indeed interested in adding him this year. Otherwise, he'll resume his college career somewhere else.

"Bronny James is declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft, but he's also maintaining his college eligibility...When I talk to NBA teams there's a clear consensus that as a defender he's already at that caliber of an NBA defender."@ShamsCharania on Bronny James. pic.twitter.com/pEM2ho4zxJ

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 8, 2024

"Bronny James is declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft, but he's also maintaining his college eligibility, gonna enter the NCAA transfer portal, leaving USC regardless of where this goes," Charania noted. "I'm told this is just the start of the process, where Bronny James' priority is to stay in the draft of course, but that's gonna depend on how his evaluation comes from his team workouts, team visits. He's gonna have to go through a thorough evaluation through this predraft process."

"When I talk to NBA teams there's a clear consensus that as a defender he's already at that caliber of an NBA defender," Charania said. "We know about his basketball IQ as well, obviously great genes there, but shooting, offensive game, ballhandling, I think those are all things that scouts, talent evaluators will keep an eye on as he goes through the predraft process. I think if there's a draft to be in, though, this is probably the draft, by all accounts, to stay in."

In 25 games, Bronny James averaged 4.8 points on a .366/.267/.676 slash line, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals a night.