Lakers News: Bronny James Makes Official NBA Draft Decision

Will Bronny enter the NCAA transfer portal or could he wind up a Laker next year?

Dec 10, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard Bronny James (6) watches his father LeBron James walk to his courtside seat before the start of a game against the Long Beach State 49ers at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Former USC Trojans combo guard Bronny James, eldest son of 20-time Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James, will officially stay in the 2024 NBA Draft and surrender the rest of his NCAA eligibility, his Klutch Sports agent Rich Paul informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

"Bronny's [draft] range is wide," Paul said. "He's a really good prospect who has a lot of room for growth. It only takes one team. I don't care where that team is -- it can be No. 1 or 58 -- [but] I do care about the plan, the development. The team's strategy, the opportunity and the financial commitment. That's why I'm not doing a two-way deal. Every team understands that."

James is currently ranked as the No. 54-best prospect in this year's group, according to ESPN's present listing of the top candidates. There are 58 picks across two rounds in this year's draft (two clubs sacrificed their draft selections due to penalties). As Woj mentions, each team does possess three two-way contracts, which can be used on second round picks and, more often, undrafted selections — although Rich Paul has insisted Bronny wouldn't be interested in taking this path to the league.

The 6-foot-4 former Cardinal and Gold guard was saddled with a bit of a "season from hell" situation. Following an offseason cardiac arrest last July, he missed the first month of the year (after ultimately being cleared to keep playing basketball, which is the good news). James never found his shooting form, and wasn't the all-world defender a lot of us were expecting him to be in his debut NCAA season. In 25 healthy games, he averaged 4.8 points on .366/.267/.676 shooting splits, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals a night.

LeBron James has long said he'd like to play alongside his son. Although recently he's backed off that chatter a bit, it remains possibly Bronny could be selected early in the second round by a team hoping to lure James, who has a $51.4 million player option for 2024-25, away from the Lakers. Los Angeles has the Nos. 17 and 55 picks in this year's draft.

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