John Fanta
College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter
LeBron James’ dream appears to be coming true, and it’s a script so good that it will be written in Hollywood.
The Los Angeles Lakers selected James’ son, Bronny James, with the 55th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night. The one-and-done guard averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this past year at USC, shooting 37% from the floor and 27% from 3-point range. He missed the start of his freshman season and was limited to 19.4 minutes per game after suffering cardiac arrest during a workout with the Trojans last summer.
While LeBron has the ability to become a free agent this summer, he can take a $51.4 million player option with the Lakers that he has to decide on by June 29. Assuming James is back with the purple and gold, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer will enter his 22nd season with the opportunity to get on the hardwood with his son in what would be a historic moment in basketball.
As for Bronny, there is not much to suggest he is ready for the NBA level. According to Synergy, the 6-foot-2 guard shot just above 19% on catch-and-shoot 3s this past season at USC, going no better than 30% on floaters, 2-point jumpers or 3s off the dribble. Beyond his catch-and-shoot ability, James does not possess the handle to create space and consistently create shots for himself. He did show positives at the draft combine in May with a 40.5-inch max vertical leap, while also taking second in the 3-point star shooting drill.
Bronny James ’is not ready to be an NBA player’
With a wingspan over 6-7, James clearly comes from great genes and does have that athletic burst, but there’s just not enough from his year at Southern California to suggest that athletic ability could translate to results early on at the NBA level.
While multiple NBA teams tried to schedule an individual workout with James, his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, only made him available to the Lakers and Suns.
“This is nothing new,” Paul said in an interview with ESPN. “The goal is to find a team that values your guy and try to push him to get there. It’s important to understand the context and realize that this has always been the strategy with many of my clients throughout the years, especially those in need of development like Bronny. My stuff is by design.”
The other caveat with Bronny’s situation: Paul will not take a two-way contract for him, which would give him the availability to go between the G League and the NBA. My take: The unwillingness to allow Bronny to develop more at a lower level from The Association would really be in his best interest as a player. As is, the wide consensus from scouts is that he should still be in college learning under an elite player developer rather than being thrown into the league right now, but that’s the reality of the situation.
“As we know, some people’s game and some people’s development is not for the collegiate game,” Paul told Gilbert Arenas on his podcast, “Gil’s Arena.” “I personally think you develop better at a pro level. Why? Because there’s more intention on your development. At the collegiate level, every game is the championship game. There’s a necessity to win a conference championship, there’s a necessity to get to the 64 pool.
At the end of the day, Bronny’s dream of hearing his name called came true on Thursday, and playing with his dad is now looking like a reality. How a long road of development will go from here is the big question mark for his future.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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