There is no Ja Morant, there is no Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose in the 2024 NBA draft but there is a Lebron James Jr. Bronny has been a polarizing player since 6th grade, when his middle school team was getting millions of views on YouTube. Now Bronny is in his first-year season at the University of Southern California. Bronny missed the first 8 games of the season due to a cardiac arrest event during practice. In that time, USC was ranked 21 to start the season and went 5-3 while Bronny was out, including a loss to a top-15 team in Gonzaga. Today, Bronny James is back on the court with USC and the Trojans record is 3 wins 4 losses, with Bronny averaging 6 points a game with 2.3 rebounds and 44.4 percent from the field. 

Bronny’s teammate, the number 1 player in the class of 2023 on ESPN’s Top 100, Isiah Collier is projected as a top 3 pick but has not lived up to his ESPN ranking. The Los Angeles Lakers have had a disappointing season with a record of 18 wins and 19 losses. Despite Lebron looking like he is 25 years old when he is 39 years old is incredible but what can be more incredible is that the Lakers are either headed to the Play-In Tournament or the NBA Draft Lottery show. The 2024 does not appear to house any superstar in this draft which can be a perfect year for Bronny James to be drafted by the Lakers. This would allow Lebron to have his son play with him.

“Bronny James might already be USC’s best one-on-one perimeter defender” per Luca Evan from the Orange County Register. And right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are 7th in Defensive rating, right behind the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers are currently 20th in free throw percentage at 77 percent. Bronny shoots 64 percent from the stripe, but college basketball free-throw percentages don’t always tell you how good of a free-throw shooter the player is. It definitely shines a light on certain attributes. Bronny is only attempting 2 free throws a game. This tells me two things, first, Bronny is not being aggressive enough on the offensive end, understandably because he is in his 7th game coming back from a heart issue. The second observation is about Bronny’s free throw attempts and his free throw percentage. Because he only is only attempting two and game and making a little over 1 free throw per game. An ideal percentage would be 75-85 I don’t know if he is going to be an above adequate 3-point shooter in the NBA. Your free throws link to your 3-point percentage because it tells scouts how well your shooting form works. The Lakers are 24th in 3-point percentage this season and unless they acquire a player during the trade deadline to address this issue, I do not see Bronny being a great fit.

What I do like about the seven games Bronny played, was the Oregon State game. Bronny took 11 shots from the field and 6 of those shots were 3’s. Of course, matchups will predict how aggressive Bronny is. Bronny is a player who is going to make the right plays, not over-dribbling or ball-holding on offense. This is the type of player every team needs but if his hope and dream is to play alongside his father, he must be more aggressive on offense.

“He reminds me of a more athletic Jrue Holiday. He is a very smart kid. … He will be, at his height, a 19-7-7 type of player.” Stated Gilbert Arenas on the Dan Patrick Show 2023. In California high school basketball there have only been four players to be a 2-time Mr. Basketball Award recipient since 1986, the four players were Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler, Aaron Gordon, and Onyeka Okongwu. Even Jrue Holiday has Mr. Basketball in the state of California. Bronny might not have a Mr. Basketball award but what he has that neither of those talented players had, is a father who is undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bronny has time to get better and who knows he stays more than 1 year at USC. A father wants what is best for his child and Bronny being on Lebron’s Lakers right now is not the best thing for him. Bronny needs a few more seasons to turn into ripe fruit but this is the perfect draft for him to be drafted in with no superstar presenting itself.