Agent Rich Paul is telling some teams to pass on Bronny James in the second round of the 2024 NBA draft, ESPN’s Bob Myers said during the event’s broadcast.
Myers noted that Paul warned teams that James would play in Australia if he was selected by a certain team.
This confirms a previous report by Athletic and Stadium NBA insider Shams Charania.
Charania discussed the possibility during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Shownoting that Paul could potentially already have an idea in mind of where he wants Bronny to land:
“The way Rich Paul handled Chris Livingston last year, I think you have to think about that when you think about a guy like Bronny James, who if you try to position him on a specific team, or in a spot specific where in this case, could it be the Lakers at 55? It wouldn’t surprise me if at some point in the second round there were calls like, “Look, don’t draft him, he has?” already his place, let him continue to ignore you.
“Because I think the way they’ve handled this process from the beginning, it’s not just going to be a two-way contract or a question of where he ends up, G League or whatever, it’s about being on the roster and being on a multi-year deal and I expect that to be the case for Bronny James, it’s just a question of where.”
Charania added that James has only worked for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, noting that was intentional.
Bronny’s father, NBA legend LeBron James, is the Lakers’ franchise player and is expected to be with the team next season despite a player option in his contract, so the Lakers have long been favored to select Bronny with the 55th overall pick.
After Bronny went undrafted in the first round of the draft on Wednesday, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie reported that league sources believed it was “likely” the Lakers would use the 55th overall pick on the former USC guard.
It’s unclear what type of role Bronny would have in LA, especially as a rookie, but Charania pointed out that Paul is trying to get his client a multi-year contract.
Charania mentioned Livingston, who is another client of Paul’s, and his situation could end up mirroring Bronny’s.
After Livingston was not selected in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft, he fell all the way to the Milwaukee Bucks with the final pick of the draft at 58th overall.
Despite this, Livingston landed a four-year rookie contract worth $7.7 million, representing the highest salary ever for a late draft pick.
If Bronny is picked 55th overall by the Lakers, he will be among the last picks in the draft and can perhaps expect a similar deal.
Bronny entered the college ranks as a highly regarded player, but he missed the first eight games of his freshman season after suffering a cardiac arrest during practice last summer.
Although Bronny recovered, he never really found his feet at USC, averaging just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting just 36.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from three-point range.
Still, Bronny is considered a quality defender and playmaker, and he has a chance to crack an NBA team at some point.
It’s unclear what the league’s interest in Bronny is outside of the Lakers, but it’s hard to imagine him falling behind the Lakers at No. 55 in part because of LeBron’s presence.
News Source : syndication.bleacherreport.com
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