The 2024 NBA Draft could have another big name added to it. Last week, USC guard Bronny James officially declared for the draft, but he is maintaining his flexibility to return to the college ranks should he choose so. However, it won’t be with the Trojans, as James has opted also to enter the transfer portal.
That decision isn’t too surprising given the coaching change that has occurred in Pasadena. Andy Enfield, who was USC’s head coach for 11 seasons, took the job at SMU recently with Eric Musselman being tabbed as his replacement.
It will be interesting to see how the recruitment of James goes this time around as he has already been linked to a few schools. Duke, Ohio State and Rutgers have been mentioned as potential landing spots for him.
Alas, there is also a chance that he will keep his name in the draft pool and move onto the NBA. Based on his stats from his freshman season, that isn’t a route James will be going this season. With the Trojans, he averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.
He was inefficient offensively, shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from 3-point range. It wouldn’t be surprising if many scouts and evaluators gave him a pass for his performance given the cardiac arrest episode that he endured and USC underwhelming massively as a whole.
But, NBA scouts are seemingly split on what they think about James. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated shared some of what he has heard from scouts and evaluators as some are high on him as a prospect and others, not so much.
“NBA scouts are divided on James. He has elite defensive tools but lacks the size to defend bigger guards. He showed flashes of being a strong playmaker but isn’t a traditonal point guard. His shooting was streaky. Still, he performed well given the near tragic cardiac incident he had last summer. James will go through the evaluation process before making a decision on the NBA draft,” wrote Mannix on X.
Even if James isn’t a legitimate NBA prospect at this time, there could be franchises willing to take the chance on him during the 2024 NBA Draft. That is because if you have Bronny on your team, there is a chance that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will follow.
LeBron has made it clear one of the goals he has is to play in the NBA with his son. If Bronny declares and a team selects him, LeBron will have the opportunity to accomplish one of the only goals he has remaining as a professional basketball player.
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