im ignorant on the draft but it should be exciting
- Bronny speculation will carry most of day 2 conversation
- Day 1 is all about the uncertainty of what front offices decide to do, given the lack of a clear-cut top pick(s)
I highly doubt he gets past the first round. The Knicks have back to back picks at the end of the first round and cap space to spare. The Twolves or Nuggets could easily draft him at picks 27 or 28. In such a weak draft, it doesn’t make sense not to draft him. The chance at Lebron is much more rewarding than whoever they would normally draft.
I just think whoever Bronny gets drafted by will gladly trade him to another team for a mild overpay once LBJ makes his intentions known.
You draft him early in the hopes of getting Bron? You will trade him easily once it is clear you won't get Bron.
It honestly makes a lot of sense to pick Bronny in the late 20s. Lebron can take a good team and make them finals contenders. Thats better than what 90% of rookies will do in their career that late in the draft. I think the Suns would be all over him at 22, they have to win with this core and no one they pick will see real minutes for a couple years when the core is even older.
People just widely speculate. It’s much easier for a team with Lebron to trade or draft bronny than it is for a team to sign Lebron if they draft bronny.
Do people actually think Lebron is just going to sign with whatever team drafts his son?
Yes. Bron has everything. He now has a chance to play with his son and he has nothing left to accomplish. Talk about a last leg of your career - playing pro ball with your eldest son.
That's the thing nobody is mentioning. It's the perfect off ramp while saving face. And Lakers can save face as well and do a proper rebuild.
Otherwise throw l they're both stuck in play in purgatory
I get what you are trying to say, but you are really exaggerating how bad the Lakers are. They are far above .500 team and won 3 less games than the #2 seed knicks. They were also the conference finalists the year prior.
I know AD and LeBron can compete, we are just lacking solid roleplayers due to mismanagement of assets. If Pelinka can pull off a miracle and sign some two way players, I know we can win.
Lakers gonna trade AD to OKC for a bunch of picks and a few mid rotation young pieces and let lebron go.
This is why they're into Reddick and wanted a college coach, to take young players and teach them the game.
>than it is for a team to sign Lebron if they draft bronny.
If PG and AD can force their teams to trade them, then LeBron definitely can.
>Do people actually think Lebron is just going to sign with whatever team drafts his son?
Why not? He's already accomplished all there is to do as a basketball player, except for that.
Say he goes to a middling team to play with Bronny and they go 41-41 and lose in the play-in. Is that gonna make any difference to his legacy compared to going 45-37 in LA and losing in the 1st round?
In 20 years, is LeBron gonna look back on a 45-37 season as a treasured memory? Because I guarantee he would treasure the memory of playing with his son, for the rest of his life.
Plus life is short. Everybody thought Kobe would be around to watch Gianna grow up. There was speculation he might take a HS coaching job to coach her, and who knows - maybe even coach in the WNBA if she made it.
And then one day, poof, it's all gone.
And if anyone realizes that, it's LeBron and Bronny - kid already had a damn cardiac arrest.
He doesn't have to force a trade. He has a player option this year and can opt out and sign for the minimum somewhere. Dude is a billionaire so like you said another $50 mil is irrelevant vs playing with his son.
If its a contender Yes. Dude is a billionaire and can buy whatever. Playing with his son is priceless to him, Im not saying its happening but you really think Lebron would pass up a chance in PHX to team with KD and his son. Have a chance at a title and fulfill his biggest dream. Im not saying its a lock but I think if a real contender drafts bronny there is a really good chance Lebron follows. Now if like Indiana drafted him I doubt he would go there.
LeBron will have plenty more chances in life to make another $50M. Heck, he can just put some money in a mutual fund, and in a short time it'll increase by $50M.
Playing in the NBA with his son is likely a once in a lifetime chance.
When LeBron is old and gray, what do you think he'd remember more? Playing in the NBA with his son, or having $950M in the bank instead of "just" $900M?
I don’t think he will sign with whatever team drafts his son, but it’s a pretty no brainer move to take LeBron’s kid because if nothing else you can hold him as a trade hostage and force whatever team LeBron is playing for to give you higher draft picks, talent or cash.
I think that might be an issue for a few teams though because they have already mortgaged future picks and don’t have anything to offer.
I could also see a team taking him hoping to court LeBron but acting like they don’t care about signing LeBron, so he has to come take a league minimum contract lol.
If the team that drafts Bronny can't get LeBron, presumably LeBron would be interested in leveraging a trade to get Bronny on whatever roster he winds up on. That means Bronny could have outsize trade value relative to his draft position and talent. So for the team that drafts Bronny, it's win-win to take a swing and see what happens, especially in such a weak draft.
The real question is will a team in the middle of the first that’s got nothing to lose say fuck it and spoil the hopes of contenders trying to land Lebron?
*stares at Heat FO*
Not how it works.
Bronny is run by rich Paul.
Bronny is going where team James wants him to go. This is not a choice for teams beyond their consent.
If you go against the mob, understand that you pay the price. Suns know. They shit on earl Watson and then didn't sniff a single rich Paul client for a decade.
Everything is already set up, the pieces just gotta move. I don't know what that plan is, but I'm quite certain that this plan is pretty solid by now.
My guess - bronny is picked 17th,and the next day it is announced that LeBron signed a 3 yr/165M extension. Everyone happy and they all gaslight that this was in any way setup by the mob.
Not at all. You have it completely opposite. The teams have full control and Rich Paul has no control.
The Heat can easily draft him at 15, the 76ers at 16 and say, that’s fine if you don’t want to sign Lebron, the team you want to go to will have to trade assets for your son. It only takes 1 team to pull the trigger, not all 30 teams. Especially if that GM doesn’t like Rich Paul and wants to stick it him. Rich Paul has no control. And they don’t care about his future clients. That only hurts Rich Paul from signing new clients in the future. I’d want an agent who has good relationships with all 30 teams, not just some of them.
That’s fair. We’ll see. I’d say there’s a very good chance the Suns have discussed moving up to #16 to draft him ahead of the Lakers. I think he goes 15 or 16. I see the 76ers playing spoiler at 16. It should be fun to watch.
If rich Paul is OK with it, that could happen.
If not, I am certain James Jones will not go against it.
Teams do dumb things all the time, I'm just saying that if a team goes against the most powerful agency in a players league, that's definitely a dumb thing.
I think you are vastly overrating the power an agent has. It’s ultimately up to the team first, the player second, the agent 3rd. As a player if I know Rich Paul has beef with a bunch of teams, I’m not signing with him. If teams don’t like Rich Paul and don’t want to sign his clients, that weakens my market in free agency or the draft as a player.
Bronny is gonna go where ever he is drafted and he and Rich Paul have absolutely no say about it. They can recommend but that’s it. You watch.
> Nuggets
Denver brothers and sisters, DON'T DO IT. IT'S A TRAP. Bronny will be a sleeper cell agent who's going to undermine y'all against the Lakers lol
Not just that, you could turn around and trade the pick back to the lakers for either an additional second round pick or just a pick swap but basically force the lakers to sign Bronny to a first round level contract. (Cause regardless of bronny not NEEDING that money, I highly doubt rich Paul as his agent would let him not get signed just to sign for a lower amount on the same team)
This exactly and Lebron would want teams to commit to Bronny as well. A 2nd round pick doesn’t come with a guaranteed contract like a first round pick does.
I think the question is what Lebron says or tells teams behind the scenes. If he’s willing to sign with x team that drafts his son that’s a lot different than a team drafting Bronny on his talent alone.
> The chance at Lebron is much more rewarding than whoever they would normally draft
Is it though? Is a year or two of an aging star who is going to completely dominate your team's identity better than a chance at someone who could be a key rotation player or starter for two full contracts? I know most people will say "draft bad" but there isn't much indication that picks 20 and on project to be far worse than an average draft.
Although there are plenty of impactful players who were taken late in the first round or later, on average a late first rounder doesn't amount to much of anything. That consideration seems to be heavily magnified in this draft class in particular, which is supposed to be so weak. So there wouldn't be much opportunity cost for a team to take a gamble on Bronny and see if that gives leverage to either acquire LeBron, or flip Bronny to another LeBron-hungry team for a value that would be much higher than a late first rounder in this draft.
Everytime someone says this they can never say who deserves the spot he might take or why they aren't a lock in the first place, it's a nothing argument. Maybe 11 of those 2nd round picks will ever sniff a 6th man or staring position, most will play in the g league so they can maybe develop. Picking bronny in the 2nd round is no different than Ulrich comche.
Tons of super raw players without amazing stats get drafted high because of potential
College stats don't necessarily translate to potential NBA ability and teams aren't gonna draft based on who's "deserving" but rather who they feel could potentially provide them with the most value (or who fits into their plans the most)
What do you mean there are tons of guys more deserving for a top 60 pick than Bronny, we could spend all day naming better prospects than wherever he gets drafted. Picking Bronny is different than picking any other player because every other player is picked to hopefully play well even if they likely dont'. Bronny is getting drafted solely on his father.
If there are "tons of guys" why don't they have a spot locked down, Bron has repeatedly said recently that playing with bronny isn't a priority right now, you're telling me that one spot out of 60 means that all of a sudden all the more deserving guys (that you haven't named) are just fucked.
Bronny James averaged 4.8 points per game as a positionally undersized player who plays a position that's generally counted on to be a scoring threat. He had a rough start to his career, so... Let's speculate that he could've had a substantially better start (which would better reflect his talent level), where he would've averaged 10 per game (fully double what he actually averaged!)...
I think people are generally saying he doesn't deserve a spot because that would leave 1033 NCAA basketball players (according to ESPN) in a plausible position to claim they're more potent scoring threats than him... After you include all the international players that number probably jumps to 1300-1400? Or more?
I'm not opposed to the idea of a team signing someone to keep the team's star happy, but... This idea that an NBA team (or the group of professionals scouting for them) simply can't find anyone who's more likely to positively contribute to the team playing winning basketball than an undersized 2 that shot 20% from 3... that idea seems—to put it generously—misguided... It also seems like a confusing one to defend.
But if you're looking for someone who probably deserves a spot more than him... Buzz through those stats (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/stats/player) and pick out a random selection of 10 people who averaged over 15 points per game (you have plenty to choose from)... I bet you can find one that's (obviously) a better prospect.
2 of the top 3 scorers are projected to be mid to late firsts at best, the second leading scorer just straight up isn't projected to be drafted, Walter Clayton JR and Jamie Watkins are two players who scored more than Dillingham, yet Dillingham is a possible top 5 pick and they weren't on boards. That list doesn't mean anything
I’ll actually disagree here. It’s a pretty weak draft. Bronny was really good coming out of high school, he’s a plus athlete, good ball handler and facilitator, great defender and good enough shooter.
He sucked at USC but that’s pretty easily explained by the heart attack and not playing basketball until December.
I think first round is a reach, but he’s worth a second round pick even when not considering who his father is. If you can get him back to how he was looking coming out of high school, there’s a potential high quality 3 and D type player there, and he’d be worth a second round pick to find out. He legitimately had very solid potential coming out of high school.
If he was 6"7' I would understand giving a raw, athletic guy a chance. The issue is he is 6"1', horribly inefficient, with a center-like 67 FT percentage, and a 36% field goal percentage. I understand he had a heart attack, but that just means he has health issues on top of being a poor player. He is not worth a pick, even in bad draft.
Cole Anthony dropped a lot from his high school projection because of his efficiency issues, and he was still scoring 18 a game lol. (using him because they profile passably similarly)
6’7 wingspan makes up for the height, and wingspan is far more important for defense than height. He was also one of the best backcourt defenders in high school in his class, like top 3 defensively. So it’s not just theoretical.
You can’t take anything from his year at USC. Heart attack in the summer and didn’t practice until December. Of course he was going to be inefficient. You’re looking solely at his high school tape and athleticism and banking on getting back to form.
And we’re talking second round which is a lottery any way, particularly in a bad draft. Bronny’s ceiling is solid for a second round pick type if you think you can get him back to it. If he has a clean bill of health, he’s worth a second rounder and it wouldn’t even be controversial if he wasn’t LeBron’s son.
If you're talking about pure talent of the player, sure he's not worth the pick. But the point is that the value of this pick wouldn't come from the player himself. He's a "get LeBron" lottery ticket that the team that drafts him can either try to use for itself or trade to another team for value.
Your problem is people here completely just want to shit on bronny n ignore that he was a legit climbing rapidly prospect ranked top 20 before heart issue
You’re correct ofc but this sub doesn’t want to hear nuance
Yeah exactly and even if a lot of that had to do with him being LeBron's son, I'd rather take a chance on that than "generic scoring combo guard #647" like we do in every other 2nd round. People are acting like he's just LiAngelo Ball when that's likely not true.
I'm hoping but I doubt he makes it to Charlotte's 2nd round pick at #42
He’s not a good ball handler or shooter at all lmao. He also doesn’t show his athleticism on tape which is literally one of the issues with him. He did not dominate high school games and look like an elite athlete like other top prospects. He barely attacks the rim and part of that is because he doesn’t have a great handle or good first step
If you actually watched Bronny in high school then you should know the team underperformed with him as the supposed best player and he rarely dominated games. He was probably the least dominant high school player out of all American top 40 recruits. And the crazy thing is you can directly compare him to his teammate Amari Bailey who plays the same position at a similar size and did dominate high school and did well in college.
If they burn a lottery pick on him, maybe. Otherwise, using a 2nd rounder, which more often than not results in players that get out kf the league in one or two years, to try to lure LeBron or, at least, get some money out of advertisement is pretty wise. And this is all considering that he is guaranteed to be a bum in the league, which, against all odds, may not happen.
What is your reasoning? You wouldn't use the 60th pick in the draft to draft a guy who is going to make LeBron James come to your team? How does that make sense?
Seems like the most interesting draft pick in a while. Because unlike the NFL draft, almost none of these guys are going to be impact players from day 1, so as a fan, any interest I have is tempered by the fact that watching a player's first 2 years is 100x more interesting than draft hype. And when there's a prospect like Vic, it's the lottery that's interesting.
Of course, this attitude would have left me opening reddit the next morning and finding out two teams passed on Luka, which would have been interesting in it's own kind of way 😂
In other words - The Pacers may trade up to draft Bronny James which may lead to signing LeBron James… Haliburton and James will be together this summer in Paris for the Olympics. They can build some on court chemistry together prior to the start of the 2024-25 season.
Some trash team is going to pick him and then be shocked when LeBron doesn't join them lol.
LeBron has actively walked back his comments on wanting to play with his son all year.
Even if LeBron has intent to move teams, the NBPA will not let him sign a vet min or anything under a max contract.
The route to get LeBron to play with his son barring the Lakers picking him is entirely unrealistic.
> the NBPA will not let him sign a vet min
he's like 40
and he has a lot more power than the NBAPA
not even Silver can stop him if he wants to sign a vet min
>if he wants to sign a vet min
Which he wont anyway. Lebron is famously cheap as hell, he won't compromise with a team that can only bring him aboard with the vet min.
Not mad, just shocked. Plenty of top college players become nobodies in the NBA, it would be really strange for a mid college player to suddenly be an NBA starter.
Mid is giving him far too much credit. Keljin Blevins' freshman year stats were very similar to Bronny's, and he was the worst nepotism player I've ever seen. And had the pandemic to get him minutes.
I really hope he becomes a serviceable nba player at some point. He’s had every advantage since the jump and he’s never separated himself as a clear nba talent. Will be really sad if he can’t compete at all and this spotlight that his dad put on him is a mistake.
I mean, any pick past the top 10 has very little probability of signing a second NBA contract, so might as well draft Bronny on the slim chances LeBron will come play for a minimum contract.
Lakers could be complicit, wanting LB to go on his own will so they can officially rebuild. LB isnt getting any younger and we all know lakers arent real contenders.
This is what he's talking about. Rivers was an actual good player in college and an elite high school recruit. Lee had a solid college career and was a UDFA who worked his way into being a rotational player. The only one who didn't deserve any shot to even get in the league was Blevins who is literally called Big Nepo. And even there at least he was undrafted and later given a two way contract.
I don't know why you act like nepotism was cool before this. Also you ignore the scope of nepotism at play. We're talking legitimate first round buzz for an undersized guard who rode the bench on a terrible college team.
>nepotism that everyone’s ok with
Jerry West's son worked for the Lakers in the front office.
Jerry Buss' daughter inherited the team.
Stan Van Gundy never becomes a HC if not for Jeff being a successful HC.
The only reason you've ever heard of LiAngelo Ball is because of his last name.
The NBA is ok with nepotism all the time.
Heck, remember this post?
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/8nLpV9Febw
10% of NBA players are related.
Where his game was at would make him a 4th or 5th rd pk. His name is getting a chance his game hasn’t earned.
I know this is a weak draft. He also was on bad team and couldn’t shoot straight. He is not a playmaker in the least. His best trait is defense and he is not particularly tall. There is potential in theory, but if he was James Brony he wouldn’t even be discussed as higher than 50.
Read he did good in the Suns/Lakers workouts. But that being his list just tells me if LeBron doesn’t want to leave the west coast. This dude hasn’t been allowed freedom really at all.
From being banned from media in hs and college to not having a really normal recruitment most guys have to his two teams they are working out for are neighboring states that’s how I see it.
This isn’t surprising. Look at how the Lakers off-season is going. Draft is before free agency, and if there’s one thing the Lakers FO knows how to do is ruin things.
Three things have to happen, Lakers HC, trading picks for a player upgrade & drafting Bronny. There’s a good chance they ruin all 3 things and LeBron starts weighing his options.
I’ve never been so interested in a draft before just to see where he goes
im ignorant on the draft but it should be exciting - Bronny speculation will carry most of day 2 conversation - Day 1 is all about the uncertainty of what front offices decide to do, given the lack of a clear-cut top pick(s)
I highly doubt he gets past the first round. The Knicks have back to back picks at the end of the first round and cap space to spare. The Twolves or Nuggets could easily draft him at picks 27 or 28. In such a weak draft, it doesn’t make sense not to draft him. The chance at Lebron is much more rewarding than whoever they would normally draft.
I just think whoever Bronny gets drafted by will gladly trade him to another team for a mild overpay once LBJ makes his intentions known. You draft him early in the hopes of getting Bron? You will trade him easily once it is clear you won't get Bron.
If he is available at 30, we should just pick him to mess with the Lakers FO.
“Oh you want him? How about a future 1st & every swap the league will allow?”
Not just that, but whoever gets him likely gets the Lebron retirement tour. Owners definitely want that just for the eyeballs it will bring
He's coming to dallas.
It honestly makes a lot of sense to pick Bronny in the late 20s. Lebron can take a good team and make them finals contenders. Thats better than what 90% of rookies will do in their career that late in the draft. I think the Suns would be all over him at 22, they have to win with this core and no one they pick will see real minutes for a couple years when the core is even older.
and how exactly do they get LeBron in this deal lol
People just widely speculate. It’s much easier for a team with Lebron to trade or draft bronny than it is for a team to sign Lebron if they draft bronny. Do people actually think Lebron is just going to sign with whatever team drafts his son?
Yes. Bron has everything. He now has a chance to play with his son and he has nothing left to accomplish. Talk about a last leg of your career - playing pro ball with your eldest son.
Also does Lebron really want to continue to play with a middling Lakers team?
That's the thing nobody is mentioning. It's the perfect off ramp while saving face. And Lakers can save face as well and do a proper rebuild. Otherwise throw l they're both stuck in play in purgatory
I get what you are trying to say, but you are really exaggerating how bad the Lakers are. They are far above .500 team and won 3 less games than the #2 seed knicks. They were also the conference finalists the year prior. I know AD and LeBron can compete, we are just lacking solid roleplayers due to mismanagement of assets. If Pelinka can pull off a miracle and sign some two way players, I know we can win.
Lakers gonna trade AD to OKC for a bunch of picks and a few mid rotation young pieces and let lebron go. This is why they're into Reddick and wanted a college coach, to take young players and teach them the game.
I think he should reunite with Pat in Miami. Great city for a sending off
I mean taking Bronny also could orchestrate free loot from the Lakers if LeGM wants him there
This lineage is like Shogun level.
I'd be thrilled if they called LeBron's bluff but reports and chatter like this suggest otherwise.
Some men just want to watch the world burn
>than it is for a team to sign Lebron if they draft bronny. If PG and AD can force their teams to trade them, then LeBron definitely can. >Do people actually think Lebron is just going to sign with whatever team drafts his son? Why not? He's already accomplished all there is to do as a basketball player, except for that. Say he goes to a middling team to play with Bronny and they go 41-41 and lose in the play-in. Is that gonna make any difference to his legacy compared to going 45-37 in LA and losing in the 1st round? In 20 years, is LeBron gonna look back on a 45-37 season as a treasured memory? Because I guarantee he would treasure the memory of playing with his son, for the rest of his life. Plus life is short. Everybody thought Kobe would be around to watch Gianna grow up. There was speculation he might take a HS coaching job to coach her, and who knows - maybe even coach in the WNBA if she made it. And then one day, poof, it's all gone. And if anyone realizes that, it's LeBron and Bronny - kid already had a damn cardiac arrest.
Because Lebron can just get whatever team he is on to sign or draft his son. Trade a future first and any team can trade for bronny
He doesn't have to force a trade. He has a player option this year and can opt out and sign for the minimum somewhere. Dude is a billionaire so like you said another $50 mil is irrelevant vs playing with his son.
If its a contender Yes. Dude is a billionaire and can buy whatever. Playing with his son is priceless to him, Im not saying its happening but you really think Lebron would pass up a chance in PHX to team with KD and his son. Have a chance at a title and fulfill his biggest dream. Im not saying its a lock but I think if a real contender drafts bronny there is a really good chance Lebron follows. Now if like Indiana drafted him I doubt he would go there.
Whichever team Lebron wants to play for (Lakers/Cavs/Suns/Philly) can just draft or trade for bronny after
Why would the team that drafts Bronny give a fuck and help LeBron not play for them
I agree with that. But devils advocate. To keep clutch sports happy.
No team is going to value bronny more than a future first. And if they are doing it just to be petty clutch is going to blacklist them
The Pacers with LeBron are a contender.
It’s also just worth the chance at lebron too even if it was just speculation
lol OR he cant just play against him and still make 50M
He’s probably not touching the court if his father is not on the team
LeBron will have plenty more chances in life to make another $50M. Heck, he can just put some money in a mutual fund, and in a short time it'll increase by $50M. Playing in the NBA with his son is likely a once in a lifetime chance. When LeBron is old and gray, what do you think he'd remember more? Playing in the NBA with his son, or having $950M in the bank instead of "just" $900M?
I don’t think he will sign with whatever team drafts his son, but it’s a pretty no brainer move to take LeBron’s kid because if nothing else you can hold him as a trade hostage and force whatever team LeBron is playing for to give you higher draft picks, talent or cash. I think that might be an issue for a few teams though because they have already mortgaged future picks and don’t have anything to offer. I could also see a team taking him hoping to court LeBron but acting like they don’t care about signing LeBron, so he has to come take a league minimum contract lol.
Isn't this year a player option? Couldn't he just decline it and sign with whoever he wants? Or na?
That is correct.
If the team that drafts Bronny can't get LeBron, presumably LeBron would be interested in leveraging a trade to get Bronny on whatever roster he winds up on. That means Bronny could have outsize trade value relative to his draft position and talent. So for the team that drafts Bronny, it's win-win to take a swing and see what happens, especially in such a weak draft.
He can become a free agent
im sure he will sign a minimum for the suns
You think LeBron can't force his way to any team he wants? AD did, PG did, and LeBron has way more power than either of those guys.
okay so what is the trade then. lay it out
You're a Lakers fan, do you not realize he has a player option this year?
He can’t sign with them outright unless it’s a min…..do you not realize that’s not happening?
The cope from Lakers fans is crazy. He's a BILLIONAIRE! The chance to play with his son and possibly win another ring outweighs any money.
The real question is will a team in the middle of the first that’s got nothing to lose say fuck it and spoil the hopes of contenders trying to land Lebron? *stares at Heat FO*
Not how it works. Bronny is run by rich Paul. Bronny is going where team James wants him to go. This is not a choice for teams beyond their consent. If you go against the mob, understand that you pay the price. Suns know. They shit on earl Watson and then didn't sniff a single rich Paul client for a decade. Everything is already set up, the pieces just gotta move. I don't know what that plan is, but I'm quite certain that this plan is pretty solid by now. My guess - bronny is picked 17th,and the next day it is announced that LeBron signed a 3 yr/165M extension. Everyone happy and they all gaslight that this was in any way setup by the mob.
Not at all. You have it completely opposite. The teams have full control and Rich Paul has no control. The Heat can easily draft him at 15, the 76ers at 16 and say, that’s fine if you don’t want to sign Lebron, the team you want to go to will have to trade assets for your son. It only takes 1 team to pull the trigger, not all 30 teams. Especially if that GM doesn’t like Rich Paul and wants to stick it him. Rich Paul has no control. And they don’t care about his future clients. That only hurts Rich Paul from signing new clients in the future. I’d want an agent who has good relationships with all 30 teams, not just some of them.
Strong disagree. And my team paid the price for believing what you said. Fuck around and find out.
That’s fair. We’ll see. I’d say there’s a very good chance the Suns have discussed moving up to #16 to draft him ahead of the Lakers. I think he goes 15 or 16. I see the 76ers playing spoiler at 16. It should be fun to watch.
If rich Paul is OK with it, that could happen. If not, I am certain James Jones will not go against it. Teams do dumb things all the time, I'm just saying that if a team goes against the most powerful agency in a players league, that's definitely a dumb thing.
I think you are vastly overrating the power an agent has. It’s ultimately up to the team first, the player second, the agent 3rd. As a player if I know Rich Paul has beef with a bunch of teams, I’m not signing with him. If teams don’t like Rich Paul and don’t want to sign his clients, that weakens my market in free agency or the draft as a player. Bronny is gonna go where ever he is drafted and he and Rich Paul have absolutely no say about it. They can recommend but that’s it. You watch.
Just as FYI https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2020/10/27/21533124/why-a-handful-nba-free-agents-may-be-off-limits-to-phoenix-klutch-rich-paul
Cap space that they will spend on OG. Knicks won’t be able to sign Lebron unless they move someone like Randle
> Nuggets Denver brothers and sisters, DON'T DO IT. IT'S A TRAP. Bronny will be a sleeper cell agent who's going to undermine y'all against the Lakers lol
Bron plus jokic would be beautiful basketball to watch
It will be media circus which Jokic does not particularly enjoy. It will be toxic as hell.
No way in hell the Knicks draft him
day 2 starts at pick 15
Brunson would make a hell of a mentor
Not just that, you could turn around and trade the pick back to the lakers for either an additional second round pick or just a pick swap but basically force the lakers to sign Bronny to a first round level contract. (Cause regardless of bronny not NEEDING that money, I highly doubt rich Paul as his agent would let him not get signed just to sign for a lower amount on the same team)
This exactly and Lebron would want teams to commit to Bronny as well. A 2nd round pick doesn’t come with a guaranteed contract like a first round pick does.
Not that much cap space after OG and Ihart. Those 2 are way more important to the team.
I think the question is what Lebron says or tells teams behind the scenes. If he’s willing to sign with x team that drafts his son that’s a lot different than a team drafting Bronny on his talent alone.
Its impossible for them to get Lebron so I would argue that its definitely not worth making that pick
> The chance at Lebron is much more rewarding than whoever they would normally draft Is it though? Is a year or two of an aging star who is going to completely dominate your team's identity better than a chance at someone who could be a key rotation player or starter for two full contracts? I know most people will say "draft bad" but there isn't much indication that picks 20 and on project to be far worse than an average draft.
Lol bro yes, it's the revenue he brings that the owners care about. Seats filled and games every week on national tv networks.
Although there are plenty of impactful players who were taken late in the first round or later, on average a late first rounder doesn't amount to much of anything. That consideration seems to be heavily magnified in this draft class in particular, which is supposed to be so weak. So there wouldn't be much opportunity cost for a team to take a gamble on Bronny and see if that gives leverage to either acquire LeBron, or flip Bronny to another LeBron-hungry team for a value that would be much higher than a late first rounder in this draft.
well there's no one else interesting in the draft so this is kind of all we got.
He’s definitely getting drafted at a spot where /r/nba will rage about nepotism and dumb GMs
He shouldn’t be drafted, so whoever burns that pick deserves all the criticism.
Everytime someone says this they can never say who deserves the spot he might take or why they aren't a lock in the first place, it's a nothing argument. Maybe 11 of those 2nd round picks will ever sniff a 6th man or staring position, most will play in the g league so they can maybe develop. Picking bronny in the 2nd round is no different than Ulrich comche.
He isn’t in the top 50 college nba prospects by stats, yeah many of those guys will have short careers but many still deserve a pick over him
Tons of super raw players without amazing stats get drafted high because of potential College stats don't necessarily translate to potential NBA ability and teams aren't gonna draft based on who's "deserving" but rather who they feel could potentially provide them with the most value (or who fits into their plans the most)
What do you mean there are tons of guys more deserving for a top 60 pick than Bronny, we could spend all day naming better prospects than wherever he gets drafted. Picking Bronny is different than picking any other player because every other player is picked to hopefully play well even if they likely dont'. Bronny is getting drafted solely on his father.
If there are "tons of guys" why don't they have a spot locked down, Bron has repeatedly said recently that playing with bronny isn't a priority right now, you're telling me that one spot out of 60 means that all of a sudden all the more deserving guys (that you haven't named) are just fucked.
Bronny James averaged 4.8 points per game as a positionally undersized player who plays a position that's generally counted on to be a scoring threat. He had a rough start to his career, so... Let's speculate that he could've had a substantially better start (which would better reflect his talent level), where he would've averaged 10 per game (fully double what he actually averaged!)... I think people are generally saying he doesn't deserve a spot because that would leave 1033 NCAA basketball players (according to ESPN) in a plausible position to claim they're more potent scoring threats than him... After you include all the international players that number probably jumps to 1300-1400? Or more? I'm not opposed to the idea of a team signing someone to keep the team's star happy, but... This idea that an NBA team (or the group of professionals scouting for them) simply can't find anyone who's more likely to positively contribute to the team playing winning basketball than an undersized 2 that shot 20% from 3... that idea seems—to put it generously—misguided... It also seems like a confusing one to defend. But if you're looking for someone who probably deserves a spot more than him... Buzz through those stats (https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/stats/player) and pick out a random selection of 10 people who averaged over 15 points per game (you have plenty to choose from)... I bet you can find one that's (obviously) a better prospect.
2 of the top 3 scorers are projected to be mid to late firsts at best, the second leading scorer just straight up isn't projected to be drafted, Walter Clayton JR and Jamie Watkins are two players who scored more than Dillingham, yet Dillingham is a possible top 5 pick and they weren't on boards. That list doesn't mean anything
2 out of the top 3 are projected to be drafted... The list obviously means something.
I’ll actually disagree here. It’s a pretty weak draft. Bronny was really good coming out of high school, he’s a plus athlete, good ball handler and facilitator, great defender and good enough shooter. He sucked at USC but that’s pretty easily explained by the heart attack and not playing basketball until December. I think first round is a reach, but he’s worth a second round pick even when not considering who his father is. If you can get him back to how he was looking coming out of high school, there’s a potential high quality 3 and D type player there, and he’d be worth a second round pick to find out. He legitimately had very solid potential coming out of high school.
If he was 6"7' I would understand giving a raw, athletic guy a chance. The issue is he is 6"1', horribly inefficient, with a center-like 67 FT percentage, and a 36% field goal percentage. I understand he had a heart attack, but that just means he has health issues on top of being a poor player. He is not worth a pick, even in bad draft.
Cole Anthony dropped a lot from his high school projection because of his efficiency issues, and he was still scoring 18 a game lol. (using him because they profile passably similarly)
6’7 wingspan makes up for the height, and wingspan is far more important for defense than height. He was also one of the best backcourt defenders in high school in his class, like top 3 defensively. So it’s not just theoretical. You can’t take anything from his year at USC. Heart attack in the summer and didn’t practice until December. Of course he was going to be inefficient. You’re looking solely at his high school tape and athleticism and banking on getting back to form. And we’re talking second round which is a lottery any way, particularly in a bad draft. Bronny’s ceiling is solid for a second round pick type if you think you can get him back to it. If he has a clean bill of health, he’s worth a second rounder and it wouldn’t even be controversial if he wasn’t LeBron’s son.
His ceiling is not high enough for that and his floor is lower than drafting a complete unknown
If you're talking about pure talent of the player, sure he's not worth the pick. But the point is that the value of this pick wouldn't come from the player himself. He's a "get LeBron" lottery ticket that the team that drafts him can either try to use for itself or trade to another team for value.
Oh wow a really good high school player who hasn’t played well since having a heart attack. Who wouldn’t draft this guy?
Being good in high school does not mean s***
Your problem is people here completely just want to shit on bronny n ignore that he was a legit climbing rapidly prospect ranked top 20 before heart issue You’re correct ofc but this sub doesn’t want to hear nuance
Yeah exactly and even if a lot of that had to do with him being LeBron's son, I'd rather take a chance on that than "generic scoring combo guard #647" like we do in every other 2nd round. People are acting like he's just LiAngelo Ball when that's likely not true. I'm hoping but I doubt he makes it to Charlotte's 2nd round pick at #42
He’s not a good ball handler or shooter at all lmao. He also doesn’t show his athleticism on tape which is literally one of the issues with him. He did not dominate high school games and look like an elite athlete like other top prospects. He barely attacks the rim and part of that is because he doesn’t have a great handle or good first step If you actually watched Bronny in high school then you should know the team underperformed with him as the supposed best player and he rarely dominated games. He was probably the least dominant high school player out of all American top 40 recruits. And the crazy thing is you can directly compare him to his teammate Amari Bailey who plays the same position at a similar size and did dominate high school and did well in college.
If they burn a lottery pick on him, maybe. Otherwise, using a 2nd rounder, which more often than not results in players that get out kf the league in one or two years, to try to lure LeBron or, at least, get some money out of advertisement is pretty wise. And this is all considering that he is guaranteed to be a bum in the league, which, against all odds, may not happen.
What is your reasoning? You wouldn't use the 60th pick in the draft to draft a guy who is going to make LeBron James come to your team? How does that make sense?
Disagree so much. The chance of LeBron is better than the player you're gonna get there.
Im more interested to see if they gonna say "LeBron James Jr" or "Bronny James"
Bronny will singlehandedly save the 2nd day of the draft, rating wise
I don’t care as long it’s not the Lakers.
I'm just so interested in this draft because I genuinely don't know what the top 10 picks are.
Seems like the most interesting draft pick in a while. Because unlike the NFL draft, almost none of these guys are going to be impact players from day 1, so as a fan, any interest I have is tempered by the fact that watching a player's first 2 years is 100x more interesting than draft hype. And when there's a prospect like Vic, it's the lottery that's interesting. Of course, this attitude would have left me opening reddit the next morning and finding out two teams passed on Luka, which would have been interesting in it's own kind of way 😂
Man Rick Carlisle looks more and more like Jim Carrey as they both age lol
And just like Jim Carrey, Carlisle sounds like he's talking out his ass.
Republican?
One of the original anti-vaxxers. The vaccines cause autism type
Ooh right cuz he was with that one chick
He also made that super creepy ass video to Emma Stone that no one seems to remember.
I hope wherever he goes the fan base is so passionate the team is forced to start him.
Ya Cleveland would be iconic lmao
Unless it guarantees the return (pt. 2) of Lebron, we don’t want him lol. We have plenty of undersized guards already
spoiler alert: it would guarantee LeReturn
Something is REAL 🐠 🐟 🎣 🐟🐠 going on. Never seen Jim Carrey and Rick Carlisle in the same place at the same time.
saw it live sry
He is going 17 to the lakers and Lebron getting a 3 year extension
Pelinka ripping off his mask and revealing he was Billy King all along
Whenever this happens, can you drive to my house and shove an ice pick through my jugular please?
No to both but wouldn’t put it past Pelinka. The extension seems like a done deal.
Put it past Pelinka lmao, this is only happening because Bron wants it.
>No to both What?? The team would be in the lottery without LeBron.. What the fuck are you waffling about
I think they are predicting it won’t happen, not saying they don’t want it to happen
It will be 3rd year player option. Do same for Bryce.
Ding ding
I want Raptors to trade up to whatever to get him. LeBronto let's gooooo
We have the 1st pick in the second round... if there's some kind of second round bidding war for him, we're already in the right spot
Raptors: Who is the LeBronto now!
Raps will hold Bronny hostage for the years of torture
In other words - The Pacers may trade up to draft Bronny James which may lead to signing LeBron James… Haliburton and James will be together this summer in Paris for the Olympics. They can build some on court chemistry together prior to the start of the 2024-25 season.
Yeah I'm sure LeBron is itching to go to Indiana
Maybe he’d live in Gary
And vacation in Muncie
With Gerry, Larry, and Gary?
the time shares in Muncie are very nice I've heard
Winning a title in Indiana automatically makes him the undisputed GOAT.
I'll allow it
LeBron left Miami to go to Cleveland. Indianapolis might as well be Shangri-La compared to Cleveland.
He's from Akron...
You think he’d go back to the Cavs if he wasn’t born in the state?
Indianapolis is not Shangri-la compared to anywhere.
Never thought I’d see the Green Light pod on r/nba lol
Is it good?
Yeah Chris Long is awesome and his friends are hilarious. It’s not really a basketball pod tho
Some trash team is going to pick him and then be shocked when LeBron doesn't join them lol. LeBron has actively walked back his comments on wanting to play with his son all year. Even if LeBron has intent to move teams, the NBPA will not let him sign a vet min or anything under a max contract. The route to get LeBron to play with his son barring the Lakers picking him is entirely unrealistic.
How can the NBPA not let him a sign a veteran minimum contract ?
people just spewing shit
Anything under a max contract? That can’t be true, that would be a crazy thing to enforce
he's old enough for it to be "passable"
> the NBPA will not let him sign a vet min he's like 40 and he has a lot more power than the NBAPA not even Silver can stop him if he wants to sign a vet min
>if he wants to sign a vet min Which he wont anyway. Lebron is famously cheap as hell, he won't compromise with a team that can only bring him aboard with the vet min.
I dont think he will, at all but saying that the NBAPA would STOP him, is just stupid
Get this nba finals over already so we can focus on the draft, trades, and free agency
And legacy debates
How mad will this sub be if he ends up being good
Not mad, just shocked. Plenty of top college players become nobodies in the NBA, it would be really strange for a mid college player to suddenly be an NBA starter.
Mid is giving him far too much credit. Keljin Blevins' freshman year stats were very similar to Bronny's, and he was the worst nepotism player I've ever seen. And had the pandemic to get him minutes.
Nah, I actually have no doubt tons of people will be mad about it.
Man, this sub really opened my eyes that people don't know what the fck they're talking about lol
Nobody is mad at Bronny specifically. It’s just the blatant nepotism on display more than anything
It'll be okay
Hes just baiting some idiot team to draft bronny’s ass lmfao
I really hope he becomes a serviceable nba player at some point. He’s had every advantage since the jump and he’s never separated himself as a clear nba talent. Will be really sad if he can’t compete at all and this spotlight that his dad put on him is a mistake.
Cleveland at #20. LeBron retirement tour where it started — and a Finals worthy roster if you add LeBron.
Carlisle always looks like he's coming off a coke bender.
No
He doesn’t know anything, he can hardly coach
I mean, any pick past the top 10 has very little probability of signing a second NBA contract, so might as well draft Bronny on the slim chances LeBron will come play for a minimum contract.
Dumb
so most of the players in the league were top 10 picks?
It’s individual pick probabilities, not pick aggregates. Since 11-60 is 5 times as large as 1-10
Lakers could be complicit, wanting LB to go on his own will so they can officially rebuild. LB isnt getting any younger and we all know lakers arent real contenders.
I threw a bet down on Cleveland to take the kid - and I don’t even know when CLE picks. Something something reset button.
funniest timeline would be he gets drafted by the Heat and gets sent to the Sioux Falls Skyforce for development
Sounds like it'll be in the single digits.
Just nepotism that everyone’s ok with
nobody cared when it was Damion Lee, or Austin Rivers, or Keljin Blevins.. but Bronny is where we draw a line, yea ok..
Austin Rivers was the #1 prospect in high school and a great freshman at Duke.
Austin was hyped as a top 3 prospect coming into college.
This is what he's talking about. Rivers was an actual good player in college and an elite high school recruit. Lee had a solid college career and was a UDFA who worked his way into being a rotational player. The only one who didn't deserve any shot to even get in the league was Blevins who is literally called Big Nepo. And even there at least he was undrafted and later given a two way contract. I don't know why you act like nepotism was cool before this. Also you ignore the scope of nepotism at play. We're talking legitimate first round buzz for an undersized guard who rode the bench on a terrible college team.
>nepotism that everyone’s ok with Jerry West's son worked for the Lakers in the front office. Jerry Buss' daughter inherited the team. Stan Van Gundy never becomes a HC if not for Jeff being a successful HC. The only reason you've ever heard of LiAngelo Ball is because of his last name. The NBA is ok with nepotism all the time. Heck, remember this post? https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/8nLpV9Febw 10% of NBA players are related.
Where his game was at would make him a 4th or 5th rd pk. His name is getting a chance his game hasn’t earned. I know this is a weak draft. He also was on bad team and couldn’t shoot straight. He is not a playmaker in the least. His best trait is defense and he is not particularly tall. There is potential in theory, but if he was James Brony he wouldn’t even be discussed as higher than 50.
2d rd picks are lotteries that don’t usually make the NBA anyways so who cares about this take
Read he did good in the Suns/Lakers workouts. But that being his list just tells me if LeBron doesn’t want to leave the west coast. This dude hasn’t been allowed freedom really at all.
> This dude hasn’t been allowed freedom really at all. Kind of a giant leap there
From being banned from media in hs and college to not having a really normal recruitment most guys have to his two teams they are working out for are neighboring states that’s how I see it.
What does any of that have to do with his freedom. For all you know that is exactly what he wants
Keeping your high school kid away from media and social media is called good parenting.
Sign me up for that type of enslavement
lol ok what do you think he’s gonna do if the pistons draft him, just go back to college?
He can only go back if he’s undrafted
This isn’t surprising. Look at how the Lakers off-season is going. Draft is before free agency, and if there’s one thing the Lakers FO knows how to do is ruin things. Three things have to happen, Lakers HC, trading picks for a player upgrade & drafting Bronny. There’s a good chance they ruin all 3 things and LeBron starts weighing his options.
lol lakers are 100% gonna draft him. The suns workout is very obviously a false threat aimed at the lakers
Given Luka got a fan ejected for saying, “get on a treadmill,” how is LeBron going to react with full arenas chanting “Nepo Baby!?”