Report: Bronny James expected to stay in 2024 NBA Draft

Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, is expected to remain i the 2024 NBA Draft class, according to NBA insider Shams Charania.

After James was cleared to play in the league following a scary heart issue ahead of his 2023-24 season in college, he is now likely to forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility and stay in the draft. Here was Charania’s tweet Monday morning with that news:

“Sources: Bronny James is expected to stay in the 2024 NBA Draft. The USC freshman has been fully cleared to play in the league as part of Fitness to Play panel and will participate in all pre-draft activities starting with the Draft Combine this week.”

This report came just minutes after news broke that James was cleared to play in the NBA. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski had that report, and tweeted it out early Monday morning:

“ESPN Sources with @Draftexpress: In the aftermath of his cardiac arrest and a procedure to repair a congenital heart defect nine months ago, the NBA’s Fitness to Play panel has medically cleared USC’s Bronny James to be drafted and play in the league.”

As a draft prospect, there’s simply not a whole lot of reason to believe in Bronny James coming into the league to provide any value as a rookie. Of course, the son of LeBron James is a different case in terms of his draft stock, since LeBron has made clear he would love to play with his son some day, making him an enticing selection for any franchise.

Looking at his last year of ball, Bronny is a former McDonald’s All-American who suffered a very serious heart injury that took him out for some of the 2024 season. He then returned to average 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists, shooting 36.6% from the field, in 19 minutes per game as the eighth man on the worst USC team in nine years, which finished below .500 and never sniffed the NCAA Tournament or even an NIT berth. James also finished with the second-worst Box Plus-Minus of any player in the USC lineup.

Bronny James certainly could have benefitted from one (or more) extra years in college, but instead, he’ll try to make an NBA roster full of guys who are miles ahead of the dudes he sat behind at USC last season. Or, he’ll head straight to the G-League.

In his draft profile of James for The Ringer, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor notes that Bronny is a “high-IQ decision maker” and a “good athlete with a strong frame and length.” However, he also says James “hasn’t proven to have touch” as a shooter and “lacks a great handle” as a creator. He ranked him 69th overall on his big board.