Numerous folks in NBA circles have claimed that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ son Bronny is set up for disaster.
“The expectations for Bronny by the fan base and by LeBron and Rich Paul are not commensurate with the reality of his game,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “If they had any real idea of how far away Bronny is, they just would not have done this.”
A scout for a team in the Eastern Conference echoed the executive’s sentiment.
“You’re set up for failure,” one Eastern Conference scout who has evaluated the younger James for years said. “It’s like, what’s the expectation here?”
One executive in the Western Conference argued that it would have been beneficial for the younger James if he had spent more time playing basketball at the collegiate level before joining the NBA.
“He should have stayed in school,” one Western Conference executive said. “No doubt about it.”
Another Eastern Conference scout implied that the younger James could have carved out a long and successful collegiate career if he spurned his opportunity to enter the 2024 NBA Draft.
“In a normal world, he would’ve been a really good four-year college player,” one Eastern Conference scout said.
Finally, a Western Conference executive hinted that the younger James doesn’t have the makings of an NBA player.
“For this whole thing to have even made it this far is surreal,” another Western Conference executive said. “Analytically, if you just had the numbers on a page and had no name attached to it, he doesn’t project in any way, shape or form to be an NBA player. His measurables don’t project as an NBA player. There’s literally nothing about him on paper — if no name is attached to it — that makes this make sense.”
The younger James’ performance in the Lakers’ most recent preseason game against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 6. suggests that folks are right to believe that he isn’t ready to be a consistent contributor at the NBA level.
Against Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and company, he didn’t score a single point and also finished with four turnovers and a pair of fouls in Los Angeles’ 118-114 loss.
He didn’t play all that better in his preseason debut versus the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 4, considering he totaled two points, one rebound and one assist.
The younger James has yet to redeem himself for what was an underwhelming stint at Las Vegas Summer League. He averaged 8.8 points on just 35.0 percent shooting from the field and 15.8 percent from 3-point range.
Last month, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported that the Lakers will have the younger James spend most of his rookie season with the team’s G League affiliate in the South Bay Lakers, and that may be the most practical move that Los Angeles can make regarding the teenager.
Hopefully the younger James will be able to prove the doubters wrong and have a solid NBA career, but he seems to be at least one year away from being refined enough of a player to be a consistent member of J.J. Redick’s rotation.
