The agent for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and NBA draft prospect Bronny James confirmed the father and son aren’t a package deal heading into the 2024 NBA draft.
“LeBron is off this idea of having to play with Bronny,” Rich Paul said to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. “If he does, he does. But if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. There’s no deal made that it’s guaranteed that if the Lakers draft Bronny at 55, he (LeBron) will resign. If that was the case, I would force them to take him at 17. We don’t need leverage. The Lakers can draft Bronny, and LeBron doesn’t resign. LeBron is also not going to Phoenix for a minimum deal. We can squash that now.”
Paul went on the record to affirm what many fans had come to believe.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported May 13 on Get Up the agent “has made an effort to part the concept that drafting Bronny James means you’re getting LeBron” over the previous few months.
In a subsequent interview with Chris Haynes for Bleacher Report, Paul was also dismissive of the idea.
“Well, LeBron said he wanted to play with his son,” he said. “Bronny can’t do anything about that. And that’s nothing we should push back on. If he wants to play with his son, that’s that. But again, I have a job to do representing Bronny and LeBron.
“LeBron’s season’s over. I’m focused on Bronny and the rest of our draft class. If it aligns where he can play with his dad, great. Am I necessarily focused on that? No, not at all. I’m focused on a team-plan investment and a seriousness as it pertains to fit and opportunity.”
The way Bronny is approaching the draft process is rather telling, however.
Paul told Givony the 19-year-old has only worked out for the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, giving the impression that will be the extent of his in-person sessions with NBA teams. That’s the kind of leverage play that’s reserved for lottery prospects who have a limited range in which they’ll fall, not those with a second-round grade.
Neither Los Angeles nor Phoenix would arguably be ideal from a player development aspect, either. Franchises in win-now mode with their eyes on a championship don’t typically have much time to let rookies work through their issues on the court.
Jalen Hood-Schifino, a first-round pick of the Lakers in 2023, played a total of 109 minutes in his first year. Phoenix, meanwhile, flipped second-rounder Toumani Camara to the Portland Trail Blazers in the three-team swap headlined by Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton.
There’s no reason not to take Paul at his word in the sense that selecting Bronny offers no guarantees in the LeBron sweepstakes. He’s not joining the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons or Washington Wizards just because his son is there.
If you read between the lines, though, it looks like Bronny and Paul are putting their fingers on the scale to make a partnership with LeBron happen on their terms.
