Despite not being viewed as a first-round prospect, no player in the 2024 NBA Draft has been talked about more than Bronny James. This is in no small part due to the fact that he is the son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and being represented by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.
There has been a lot of discussion about Bronny’s pre-draft workouts with the Lakers and Suns being the only known teams he has visited. Paul recently spoke about Bronny considering workouts for other teams, but that has yet to materialize with the Lakers and Suns remaining the only teams James has worked out for at this point, via Jonathan Givony of ESPN:
Sources from a half-dozen NBA teams have told ESPN that they’ve had difficulty in securing workouts with 2024 draft prospect Bronny James, but the agent for the former USC guard confirms James has worked out individually for just two teams at this point — the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers — and that is by design.
Agent Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports Group, pushed back to ESPN on Wednesday on any notion that James has received different treatment than other players throughout the pre-draft process.
The fact that a borderline second-round draft prospect is doing so few workouts has led to many believing that Bronny is getting favorable treatment from Paul. But the agent insists that this is a strategy he regularly employs for his clients:
“This is nothing new,” Paul said. “The goal is to find a team that values your guy and try to push him to get there. It’s important to understand the context and realize that this has always been the strategy with many of my clients throughout the years, especially those in need of development like Bronny. My stuff is by design.”
Paul would continue on, saying that he doesn’t care if Bronny is drafted by the Lakers or Suns, but rather that he gets to a team that has real interest in developing him and only on a standard NBA contract:
“Bronny is the same as my previous clients,” Paul said. “I got the word out early to teams that if you plan on bringing Bronny in, here’s what you need to know: If you won’t give him a real deal, there’s nothing to talk about. It’s hard to get real development on a two-way deal.
“I don’t care about him going to the Lakers, or Phoenix, or about what number he gets picked. It’s about fit.”
Paul added later: “If Bronny’s name was Charles Jacobsen and he was my client — I would do the same thing: Identify teams that have real interest.”
Time will tell if Paul and Bronny get what they are seeking. Expecting a standard contract if Bronny is drafted is not unreasonable as most second-round picks are signed to deals. But most prospects don’t have their agents so public about what they will and will not accept. And for someone not viewed as a top prospect, it’s unclear whether this is the right move.
Regardless, Bronny James will be one of the most watched names in the entire NBA Draft, especially when the Lakers are on the clock.
Rich Paul says LeBron James won’t leave Lakers to go to Suns on minimum deal
With the Lakers and Suns being the only teams Bronny James has worked out for and thus, the favorites to draft him, along with the belief that LeBron James wants to play with his son in the NBA, there have been some rumblings about whether LeBron could join the Suns on a minimum deal just to make that happen.
But Rich Paul immediately squashed those rumors down, saying that there is no way LeBron would join Phoenix on a minimum deal and re-iterating that James is not going out of his way to play with his son.