Kevin Garnett liked what he saw from Bronny James at the NBA Draft Combine.
“Bronny looks really good. He looks really good,” Garnett said on Ticket & The Truth. “He looks poised, he looks like he wasn’t rattled by everything that was going around, he looks like he’s used to the moment, he had a good session where he shot the ball well.”
Garnett also said that drafting LeBron James’ son could be worth it due to his genes alone.
“If I am a team bro, I would actually take a chance on that,” Garnett said. “Because greatness runs through bro’s veins. You got to know at some point, he’s going to have a growth spurt and it’s going to click.”
Garnett compared James to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, saying the potential is there even though James didn’t have the most accomplished high school or college career.
“[Bryant] had great bones and great makeup to build off of,” Garnett said. “Bronny shows some of that same make. I’m not calling him young Kobe or none of that, but I’m saying that’s potential.”
In his sole season at USC, James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game. While James’ college numbers don’t jump off the page the way some prospects’ do, he had an impressive showing at the NBA draft combine.
James recorded a 40.5-inch vertical, which was good for the fourth highest among participants. He also shot 19-of-25 in the three-point shooting drill, ranking second overall among participating prospects.
While James had a slow start in his first scrimmage of the combine with just four points, he followed it up with a 13-point performance in his second game.
James helped his NBA draft stock tremendously through his performance in the combine. While he is still far from being a lottery pick, it seems more realistic that he will be off the board in the second round. Before the combine, James was ranked No. 98 in ESPN’s Top 100 rankings but now sits at No. 54.
If he can continue winning scouts over before the draft, he could find himself getting drafted higher than initially expected.