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With the NBA Draft just 24 hours away, rumors are flying furiously around the league, it’s hard to keep up with everything. Here are some hot topics and rumors heading into the 2024 NBA Draft.
Let’s start with a series of questions about Bronny James.
Does LeBron James want to play with his son?
Sure, but it’s not the priority it once was — and it’s fair to ask if it’s Bronny’s dream. (How many kids really want to go to work with their dad every day?) In previous years, LeBron said he wanted to play with Bronny a couple of times, which led some teams to think that if they drafted Bronny, they might get a package deal. LeBron toned that down this season. Then, LeBron and Bronny’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, has worked to crush the concept, as he said in an interview with Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
“LeBron is off this idea of having to play with Bronny. If he does, he does. But if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”
LeBron and Bronny are not a package deal. For example, there were rumors that the Suns might draft Bronny in hopes that LeBron would come there, but all Phoenix can offer LeBron is a veteran minimum deal (have fun asking him to take a $47 million pay cut).
“LeBron is also not going to Phoenix for a minimum deal. We can squash that now,” Paul said.
Will Bronny James be drafted in the first round?
No.
One should never say never around the NBA, but it is highly, highly unlikely Bronny hears his name on the first day of the draft.
Bronny is not NBA ready as a player and likely needs a couple of years of development — if a team doesn’t think LeBron is coming (see the above note), Bronny isn’t a first rounder on his own. His agent, Rich Paul, is doing everything he can to get Bronny a regular NBA contract — not a two-way deal — but being a first-round pick means multiple years of guaranteed money. Teams don’t want to be locked into Bronny for that long. The second round is where teams looking to roll the dice on a player pick up their guy.
Will the Lakers draft Bronny James?
Probably, although they are not the only team interested. The Lakers have the No. 55 pick in the NBA Draft (near the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-nba-draft-rumors-possible-224927555.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-25 22:49:27
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