All Of A Sudden Bronny James Is Being Projected As A Top 10 Pick In The 2024 NBA Draft
Heading into this season most people thought Bronny James was a fringe NBA player at best and many people even thought the courting of him by top tier NCAA hoops programs was nothing more than a dog and pony show. And by "many people" I mean half the bloggers at Barstool Sports.
But even if you decide to get your basketball news somewhere other than a comedy website, pretty much anywhere you looked Bronny wasn't listed at the top of his class.
On 247Sports, James is the No. 34 overall recruit, No. 8 combo guard and No. 8 player in California for the Class of 2023. The industry-generated 247Sports Composite ranks him as the No. 33 player nationally, No. 8 prospect at his position and No. 7 recruit from the Golden State for the cycle.
One of the 35 best players in the nation is nothing to sneeze at. But now all of a sudden he's a top 10 pick?
DraftExpress - Bronny James is now a projected top-10 pick thanks to the significant jump he's made at Sierra Canyon, developing into arguably the best perimeter defender in his class while making strides with his shooting and playmaking.
I'm sure LeBron haters will scoff and dismiss this development but he is a 6'3" combo guard who scouts consider to have elite level defensive skills. Playmaking was never a question either as he certainly inherited some of his dad's passing genes. The question always was and always will be scoring. In fact, I remember reading that college and NBA scouts wanted to see him be more selfish this season and look to create his own buckets instead of creating for others.
And he's done that. Well somewhat. It's not like he is lighting the box score on fire, averaging 14-5-3 this season.
But scouts must see the scoring coming more naturally. Bronny still hasn't even committed to a collegiate program yet and this adds yet ANOTHER storyline to his recruitment. If he is projecting this high already maybe some of the programs who had been hesitant to go full bore at him might be more willing to do so.
A top 10 pick is a nice feather in the cap of any program. Especially when the entire basketball world will be watching all next season. The reward of the recruiting boost seems easily worth the headache of having LeBron inevitably second guess your coaching when ever you lose and taking the spotlight by dancing on the sidelines whenever you win.
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If I'm a college coach I'm already selling my soul for random kids who no one has ever heard of to get them to my school. Why not do it for someone who can bring some serious cache, prestige, and most importantly NIL money?
Sure, if you lose with Bronny fans will be calling for your head. And he's probably not good enough to build a Final Four team around as a freshman. But you only have to deal with that shit for one season and then he's the Orlando Magic's problem. I'd take the risk.