Why Bronny James stayed in the NBA draft, and now, what’s next?

Bronny James entered the NBA draft combine this month in Chicago ranked 98th in ESPN’s Top 100 draft prospects. After a strong few weeks of measurements, drills and scrimmages, James climbed 44 spots to No. 54 in the Top 100. He likely will rise more, as several players ranked ahead of him are expected to withdraw from the 2024 NBA draft at the NCAA (11:59 p.m. ET) and international (June 16) early-entry deadlines.

Thus, it might not come as much of a surprise to learn James has elected to keep his name in the June 26-27 draft in New York, his agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN.

James has helped his draft stock considerably since announcing he’d enter the draft, first by quickly getting cleared by the NBA’s fitness-to-play panel for full activity, an important step that allowed him to be a full participant in on-court activities during the combine.

Enrolling in college as a McDonald’s All American, the 19-year-old’s freshman campaign as a guard on the USC team did not go as planned.

In a summer workout before his freshman year even began, James went into cardiac arrest and had a procedure to repair a congenital heart defect. He missed more than four months of on-court action.

After James was medically cleared late last November, he averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19 minutes per game on pedestrian efficiency numbers, leaving him on the outside looking in on draft projections.

But James has done well to remind NBA scouts of what made him such a highly regarded prospect entering college, making clear strides with his frame and conditioning and showing improvement as a perimeter shooter.

James had an excellent first day at the draft combine, testing as one of the fastest and most explosive athletes in the draft with his 40½-inch vertical leap and 3.09 three-quarter-court sprint time. He also shot the ball with impressive precision, converting 78% of his attempts in the side-midside 3-point shooting drill (which ranked second best among 71 combine prospects), and he shot 19-for-25 in the 3-point star drill, also ranking second best.

The 5-on-5 scrimmaging at the combine showed the areas James needs to continue to improve, and the role that best suits him at this stage of his development as a 3-and-D off-guard. James — whose height was measured at 6-foot-1 ½ barefoot — struggled in his first game in an on-ball role where he was asked to create offense for himself and others. He lacked assertiveness and looked uncomfortable as an initiator, picking up his dribble, being late with his reads, and making poor decisions both in transition and the half-court.

In the second game, he looked more comfortable operating off the ball alongside a bigger guard in A.J. Johnson, hitting a pair of open 3s, getting out in the open court and showing some secondary playmaking ability to go along with his usual intense one-on-one defense.

James had a significant platform the following week at the NBA’s California pro day (May 21-22), hosted at the Los Angeles Lakers’ practice facility. High-level decision-makers from all 30 NBA teams were in attendance to watch James and 56 other prospects work out over the course of two days.

James conducted a 40-minute one-on-zero workout where he again displayed his physical ability with explosive dunks and improved perimeter shooting — making a barrage of 3-pointers from all over the court. NBA executives expressed varying views to ESPN as to the importance of such showcases as an evaluation tool, but James certainly did not hurt his standing among team officials, who have warmed up to view him as a legit NBA prospect over the past few weeks, especially seeing how he performed compared to his peers.

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Hahn: Bronny is biggest name in draft, despite not being best player

Alan Hahn reacts to Bronny James staying in the NBA draft and breaks down the teams that could select him.

With James’ decision to keep his name in the 58-pick draft, it’s likely he will be in the NBA next season in some capacity, either on a two-way contract or on the end of some team’s roster.

Dozens of NBA executives have expressed to ESPN a wide array of views on how they see James in the short and long-term. James is a polarizing prospect, like many are in this draft from the lottery portion to the end of the second round, but he has done well to position himself and show what makes him interesting.

James is a Gabe Vincent or De’Anthony Melton type role-player who makes open 3s, gets out in the open court, defends either guard position, rebounds, keeps mistakes to a minimum and generates turnovers with his intensity and strong instincts. At the combine, James compared his game to players such as the Boston Celtics‘ Jrue Holiday and Derrick White or the Sacramento Kings‘ Davion Mitchell for the way they influence winning.

Continuing to improve his ballhandling ability, assertiveness and shooting consistency will be keys for carving out a long-term niche, likely via the G League to start, as it’s clear James could have used another year or two of college seasoning to enter the NBA more readily available to contribute.

Regardless, there’s certainly the outline of a valuable role player here for a team willing to be patient enough to develop him.

Paul told ESPN his client is still in the process of scheduling workouts and determining how many teams to audition for over the next month.

“Many teams have called,” Paul said. “It’s a matter of hashing out workouts. I need to figure out who is real and who is not. How many workouts will we do? As many as necessary through serious conversation that gives me insight into that team’s thinking. It could be 1, 2, 3, 10 — I doubt it’s 10. We’re still determining that.”

Paul says James’ draft range is wide with room for growth, and he’s not too concerned with where he gets drafted but more focused on fit and long-term outlook.

“It only takes one team. I don’t care about where that team is in the process of the draft. It can be No. 1 or No. 58. [But] I do care about the plan. The development. The team’s strategy, the opportunity and the financial commitment,” Paul said. “That’s why I’m not doing a two-way deal. Every team understands that. There are only two-to-three teams that might take him. That’s how I am going to approach that.”

What if James, despite his move up draft boards, doesn’t get picked?

Paul is quick to say: “I don’t see him going undrafted. But if it got to a point where the situations didn’t make sense, and we needed to go undrafted, that’s fine. I’ve been through this process enough to tell who is serious. If teams say they don’t know him well enough yet to tell me how they view him, when they get better insight, we’ll circle back.

“I’m not putting unrealistic expectations on Bronny. He’s far from a finished product. But he has a hell of a start. He’s positioned well.”