If you are interested in Bronny James’ NBA career after he leaves USC basketball, there are a lot of questions and plot points to consider.
Many people who cover LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers are firmly convinced that LeBron wants Bronny to enter the NBA sooner rather than later, ensuring that LeBron can play in the NBA alongside his son while he is still a reasonably good player, before advancing age erodes LeBron’s skill and before the threat of injury looms larger.
It’s not a guarantee, but if you put 10 LeBron experts or insiders in a room, most of them would tell you Bronny James is likely to turn pro after one year at USC, even if he won’t be a lottery pick. LeBron wants a shorter timeline, not a longer one. That’s the basic explanation.
With that in mind, we might have seen at the 2023 NBA draft how Bronny James’ entrance into the NBA might be orchestrated.
Klutch Sports represents LeBron James. LeBron’s close friend Rich Paul is the CEO of Klutch Sports. LeBron’s longtime association with the agency gives Klutch Sports a lot of clout and pull within the NBA. We saw this clout on Thursday.
It’s true that Kentucky Wildcat draft prospect Chris Livingston had a disappointing night in terms of draft selection. His advisers told him he would go in the top 45. Instead, he slid to No. 58, the last pick in the draft. However, Klutch — per reporting from Shams Charania of The Athletic — called various NBA teams and told them not to pick Livingston late in the second round, because a back-channel arrangement had already been made with a specific team, which turned out to be the Milwaukee Bucks with that No. 58 pick.
Update here: Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul began calling teams in the second round and requested them not to take client Chris Livingston. It‘s believed Livingston has a set draft spot in the second round. https://t.co/5C5XWGa4vH
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2023
One could make an educated, informed guess and say that at the 2024 NBA draft, Klutch will create a similar agreement with a team instead of letting any NBA organization pick Bronny James. The particulars of how the deal might go down might differ on a granular level, but the larger reality of engineering a specific route and destination for Bronny on draft night is a reasonable bet at this point.
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