Bronny James is a strong contender among betters to go first overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. According to MGM Bets, 37% of bets placed on the NBA Draft are for Bronny to be selected as the first overall pick this year.

Considering the wealth of reports that have come out about Bronny’s draft future, this is highly surprising. James has been tipped to be a low-first-round or a high-second-round pick in the draft, as there are simply better players in the draft class ahead of him. Perhaps fans are expecting Bronny to be a key negotiation piece in his father LeBron James’ upcoming free agency.

Bronny doesn’t spark a lot of excitement among NBA teams. One anonymous executive noted that there were about three rounds worth of players in the current draft class who are more talented than Bronny James.

However, Bronny has sparked a lot of attention from franchises in the league, as he is an interesting prospect who can deliver at a high level in the future if he develops the right way. His performance at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine intrigued a lot of teams, and significantly helped his draft stock.

As things stand, most analysts expect the Lakers to pick up Bronny James if he is available when they pick, presumably at the behest of LeBron James, or at least to curry favor with him in an attempt to re-sign him in free agency. Brian Windhorst, who is close to LeBron’s camp, corroborated this report recently.

Bronny is a lot more optimistic about his future in the league, stating that he believes teams will draft him based on his talent and skill set rather than as a bargaining chip to be used with his father. It is great to see Bronny be so confident in his abilities, despite the difficult year he has had.

Can Bronny James Be Successful In The NBA?

Bronny has faced quite a lot of scrutiny and criticism as a player over the last few weeks, way more than he ever had during his career. But he has handled that very well, and not let it affect him. LeBron James praised him recently for how he handles criticism and social media, noting that he couldn’t have done it when he was the same age as his son is now.

“For Bronny to have that mindset of ‘At this point of time in my life and in my game I know where I stand but I know how I affect the game’. He’s just a winning player and I just love his mindset. Some of his answers to questions given to him, I was in awe of because we’ve never talked about it before. He’s definitely not his Dad and I’m not him. I wouldn’t be able to handle the scrutiny and all the things that he got going on at his age, and with social media.”

Bronny James had a difficult road to the 2024 NBA Draft. After a successful stint as a high school player at Sierra Canyon, where he was named a McDonald’s All-American, Bronny committed to playing at USC in 2023. However, tragedy struck during preseason when James suffered a cardiac arrest. Bronny made a speedy and full recovery, but his minutes were significantly impacted during his freshman year.

James played 25 games for USC but only started six. Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while playing about 19 minutes during his only college basketball season. Bronny’s shooting was a big point of contention, as he shot just 36.6% from the field and a meager 26.7% from the three-point line.

Despite the lack of playing time, James decided to declare for the 2024 NBA Draft and enter the transfer portal to switch colleges. Bronny is the son of one of the smartest players in NBA history and has shown that he has inherited much of that basketball intelligence from his father, so he would not be making a decision that is bad for himself.

It will be interesting to see where Bronny ends up in the draft, and whether he gets to play with his father this season.