NCAA Basketball: Bronny James officially declares for the NBA Draft after one season at USC
Two-way guard Bronny James was medically cleared Monday morning by the NBA's fitness to play panel, and James has now announced that he is fully committed to enter his name in the upcoming NBA Draft, forgoing the rest of his collegiate eligibility after just one season with the USC Trojans.
Full ESPN story with @DraftExpress on Bronny James medically cleared to play in NBA — and his looming full participation in the NBA Draft Combine including 5-on-5 scrimmaging https://t.co/lbDKaZJ2R5
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 13, 2024
Originally, James entered his name in the draft but also in the transfer portal, retaining his eligibility. However, after testing the NBA Draft waters, James must've seen enough interest to keep his name in the draft and now will participate in all pre-draft activities, including the NBA Draft combine that starts this week and other team workouts that will occur leading up to the June 27th NBA Draft.
James freshman season didn't go exactly as planned. Before the season started, James suffered from a congenital heart defect that led to a cardiac arrest occurring during a team workout. Luckily, it is treatable, and James was okay. However, it led him to miss a significant portion of the practices leading up to the season and a handful of games as well.
When he did come back, his role was limited, and he never really found any rhythm with the team. The Trojans had a very underwhelming season. They were flooded with talent, but never could put it all together collectively at once, and it showed in their performances. James did show a lot of promise and glimpses of what he could be both offensively and defensively, but the numbers didn't stand out.
James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and shot 36.6% from the field in 19.4 minutes of action. The talent is and always has been there. James was one of the best high school prospects in his class at Sierra Canyon and was a McDonald's All-American. Many question if he is rushing this process, but ultimately James has made his decision and is currently projected to go mid-to-late second round.
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He has attracted some interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, where he could potentially team up with his father, LeBron James, which LeBron has stated in the past would surely interest him. Nonetheless, Bronny James will now do everything he can over the next month to gain his NBA interest and work towards finding a team that he can fit well on. Rich Paul has said team interest is the most important thing over draft position.