Agent Rich Paul said he told teams in the run-up to the NBA draft that he didn’t want Bronny James on a two-way or non-guaranteed contract, he wanted him on a real NBA deal with a chance to develop. Every agent of a second-round pick says that, but not everyone has the leverage to get it done.
Paul does, and Bronny is going to get a guaranteed deal with the Lakers, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Bronny James plans to sign a multiyear guaranteed rookie contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft starts his NBA career on the Lakers roster. pic.twitter.com/dRTgWxbGuO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2024
Bronny — along with Lakers first-round pick Dalton Knecht — will officially be introduced as Lakers later on Tuesday.
The Lakers can sign Bronny on a minimum deal or with a second-round exception.
This contract will likely spark the same conversation that happened when the Lakers drafted Bronny, with some pundits and fans clutching their pearls over some perceived loss of purity in the sport. That’s laughable. Did Bronny get drafted and get this contract because his father is Lakers free agent LeBron James? Unquestionably. (Even if the Lakers try to deny it.) But if you think nepotism doesn’t infect all of sports and American life, you are naive at best — look at the front offices of NBA teams (or NFL teams) and you’ll see a lot of owners'/GMs/coaches’ children in positions of power. Bronny and Rich Paul are playing the hand they were dealt and have played it brilliantly.
The question now is what Bronny does with this chance.
Bronny has a lot of work to do, he is not NBA-ready ready, according to every scout NBC Sports has spoken with. At 6'1", he does not yet have the handles and playmaking skills to play the point, nor the shot to be a two guard. Bronny is a legit prospect, a plus athlete who has a good basketball IQ and defends well but he should spend much of his rookie season and maybe the first two in the G-League. That’s not to say he will not be up with the team at points and he and his father will share the court for a few minutes, but that should be the exception, not the rule.
Bronny is just going to have to do all that development in a spotlight other second-rounders do not face.
At least he’s going to have a guaranteed deal and the chance to work through it.
