Bronny James makes himself eligible for NBA draft, leaves USC and enters transfer portal

Bronny James has thrown his name in the ring for the 2024 NBA Draft.

He also has kept his college eligibility and put his name in the transfer portal to keep his options open. Bronny made the news official on Instagram.

“At the end of the day, Bronny’s his own man,” LeBron said this week about his eldest son, who just finished his freshman season playing for USC. “He has some tough decisions to make, and when he’s ready to make those decisions, he’ll let us all know. But as his family, we’re going to support whatever he does.”

LeBron has talked openly about wanting to play in the NBA with his son, but whether or not that’s the best path for Bronny right now is another question. It’s something he, his family and his agent need to figure out.

Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest on the court while working out at USC last summer, so before he can officially enter the draft — or be invited to the NBA Draft Combine, or work out for teams — he has to be cleared by the NBA’s Fitness to Play Panel. However, he can start meeting with teams.

Those teams will be hesitant. There is the cardiac issue, but beyond that this was not a standout year for Bronny, who averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game mostly coming off the bench for a 15-18 USC team that did not make the NCAA Tournament. Scouts NBC Sports have spoken with about Bronny see potential, a 6’4″ driven student of the game with a high IQ, someone who could develop into a defender and shooter at the NBA level, but he’s not there yet and needs more development.

If he enters the NBA Draft he would get second-round consideration from teams — especially the Lakers or ones who could lure his father to their city — but he likely would see a lot of G-League time that first season as he continued to develop. Here is how ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who has been tapped in with LeBron and Klutch Sports (Bronny’s agent), put it:

The pre-draft plan will be for James to meet with targeted teams for workouts and interviews prior to the June 16 deadline to stay in the draft and find out whether there’s a potential developmental situation — regardless of draft position — that would make sense for him to stay in the draft.

Bronny’s other option is to move to another college program that could give him run and develop him. USC’s coach, Andy Enfield, recently left USC for SMU (to replace him the Trojans hired Arkansas’ Eric Musselman). From the outside, that feels like the more likely outcome, but it depends on the feedback from NBA teams and what Bronny wants.