Stephen A. Smith Believes Mavericks Could Draft Bronny James

An intriguing prospect that will continue to gain traction throughout the NBA Draft Combine is Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. Due to his father being one of, if not the greatest, ever to play in the NBA, there is an expectation for Bronny to follow suit.

The early indication is that the 19-year-old will be drafted somewhere in the second round, potentially by the Lakers, who own the 55th pick in addition to 17th overall in the first round.

However, with Bronny having a solid outing during his first day at the combine, it may result in more and more teams being interested in the guard, especially if the possibility of LeBron joining him wherever he goes still exists.

An early competitor is a Western Conference foe that Stephen A. Smith of ESPN believes will position themselves to steal Bronny before L.A. can select him is the Dallas Mavericks:

“But here’s a newsflash, what I’ve also heard. Bronny James may not make it to the Lakers’ second round pick. Because if a team like the Dallas Mavericks could position themselves to get him in the second round, they’ll take him. Because LeBron said he wants to go where his son goes and if you’re the Dallas Mavericks and you got Kyrie, and you got Luka, and LeBron James is willing to come to big D, that might be the first time something is more popular than the Cowboys.”

While the Mavericks were rumored to prepare a package for LeBron last year when L.A. was spiraling, drafting Bronny may not result in him coming to Dallas at this point in time. According to recent reports, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul is letting it be known that drafting Bronny may not longer lead to landing LeBron, which he said was the case for a while. So wherever Bronny goes in the draft, it is expected to allow the athletic guard to be himself and avoid outside pressure by playing alongside his dad.

However, it becoming an intriguing storyline to see which team ultimately decides to take a chance on Bronny. Despite a subpar freshman season with the USC Trojans, hopefully, under the right system, he could develop and continue to grow as a prospect. As the NBA Draft inches closer, it will be interesting to see where his stock goes and if he winds up on the Lakers or elsewhere.

And if it is the Mavericks that draft him, perhaps LeBron does put some serious consideration into joining them considering the ties he has in that organization with Irving, Jason Kidd, Jared Dudley and others.

Bronny James expected to stay in 2024 NBA Draft

When declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft, Bronny James mentioned that he would be entering the transfer portal as well, effectively ending his time with USC. But now that the pre-draft process has started, it appears that Bronny has been medically cleared and made the decision to stay in the draft instead of going back to school and transferring elsewhere.