{"id":76131,"date":"2024-05-04T08:23:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T12:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=76131"},"modified":"2024-05-04T08:23:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T12:23:12","slug":"what-does-bronny-james-combine-invite-mean-for-draft-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/04\/what-does-bronny-james-combine-invite-mean-for-draft-outlook\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Bronny James\u2019 Combine Invite Mean for Draft Outlook?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, the NBA released <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/03\/2024-nba-draft-combine-full-list-of-invitees-date-time-location-and-the-top-10-draft-prospects-per-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the full list<\/a> of 2024 NBA Draft entries to receive an invite to this year\u2019s NBA Combine.<\/p>\n<p>As expected, it features the names of many projected lottery picks, from popular Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard to former G League Ignite forward Ron Holland. Prospects that could creep into the lottery, like Tennessee scorer Dalton Knecht and Purdue center Zach Edey, earned invites as well. However, no invitee stood out more than USC guard Bronny James.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Bronny James has received an invite to the 2024 NBA Combine, per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAPR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NBAPR<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wrKs994qiq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/wrKs994qiq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YahooSports\/status\/1786517136879374467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>What Does Bronny James\u2019 Draft Combine Invite Mean for NBA Future?<\/h2>\n<p>The eldest son of hoops phenom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> is coming off an underwhelming freshman showing with the Trojans.<\/p>\n<p>Averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.8 steals per game, James was a replacement-level rotation player just considering his production. Extrapolating his averages to their per 100 possession averages (14.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.3 steals) paints a more promising picture. This is far from an arbitrary comparison, as there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/average-possessions-per-game-nba-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">about 100 possessions per game<\/a> in the NBA. However, his inability to find the bottom of the net (.366-.267-.676 shooting splits) was alarming. A passive scorer with iffy ball-handling as well, there are real doubts about his ability to excel offensively.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, many are of the belief that he should return to college for another season, perhaps <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/05\/bronny-james-linked-lebron-teammate-dru-joyce-duquesne-declaring-draft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">heading to Duquesne<\/a> for a larger offensive role.<\/p>\n<h3>Is Bronny a Point Guard?<\/h3>\n<p>To that point, putting James on the ball more could completely change his pre-draft outlook. Playing him as the point guard \u2014leaning into his basketball IQ and passing ability \u2014would do him and the team favors. It also serves the purpose of making him more aggressive, which is what many would like to see from the 19-year-old.<\/p>\n<p>James\u2019 feel for the game is appreciated. However, to be a viable scoring threat, teams have to at least believe you want to shoot the ball. Just look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Simmons<\/a> amid his physical decline.<\/p>\n<p>That scene is the backdrop for James as he heads to the NBA Combine. His many doubters believe him to be overrated and overhyped. Those that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/07\/nba-draft-baron-davis-bronny-james-could-better-pro-college\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">see him as a legitimate NBA player<\/a> are impressed by his feel, IQ, and defensive tenacity. Neither group is likely to be sure whether they\u2019ve seen the best he has to offer.<\/p>\n<p>That said, here\u2019s what could make or break James\u2019 draft stock ahead of the withdrawal deadline (May 29).<\/p>\n<h4>Measurements<\/h4>\n<p>James is currently listed at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. That\u2019s decent but not great size for a shooting guard at the next level. However, player\u2019s measurements at the Combine are often different than what\u2019s listed on team or stat sites.<\/p>\n<p>That said, if James is shorter than 6-foot-4, that increases his need to have ball-handling duties at the next level. As it so happens, dribbling may be James\u2019 weakest skill offensively despite his inefficiency. As a result, his draft stock could take a hit.<\/p>\n<p>This would also be a reason for James to head to Duquesne. There, he could hone his skills as an on-ball playmaker. That said, he could do the same spending the bulk of his rookie season in the G League.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, if James is measured at about 6-foot-4 or taller (as players his age are often still growing), it lends itself to his projection as a 3-and-D wing. In that event, James may be a late first-round or early second-round pick. While his 3-point percentage last season was woeful, he already has the \u2018D\u2019 down pat.<\/p>\n<h3>Scrimmage<\/h3>\n<p>If James plays well against first-round prospects in the NBA Combine Scrimmage, it will definitely enhance his chances of being drafted. It may not guarantee that he himself is selected in the first-round. Yet, even that becomes a more legitimate possibility.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, if he plays badly or doesn\u2019t stand out, it could lead to a far different outcome. In such a scenario, even James may feel it\u2019s better that he returns to school for another year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, the NBA released the full list of 2024 NBA Draft entries to receive an invite to this year\u2019s NBA Combine. As expected, it features the names of many projected lottery picks, from popular Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard to former G League Ignite forward Ron Holland. Prospects that could creep into the lottery, like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":76140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[556,1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4572,2577,38,98],"class_list":["post-76131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba-draft","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-bronny-james","tag-duquesne-dukes","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba-draft"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}