With his free agency potentially looming, LeBron James is no longer married to the idea of playing with his son Bronny, his agent said on Thursday.
In February 2022, James said he “would do whatever it takes” to play with his eldest son, who entered the 2024 NBA Draft after one season at USC, but things have changed since, according to Klutch Sports’ Rich Paul.
“LeBron is off this idea of having to play with Bronny,” Paul told ESPN on Thursday.
“If he does, he does. But if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. There’s no deal made that it’s guaranteed that if the Lakers draft Bronny at 55, he [LeBron] will re-sign. If that was the case, I would force them to take him at 17. We don’t need leverage. The Lakers can draft Bronny and LeBron doesn’t re-sign.”
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The Lakers enter the two-day draft with the No. 17 pick in the first round — generally thought to be a reach for Bronny — and No. 55 in the second.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons mentioned on his podcast earlier this week that there had been “a lot of Phoenix buzz” surrounding the elder James, who can opt out of his Lakers deal before June 30 to enter free agency.
“[Klutch Sports] seem really confident that he is getting drafted in the first round,” Simmons said.
“And if you’re Mat Ishbia and the draft sucks, and it’s like let’s get Bronny, and they’re telling us that if we take Bronny, there’s a chance that we can get LeBron too, you have to think about it.
“I don’t know how many more years LeBron has left, it’s one it’s two, it’s three; whatever he was an All-NBA guy last year… you’ve gotta explore it”
However, Paul also clarified the position from their side.
“LeBron is also not going to Phoenix for a minimum deal,” the agent said. “We can squash that now.”
Since the Suns can’t pay him the $100-plus million contract the Lakers can, the only way it would work is via sign-and-trade, although the new collective bargaining agreement makes that extremely challenging.
Paul confirmed Phoenix’s interest in Bronny at 22nd overall but said they are not interested in such a move for James as the Suns are “severely limited in the type of contract they can offer”, describing the prospect of a minimum contract as “insulting” in an appearance on ESPN’s ‘NBA Today’.
Bronny had rejected workouts with multiple teams — only doing so for the Suns and Lakers — which Paul said was strategic as he tries to get his client to his preferred destination.
“This is nothing new,” Paul said.
“The goal is to find a team that values your guy and try to push him to get there. It’s important to understand the context and realise that this has always been the strategy with many of my clients throughout the years, especially those in need of development like Bronny. My stuff is by design.”
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That hasn’t stopped interest from other teams, Paul said.
“There are other teams that love Bronny. For example, Minnesota, Dallas, Toronto. If it’s not the Lakers, it will be someone else,” Paul explained.
“Minnesota would love to get Bronny in, but I don’t know who their owner is going to be. [Mavericks GM] Nico Harrison is like an uncle to Bronny. If the Lakers don’t take him at 55, Dallas would take him at 58 and give him a guaranteed deal. Masai [Ujiri, Raptors president,] loves him. They could take him without even seeing him at 31. Workouts aren’t everything for these teams.”
This article first appeared on The New York Postand was reproduced with permission.