Former one-and-done USC Trojans reserve point guard Bronny James, son of 20-time Los Angeles All-Star LeBron James, was selected by his dad’s team with the No. 55 pick in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
Read More: Bronny James, Son of LeBron, Drafted by Lakers in Second Round of NBA Draft
The 6-foot-2 Sierra Canyon School product suffered a cardiac arrest at USC’s Galen Center ahead of his 2023-24 freshman season, which compelled him to miss training camp and the first month of gameplay.
After that, the younger James seemed to be working his way back to his status as a four-star recruit all season. Ultimately, James appeared in 25 contests (six starts) for the club, behind now-Utah Jazz point guard Isaiah Collier and current sharpshooting Sacramento Kings combo guard Boogie Ellis. He wrapped up the 15-18 Trojans season with underwhelming averages of 4.8 points on .366/.267/.676 shooting splits, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 dimes, and 0.8 steals a night in 19.3 minutes night.
The digital marketing director for 2K games, Ronnie “2K” Singh, revealed the ratings for the latest batch of NBA rookies ahead of the release of the league’s premiere videogame, “NBA 2K25,” release on his official X account.
Amid cries of nepotism, Bronny James received a fairly low 68 overall rating — which is pretty standard for a second-round pick who’s unlikely to even crack the Lakers’ rotation in 2024-25, let alone be an impact player for a club desperate to add cost-effective roster depth.
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His Lakers teammate, former University of Tennessee Volunteers sharpshooting swingman Dalton Knecht, was given a 70 overall rating. That’s the same level afforded to Knecht’s fellow first-round picks Bub Carrington of the Washington Wizards, Miami Heat center Kel’el War, Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain, and more.
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Knecht could be more of a win-now piece for Los Angeles than Bronny James. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard was one of the best players in the NCAA last year and seems likely to be a solid 3-point shooting option for a Lakers club desperate to shore up its long-range sniping.
A consensus All-American and SEC Player of the Year last season, the 23-year-old showed out in the Summer League in a big way. In his six bouts for the Purple and Gold’s Summer League squad, Knecht averaged 18.0 points on .367/.342/.767 shooting splits, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks a night.
Bronny James, however, had a bumpier road this summer. For his six games in the Las Vegas Summer League and California Classic, he posted averages of 7.0 points while slashing .327/.130/.625, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks per meeting.
Read More: Bronny James Scores 13, Leads Lakers to Victory Over Cavaliers
Whether Bronny James can outperform “NBA 2K25″‘ predictive rating this season remains to be seen. But it’ll be exciting to find out.
