LeBron James Won’t Join Suns Even If They Draft Bronny

NBA legend LeBron James won’t join the Phoenix Suns even if they draft his son, Bronny. 

The Suns, who have the 22nd overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, are interested in drafting Bronny. 

LeBron would have to take a massive pay cut to join the Suns, and according to Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, that won’t happen. 

“LeBron is off this idea of having to play with Bronny,” Paul told ESPN. “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. LeBron is also not going to Phoenix for a minimum deal. We can squash that now.”

The Suns fired Frank Vogel after one season and hired Mike Budenholzer. The franchise enters the offseason with $209 million in salary, the biggest payroll of any NBA team, and faces a projected luxury tax penalty of $116 million.

Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.2 blocks for USC this season while shooting 36.6% from the field, 26.7% from beyond the arc and 67.6% from the free-throw line. 

Bronny played well in the second scrimmage in Chicago at the NBA Draft Combine. He finished with 13 points in 23 minutes while shooting 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.

LeBron’s son also crushed the 3-point star shooting drill, going 19/25 from deep. 

The leading scorer in NBA history, LeBron is expected to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers. The King can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason by declining his 2024-25 player option. 

LeBron averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks for the Lakers this season in 71 games while shooting 54.0% from the field, 41.0% from 3 and 75.0% from the free-throw line.

A 20-time All-Star, LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018. He helped the franchise win the 2020 championship at the Walt Disney World bubble.