Report: LeBron James Joining Suns ‘Not Realistic’ Even If They Draft Bronny James

According to NBA insider John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports, LeBron James joining the Phoenix Suns is “not realistic” even if they draft Bronny James. 

The Suns have the 22nd pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Bronny will work out with Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers. 

LeBron, 39, is widely expected to decline his 2024-25 player option with the Lakers and sign a new deal with the purple and gold. 

Of course they would love him, who wouldn’t at the vet min, but it is not realistic. Drafting Bronny James just to think you can get Lebron to take $47 million less is not a strategy the Suns are employing. They will work out about 30 players with Bronny being one of them. https://t.co/y5YhzvPAP7

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) May 27, 2024

The Lakers could draft Bronny. They have the 17th and 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. 

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 crushed the 3-point star shooting drill, going 19/25 from deep. 

The leading scorer in NBA history, LeBron played in 71 games for the Lakers this season. He averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting 54.0% from the field, 41.0% from beyond the arc and 75.0% from the free-throw line. 

The Denver Nuggets beat the Lakers in the first round of this year’s playoffs in five games. Denver also defeated Los Angeles in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. 

LeBron, who turns 40 in December, is expected to play up to two more NBA seasons.

In their coaching search, the Lakers have been connected to JJ Redick, Sam Cassell, James Borrego, David Adelman, Micah Nori and Chris Quinn. Los Angeles is expected to hire Redick, who co-hosts the “Mind The Game” podcast with LeBron. 

LeBron joined the Lakers in the offseason of 2018. He led the franchise to the 2020 championship over the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble.

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.

Phoenix won 49 games this season but was swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the postseason.