Raptors Draft Watch: Is Bronny James worth the squeeze?

According to his agent, the Raptors could be interested in Bronny. Should they pursue this option, or should we confiscate Masai Ujiri’s Blackberry?

When the news came out that the Toronto Raptors, specifically President Masai Ujiri, were interested in Bronny James, it didn’t come as a surprise. The interest is genuine, as Masai was spotted at Bronny James’ pro day workout.

It’s a bit of a shock that Bronny elected to stay in the draft. After all, his numbers as a USC Trojan were underwhelming at best: 4.8 points, 2.8 boards, 2.1 dimes, and 36.6% field-goal shooting, including 26.7% from the perimeter in at least 19 minutes of playing time.

Yikes.

To Bronny’s defense, he played on a Trojan team that had a borderline disaster-class season, and he had to play behind two ball-dominant guards. It’s also worth noting that he didn’t play until the season had already started, as he had to wait until he got medically cleared after suffering a cardiac arrest in the early fall. Bronny might have been present throughout the process, but still, he essentially missed training camp, did not get acclimated to his new team, and was set back in terms of training, development, and conditioning due to his cardiac arrest.

Despite a down season and lack of productivity, Bronny showed some flashes of what he could do: His vision, passing chops, and defense went viral whenever he showcased them. However, often, whatever you see in his highlights were the only substantial things that he did in the game, and sadly, they were few and far between.

Bronny isn’t the first to come out as a freshman with an underwhelming stat line. For example, the Denver Nuggets’ Peyton Watson declared for the draft after one season at UCLA, where he averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 boards while shooting 32.2% from the field, including 22.2% from the perimeter. Despite that, Watson was expected to be an early/mid 2nd round pick due to his length and athleticism, which he utilized well in collecting 19 blocked shots, 2nd on that UCLA team, despite playing sporadic minutes.

Why Bronny?

Despite being undersized, Bronny James has an NBA-ready body. He’s strong, athletic, and quick. He’s got a solid feel for the game, as demonstrated by his passing as an occasional playmaker and much more often as a play connector. Bronny is a little too patient to a fault, as he would wait for his opportunities to come, playing within the system, selectively taking efficient shots for the most part, leading to a low usage offensively at USC.

He profiles as someone who can potentially provide ball-handling relief and make that occasional jumper. Still, at the next level, offensively, he’s more of a connector who can survey the opposing team’s defence, inject himself in the middle of the play action, and make the connecting play or provide the finishing so that the possession doesn’t bog down. Essentially, the role of a glue guy on the floor.

Defensively, Bronny leverages his awareness, quick reflex, and physical tools to make solid defensive plays in the passing lanes and vertical space. He’ll be able to make good decisions within the team’s defensive concept, such as knowing when and where to switch and making the right rotations and proper closeouts. Overall, he’s more of a fundamentally sound defender than a defensive stopper.

Areas of Concern

Based on Bronny’s size, he’s best suited as a backup point guard or at least a combo guard. However, there are some rare ones like Bruce Brown and Gary Payton II, where they’re neither but make an impact regardless.

Unfortunately, Bronny’s below average, whether as a point guard, shooting guard, or combo guard. Several players in the second round of this draft are better than him as a PG and, likewise, as a shooting guard or combo guard. While Bronny didn’t really get a chance to showcase his true position, it’s a bit telling that his game didn’t speak for himself either, often deferring those roles to his teammates who are much better at those positions, and this issue goes back in high school.

As a playmaker, while Bronny has vision and sees the floor well, his lack of length doesn’t give him access to taller guards’ angles, and he often settles for a safer pass. Bronny’s handle is fundamentally sound, but he couldn’t leverage it to create separation, making his advantage creation subpar compared to his peers.

If Bronny’s shooting doesn’t improve right away, it’s hard to find opportunities for him to score, as he can be timid at times, turning down opportunities to make the right play, and his unselfishness can be to a fault. If he’s not getting or creating pick-six opportunities and getting into the open court, it’s hard to see where and how Bronny can score consistently in the half-court. Because of his offensive limitations, he doesn’t shine as much as a complementary player, and he’s not talented enough to be given the keys to the team so that the coach can run plays for him often.

Unlike Bruce Brown or Gary Payton II, Bronny is not a specialist. He doesn’t really have a skill set that you can say, “Hey, that’s at the NBA level, and if honed well, it can be an elite skill.” Sadly, this reasoning applies on both sides of the floor. Bronny has the physical tools and the defensive awareness to be a disruptor at the point of attack, but even that archetype is probably a year or two away for him.

While Bronny has shown a modicum of perimeter defense at the NBA Combine scrimmage, his size became a factor in switches. Bigger players were able to get through him or shoot over him, which is not a good sign as most of these players at the Combine scrimmage don’t make an NBA roster.

Bronny plays like he’s got a carburetor, and it takes him a while to warm up. His unselfishness and “let the game come to me” mindset are probably more detrimental than helpful at this point. He plays and exudes the poise of a skilled player, but his talent and abilities scream that his game should be a “will/energy player.” The question here is, does he have the mindset to do that?

Raptors Fit

The Raptors are in the midst of a rebuilding process, and they have lost not only talent but also good role players. Also, the team’s overall functional IQ isn’t at the level it was at the peak of its competitive window. Masai can’t and shouldn’t stockpile projects that they have to teach how to play basketball; there should be a balance where they should take a chance on low-ceiling type role players but have the skill set to help improve the team in various ways.

Previously, on the Raptors’ The Last of Us, Masai lamented the team’s selfishness and vowed change. He wants to watch basketball, which he can enjoy. Unfortunately, this outgoing season ain’t it, and while it’s questionable that the Raptors might not have the right coach, at the end of the day, coach Darko Rajakovic did not have the right talent, or just talent in general, to execute his vision.

Bronny James’ unselfish play and role as a connector should be a good fit for what coach Rajakovic wants to do. He can leverage his good feel for the game and help create an advantage by reading how the defense reacts to the initial action and using his smarts to help create/facilitate opportunities for himself and/or his teammates without dominating the ball.

However, if Bronny ends up with the Raptors, he’ll likely (and should) spend at least his rookie season with the Raptors 905. He’ll need plenty of reps that he probably won’t otherwise get with the main club, unless he steps in Day 1 drastically improved from what he’s shown at USC. If anything, the first order of business is for him to assume the lead guard with the 905 to develop into his projected role as a combo guard and work on his overall game, including table setting, perimeter shooting, and advantage creation.

Final Thoughts

Bronny James will be fairly and unfairly under heavy scrutiny because of who his dad is, who casts such a big shadow. It’s also rare for players’ stock to get a bump due to who they’re related to, but if Bronny is just a random freshman with this profile, this is probably a non-conversation. In a vacuum, Bronny’s combination of youth, IQ, productivity, skill set, physical tools, and athletic profile should earn him, at the very least, workout invites on teams looking to replenish their two-way roster spots.

If the Raptors really want Bronny, they should obtain another second-round pick, say, a pick in the late 40s or early 50s, and assign him to a Two-Way Contract roster spot because that’s what he is at this point. At the 31st pick, there will be many players who are much better than him in all facets of the game, players who can contribute immediately.

Even then, looking at the bigger picture, Masai should really think hard about this decision. Is Bronny James worth the squeeze? He was just a year away from having a presser where he talked about changing direction with the coaching and culture change, looking to turn over a new leaf and extinguish the bad vibes. They failed to make the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, and this is not an ordinary rebuilding project. The team’s core is starting to get expensive, with RJ Barrett already making a lot of money, Immanuel Quickley expected to get a pay bump this summer, and Scottie Barnes due for an extension.

Masai struggled to build a team around his previous core as they got expensive really fast, and his main task was to find (and failed to) a credible centre that fits the team back then. He could be caught in a similar bad cycle while trying to fill several positions. That said, the Raptors should avoid the potential bad vibes and circus that would come with this move, regardless of LeBron James’ intent to play with his kid. His agent, Rich Paul, might publicly say it’s not a package deal, but Lebron’s made his intent known for a few years now. If it doesn’t happen this season, it will likely happen next.

Getting into that situation is counterproductive, if not potentially disruptive and destructive to the team’s future. We’ve seen the drama that came with a LeBron-led team, and Masai can’t afford to make these risky moves with Scottie Barnes’ timeline in consideration.

But then, all of this “Bronny x Raptors interest” talk could be just a leverage play by his agency.