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00:00Did you miss us? Because we are back live right here on the early line on this Thursday
00:08on Sports Grid. He's Donnie, I am Ben. We apologize for the technical difficulties that
00:14had us go to commercial break much earlier than anticipated. Donnie, we're talking about
00:19Bronny James. Maybe the Sports Grid powers that be don't want us discussing Bronny James,
00:25but we plow on. I was sharing what his agent, Rich Paul, was saying about him. And we'll
00:31finish with this quote. If Bronny's name was Charles Jacobson and he was my client, I would
00:38do the same thing. Identify teams that have real interest. And that's really the conversation
00:45around Bronny James, at least from the narrative perspective. The production or lack thereof
00:50in his only year of college hoops at USC. And if his name was different, would there
00:56be this much notoriety? I still believe in the prospect that is Bronny James, at least
01:01being able to contribute at the professional level in the NBA. But I do understand the
01:07skepticism at the same time. It's interesting because we'll never know, right? That's the
01:12only thing. There's always going to be a debate on. Well, if he wasn't this guy, but if we're
01:15just being honest with ourselves, is LeBron, is Bronny James an NBA player? Technically,
01:20we don't know, but he's going to be drafted. But I guess you can say yes. But if it wasn't
01:24Bronny James, the level of hype coming out of high school wouldn't have been there for
01:28him at that point. Still a solid prospect, yes. But then you go and play one year of
01:33college basketball and you're basically insignificant on your roster. And it's a team that does
01:37have some NBA prospects. But on the landscape, it's like, hey, man, he was on one of the
01:40best Kentucky teams we've ever seen. He only got limited minutes because they had six number
01:45one draft picks ahead of him and they were unbeaten throughout the season. If he stayed
01:48in year number two, he would shine. No, we're never going to know. Bronny stayed at year
01:51number two at USC, how good he actually will be because he's turning pro. But the one thing
01:55I think we can agree upon, the spotlight is there because of the name. If he did not have
02:00that name, I don't think Rich Paul would even be his client at this point because it wouldn't
02:04be worth it. Hey, I'm going to pick a guy up here for a second round that I'm going
02:07to try to force teams into giving him a guaranteed contract as opposed to a two way contract.
02:12The only reason why we're talking about this is because Rich Paul is taking him on and
02:16it's LeBron James' son. So we can be honest with that equation. Will he turn out to be
02:19a great NBA player? We don't know. Will he turn out to even be an NBA player? We don't
02:24know yet. You're going to go through the process. Way better talented players than Bronny James
02:28have failed right away in the NBA. I'm not saying that's going to happen to him, but
02:32there's a lot of open end questions we need to ask. And you getting through those quotes
02:36there from Rich Paul, there's a little bit of salt in there saying, you know what, if
02:39this was just anybody, I'd treat him the same way. No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't treat
02:42him at all because you wouldn't have him as a client. Probably the case, right? The
02:46notable attention that has been paid to Bronny James and the burden on this young man for
02:50having to carry that weight of the expectation for him to be judged at the level that his
02:56father is. And Bronny James has spoken himself throughout this pre-draft process in getting
03:02ready to take the next step to the NBA about people learning about Bronny, about people
03:07learning about his game, not just because of his name, but it's that catch 22, right?
03:12The vicious cycle of his name being the reason the eyeballs are there. Let's show his college
03:18stats because again, I do want to make this point. You're going to see this a lot in the
03:21next week, the production or lack thereof of what Bronny James was able to accomplish
03:26at Southern Cal. It was a short freshman campaign given the medical condition and the cardiac
03:31arrest that he suffered last summer during summer workouts with the Trojans basketball
03:37program average, less than five points per game, less than three boards, just about two
03:42dimes, less than 20 minutes play. It is not a direct correlation success in college basketball
03:49to success in the NBA. Often the way things that have worked in the one and done era,
03:56the staples of college hoops, the guys in the running for first team, all American or
04:00first team, all conference at the high major level, or the guys in the running for the
04:05national player of the year award are not the ones that are being considered to go one
04:10overall in the top five, even lottery selections. It is a different format. It is a different
04:16style in flow of the game in college as the game in the association. So just because Bronny
04:23James is stats were not great. The numbers alone, not just the name, the numbers alone
04:28were not great in college hoops. Does not mean that he can't project to a successful
04:34NBA player. Is he going to be a multiple time all-star? Probably not. Can he be on a roster?
04:41Certainly so. Yes. And also he is going to get the edge and I'm not like, I don't think there's
04:46really box office appeal for Bronny James, right? Otherwise we'd have seen one ESPN every single
04:51night and being a superstar and it's LeBron James's kid. But having said that he is going to
04:56get the benefit of the doubt over many players. Like if you are looking at crafting your basketball
05:01team, you say these two guys are similar in what they can do. Bronny James is going to be
05:05kept over that other guy that they're even with just because of that last name and the legacy
05:09and known just having those eyeballs on your team. If you figure that they're going to be there.
05:13Now, the interesting part is going to be how it plays out because we're all talking about the
05:18same things. And yes, LeBron James for a long time. It's my dream. The only reason why I'm
05:22playing right now outside of the money and the fame is I would love to play with my son on the
05:27same team. But also let's get this caught up from the son. Sure. He would love to play with his
05:31dad. But also from a team perspective, you're on the road and there's ladies of the night on the
05:36road. And, you know, you guys are going out to the bars like your dad's going to be on the same team,
05:40right? Like what do we do? Dad, that's lying on you. Like sometimes you just want to be away. Hey,
05:45I'm in the NBA with my dad, but he's not seeing me on a day to day basis and knocking on my door
05:49at 3 a.m. Hey, son is trying to get some sleep in here. You know what I mean? So there is something
05:53about that independence you would like if you're Bronny James. You would think a 19 year old would
05:59want to be distant from his parents as he gets to experience life at the professional level.
06:05The Lakers are the favorites to select Bronny James at plus 125. The Phoenix Suns had that
06:11second shortest number at plus 550. Again, part of this conversation is LeBron's longstanding
06:17desire, regardless of what he says now through back channels of playing alongside Bronny. The
06:23idea of alluring LeBron James to play in your franchise as well is enticing the Lakers because
06:31of the Pelicans deferring their final pick from the Anthony Davis trade. Now draft 17th overall
06:38Phoenix 22nd overall in the first round is Bronny James going to be a first round selection. Well,
06:45the oddsmakers don't seem to believe so. Forty and a half is his draft position prop over under
06:53forty and a half in the over has the juice that's deep into the second round. The Lakers have one
07:00pick in the second round. It's fifty fifth overall, the fourth to last pick of the twenty twenty four
07:07NBA draft. So maybe some maneuvering on draft night or draft night number two exactly a week
07:13from today, but all play into the port and the decision to perhaps select Bronny James more on
07:20the early line comes your way. Six days away from the start of the twenty twenty four NBA draft,
07:27the opening night now of two in the NBA draft this year. That is round number one on Wednesday
07:34in Brooklyn. Oh, by the way, somebody should tell you Sports Green is going to have an NBA draft
07:39special live on Wednesday next week. The coach James Young, JY, not Donnie. He doesn't like this
07:45draft very much. Myself and Kevin Walsh will be live with you for the entirety of the opening
07:51night on Wednesday live on Sports Grid picks one through thirty. JY, it's going to be a fun night.
07:59Oh, it's going to be a great night. And you know what's amazing, Ben? I think we moved markets.
08:05I think you and I, we have moved the markets with this NBA draft because a couple of us were
08:12telling people, I think there's value on the board. Ben, I think that train done left the station.
08:19Yep. And we'll look at the market movement and just six days away from the NBA draft
08:25for the number one overall pick. A lot of it following this report from Jonathan Givoni
08:30of ESPN yesterday that the Hawks appear to be honing in on Zachary Reza Shay or Donovan
08:38Klingon as their preferred options atop their board, which would mean Alex Sar, who was the
08:44projected number one overall pick. And often throughout this draft process, the odds on
08:49favorite is starting to slide and maybe slip to number two overall for the Washington Wizards.
08:57JY, what do you think has led to the change either in Atlanta's thinking
09:02to favor Reza Shay over Sar or why Sar has started to slide?
09:07Well, number one, I thought Reza Shay should have been the number one pick. And I've been
09:10telling people for weeks, I just think it lines up. The first domino that I thought was interesting
09:15is when they were talking about maybe DeAndre Hunter being moved. And I just thought that Reza
09:20Shay was just a perfect person to slide into that. So now you start looking at maybe it's Klingon.
09:26So what does that mean? That means Clint Capella could be on the move. And I think you need to be
09:31very careful with Reza Shay because I'm going to say this right now. I know there's value for
09:36him going three. If Klingon goes one, I don't think Washington passes up Reza Shay at two
09:43because they always talk about he was never going to slide past two. So that means Sar,
09:49who a couple of weeks ago was like a minus 300 favorite to go first, may be looking to go three
09:56at that point unless the slide continues, which could be interesting for him at three going to a
10:02place like Houston because then you can play with him and Chengun. But then what happens with Jabari
10:07Smith? Ben, I think this is going to be the beginning of a crazy week. A lot of moving parts
10:14and trades may happen before the draft to start lining up boards. So to me, the talk of the Hawks
10:21have squirreled to do that. I think either Hunter and or Clint Capella are getting moved and those
10:29two guys can move into those slots, especially with Klingon with the fact that Atlanta is very
10:33poor defensively at the rim, even though they have Clint Capella. And the fact with Jalen Johnson
10:38and DeAndre Hunter, one of them is going to get moved. You move Hunter because he makes more money.
10:43Johnson, younger, less money on his contract. Market movers, coach. We've seen a lot of those
10:49numbers already move, but now we're about a week out here from the NBA draft. Saar at a plus one
10:54fifteen price. Richard Shea, minus one twenty five, Klingon at a plus four thirty price.
10:58Where will we be next week in your mind? Who is going to be that market mover? You say, wow,
11:03Klingon plus four thirty. Does he turn into a negative number here? Do you take a look at
11:07Saar dropping back? Who's that market mover from now to round one, coach? I think Richard Shea is
11:13going to probably get stronger and stronger in his movement and becoming a number one pick.
11:19I just think he is the one with that upside with that offensive game that I think could translate
11:23to the next level, especially if you look at the fact that there could be another trade.
11:27Like Atlanta is such an interesting situation because they're the ultimate middle team,
11:34right? They're a middle team that struck gold and they hit the lottery. So now they have to
11:39figure out, we just mentioned two scenarios. Well, there's still the third of a Trey Young
11:44versus a DeJounte Murray. Who of one of those two gets moved? So I think that is the guy that I'm
11:50looking at really is being the movement. I think he keeps moving in that negative direction as the
11:55number one pick. So, Jay, why let's play it out as such. Zachary Rizzo Shea goes number one overall
12:02to the Atlanta Hawks. Alex Saar, who was the projected number one overall pick. And as you
12:07saw at a point, a very hefty odds on favorite in minus money to go first overall to Atlanta,
12:13does slide. How far does his draft stock fall? Does it stop just at number two overall with
12:19the Wizards on the clock? It all depends on if Klingon or Rizzo Shea goes first. If Rizzo Shea
12:25goes first, then I think he goes two with three going with Don McLean. I think it's flipped.
12:31If Don McLean goes one, I think Rizzo Shea goes two, Saar goes three. So it's more about, can you
12:37knock down where Atlanta goes? Because I think Atlanta did affect two and three. I think that's
12:43the top three. I don't think that moves at all, unless you get something wild, like a Reed Shepard
12:49at plus 125. But then you have someone like Van Vliet and Jalen Green. Does Jalen Green get moved?
12:55So there's so many moving parts, Ben, just not with those top three, but all those teams may
13:00have corresponding moves to move someone to slide those guys into that spot.
13:05J.Y., a lot has been said over the past 24 hours out of a certain agent, Rich Paul, and where he
13:10thinks Bronny James should be able to go. Before we get into what team he should actually go to,
13:14do you agree with the handling of Bronny James here before the draft with workouts,
13:19with information flowing back and forth? What's your take on this?
13:23I think it's for someone who has flaws in his game. I think it's incredibly smart. I think
13:28it's really smart because you don't get those guys in the building, and now you're sitting
13:33there saying, you kind of don't know. And do you take a chance on LeBron? Now, of course,
13:38Rich Paul turned around and said, there's no, you know, correlation of LeBron and Bronny playing
13:43together. OK, I'll believe it when I see it. But to me, it's a smart play. It's kind of similar to
13:50like what I said with not sending Bronny back to school. The more tape you get on Bronny,
13:56it could be bad for him. So better to have a couple of teams that are interested in him
14:01and then shut it down and make maybe someone else comes flying up the board, come get him.
14:07J-Y, his draft position prop is 40 and a half. The over has the juice. That would be deep into
14:13the second round quickly here in the final 30 seconds. Is Bronny James going to be a first
14:17round pick or later in the second? I don't know if he'll be a late first round pick,
14:22but I think he goes below pick 40. I think he, I would take the under with that. I think someone's
14:28coming to get him at some point. Late first round, early second round, somewhere in that 30
14:33to 35 range. The Lakers have two picks right now on the board, 17th overall and 55th overall.
14:41More with the coach up next.