Could Bronny James, son of future first-ballot Hall of Famer LeBron James, actually be a member of the Toronto Raptors by the time day one of the NBA Draft concludes on Wednesday?
What started as more of a fan-concocted theory — a way of creating a full circle moment with the younger James joining, and hopefully helping, the team his dad tormented in the East for years — turned into a real possibility earlier in the week.
Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports and agent to Bronny James, made it known that Toronto was among a handful of teams interested in the USC guard.
“There are other teams that love Bronny. For example, Minnesota, Dallas, Toronto. If it’s not the (Los Angeles) Lakers, it will be someone else,” Paul said per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
The Raptors enter the two-day event with the 19th and 31st picks. Although it isn’t likely they consider the 19-year-old with the higher of the two, there’s at least some belief he could be chosen with the first pick in the second round.
“Masai (Ujiri) loves him,” Paul said. “They could take him without even seeing him at 31. Workouts aren’t everything for these teams.”
When asked Tuesday by Sportsnet’s Michael Grange whether Toronto would consider him with pick No. 31, Raptors assistant general manager Dan Tolzman said: “He’s in the mix. It’d be a disservice to us if I told you anything more strongly than anyone else, (but) I would say yeah.
“Every player on the board we’re looking long and hard at and I wouldn’t say we’ve ruled anybody out at any of our picks.”
If the Raptors end up picking James — after averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 36.6 and 26.7 per cent shooting from the field and three-point line as a freshman at USC — it’d be done out of faith in their scouting department more than anything.
James limited his pre-draft workouts to just the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, meaning any other team selecting him would not have seen him up close.