Bronny James gives himself options with wise move

Longtime college basketball insider Dick Weiss first reported on Tuesday that the USC freshman had entered the transfer portal. Weiss later retracted the report and wrote that he "can't confirm" the news.

Bronny's father — future Hall of Famer LeBron James — commented on the rumors on Tuesday night following the Los Angeles Lakers' win over the Toronto Raptors. King James said that his 19-year-old son had some "tough decisions" coming up, but he and the rest of his family would support him no matter what.

The teenager's decisions come on the heels of former Trojans head coach Andy Enfield leaving the program for the same role at SMU. USC then hired former Arkansas leader Eric Musselman on Thursday to fill the vacancy.

Bronny himself commented on his decisions in an Instagram post:

The four-time MVP's eldest son arrived at USC ranked 20th in the 2023 ESPN 100 rankings and as the sixth-rated point guard in the class of 2023.

Bronny suffered cardiac arrest during a July practice with the Trojans and was rushed to the ICU of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

He worked his way back onto the court late last year and was medically cleared at the end of November.

The Trojans finished the campaign 15-18 (8-12 in the Pac-12) and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020 (when the Covid-19 pandemic canceled the event).

The younger James finished the season with just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 19.4 minutes per game across 25 contests (six starts). He recorded only a .366/.267/.676 shooting line, so he has room to grow.

At this point, it seems likely that NBA teams can afford to wait another year to seriously look at the prospect and perhaps select Bronny in the 2025 NBA Draft.

One of the most heavily discussed schools that the guard could relocate to has been Duquesne. The Dukes are led by LBJ's longtime friend and former high school teammate, Dru Joyce III. He took over the program recently after Keith Dambrot retired.

Duquesne made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977 this year and upset sixth-seeded BYU before falling to third-seeded Illinois in the second round.

King James has said multiple times that he'd like to play in the NBA with Bronny.

The Lakers star has a $51.4M player option in his contract for the 2024-25 season and has until June 29 to exercise the option.