LSU Tigers star Flau’jae Johnson dismissed the idea of Bronny James winning the 2024/25 NBA Rookie of the Year award after being picked by the Los Angeles Lakers, although the college basketball star admitted she has rarely watched him play.
Bronny will make his debut with the Lakers after being taken in the second round of the draft and if he gets onto the court alongside his dad, LeBron James, then they will become the first father-son duo in league history.
Whilst he isn’t exactly a Victor Wembanyama-level talent, the 20-year-old has attracted praise for his defensive talents and effort and was regarded as a consensus four-star recruit, meaning he deserves a shot at the NBA as the Lakers aim to foster a more respectable offensive output.
However, it’s his draft spot and lack of preseason activity which means the Tigers’ Johnson is putting him as the third best rookie at most, behind Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard.
“Will Bronny win the Rookie of the year? I don’t see it happening,” Johnson told Overtime. “Reed in his class, Rob in his class. You gotta think like he was the 52nd pick I think 55th maybe.
“I don’t know just depends on if he play, I didn’t even see him play a lot in the preseason game and there’s like a lot of other. Rookies were turning up in a preseason game so. I don’t know I think so.”
Who is favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year?
So far the 2024/25 NBA season has not yet started so it’s unclear how good any of these guys are actually going to be when they go up against seasoned professionals that aren’t taking it easy through the warm-up games.
But a poll conducted by the league’s 30 general managers revealed one person is clearly tipped to claim the award and it’s not Bronny James, who didn’t even receive a single vote from the GMs.
The executives picked the Houston Rockets’ Sheppard to be ROTY with 50% of the vote, then came the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Edey with 30%, following by the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle with 13%.
Ron Holland II of the Detroit Pistons and Alex Sarr of the Washington Wizards also received votes from the general managers.
Read the full article here
