Bryce James really may be the chosen one. He is the true successor to his father LeBron James‘ legacy. The similarities are undeniable, Bryce James is every bit his father in and out. While LeBron’s other son Bronny still projects to be a top pick, the simple fact is that he is a 6’3 point guard who doesn’t have the explosiveness or length of his father’s earlier days, but Bryce James might just be ready to fill that role.
The way Bryce is maturing as a basketball player, LeBron may have to extend his retirement plans past Bronny’s first season. Bryce is just 16 years old at the moment, but the way he plays, he could go first overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. He currently stands at 6 feet and 6 inches and weighs 180 pounds.
Comparing this to his father at the same age, LeBron had grown to 6 feet and 7 inches but weighed in at a much more impressive 240 pounds. Considering his athletic physique, James was moving like a guard and rising in the air for monster dunks at the weight most linebackers in the NFL used to hold their opponents down.
Bryce James was scouted by many NBA teams at the Peach Jam
It seems the hype around Bryce James is going to be starting very early, unlike his brother Bronny who only hit the media spotlight in his senior year of high school.
Bryce is an excellent athlete who is a very skilled outside shooter with a soft touch and near-perfect form, he is a big wing with a high skill level and a quickly improving game. He’s shown the ability to score from 3 levels and has a much-improved dribble drive game with better bounce and explosiveness.
Bryce James made his Peach Jam debut this past weekend 👀
Scouts from the Lakers, Magic, Cavs, Mavs, Knicks, Suns and Hawks were among the teams to make it a “priority” to watch 16-year-old Bryce at the tournament, per @krystenpeek pic.twitter.com/CamFN98Lsn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 5, 2023
This has led to him already becoming a blip on major NBA teams’ radars as the picks for 2026 have already been sanctioned and we have a good idea which teams might be in the lottery come time. The teams were scouting him at the Peach Jam tournament in South Carolina and representatives from the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, and Atlanta Hawks were present.
Sadly, however, the drafting of Bryce James does not get you the added benefit of adding one of the greatest players of all time LeBron James to your roster, as is the case with Bronny James. Still, in the long run, Bryce projects to be a more impactful player than his brother so maybe it’s worth losing out on a 40-year-old LeBron for the chance to draft the NBA’s next transcendent superstar.
