Chicago Bulls Insider Gets Honest on Bronny James Joining Bulls

Will the Chicago Bulls draft Bronny James?

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The biggest question of the NBA draft isn't about who is going to draft the number one pick. It's about who is going to draft Bronny James, and potentially get LeBron James in the process. While Chicago Bulls fans may hope that it could be them, their most prominent insider disagrees.

40+ year Chicago Bulls insider Sam Smith conducted an interview with NBA.com about the odds of the Bulls drafting down to get Bronny James in the 2024 NBA Draft. As much as Bulls fan may possibly want the duo, Smith doesn't it see it happening.

"I’m not as sanguine about Bronny’s prospects as an NBA player," Smith said. "But, I know, coming off heart issues and all and playing for a bad team can make you look bad. But there’s many other issues which suggest it’s better to run away from this crazy idea as quickly as you can. This draft James Jr. and dad will join him scenario seems doubtful."

Smith does not see LeBron James leaving LA for Chicago, especially when Lebron already denied joining the Bulls when Derrick Rose was on the team.

"It seems unlikely LeBron would leave LA," Smith said. "Hey, he turned down the chance before to be in Chicago, and that was to play with Rose, Noah, Deng and Dwayne Wade. And though LeBron still is playing at an amazingly high level, with Anthony Davis he still was a seventh place team. And he will be 40 in December. I know the Bulls seem to operate short term, but that would be ridiculous."

The biggest issue that Smith sees with Bronny joining the Bulls is the scenario where LeBron James doesn't join along. The amount of scrutiny that the Bulls would face and the media circus that it would become would be unreal. It's a level of a circus show that would only damage the organization more and more.

"There’s a larger issue that suggests to me the mess of having James Jr. on your team will fall to the Lakers. You think there’s jealousy about Caitlin Clark? Wait ’til all this media is around every day asking about James Jr., and if he's on your team without LeBron there’ll be LeBron on Twitter second guessing the coach about not using him or using him the wrong way," Smith said. "And even if he’s playing with dad, is dad making the decisions? LeBron already basically runs the organizations he plays for. Now his kid, too? Sports teams go to great lengths to avoid distractions and especially excessive media coverage."

While Chicago Bulls fans may want the team to change or improve, drafting Bronny James may not be the one-stop solution they hope it could be.