Analyst: Suns Drafting Bronny James Would be Massive Reach

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have a plethora of options available to them at the No. 22 pick in this year's NBA draft, but none are more compelling - or controversial - than Bronny James.

Son of LeBron James, Bronny entered the draft after just one season at USC, where he played 25 games and averaged just 4.8 points.

The ultimate draft positioning, stock, whatever you want to call it for James, has been largely debated as June 26 rolls closer. Some believe James is a solid developmental piece while others aren't buying he's a legitimate NBA prospect at this point in time.

James has reportedly turned down workouts from numerous teams besides the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix. Many believe by drafting James, a potential team could hope to lure in LeBron - who has a player-option heading into free agency.

Drafting James itself would carry quite the controversy, as The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov recently highlighted:

"If James does get drafted there — proper qualifiers added and implied here — that might just be one of the most unconventional first-round picks in recent memory," he wrote on Bronny's potential landing in Phoenix.

"No, not because it’s Bronny James. But because of his current standing approaching the draft. Say what you will about groupthink and media mock drafts and evaluations, but teams don’t stray too far from it in the first round.

"Right now, Bronny James is the No. 57 prospect on Rookie Scale’s consensus NBA draft board. If he’s taken 22nd, that would mean the Suns took him 35 spots ahead of his consensus ranking.

"That would be the biggest difference between draft slot and consensus ranking over the last five years. The Memphis Grizzlies took Santi Aldama 30th in 2021 when he was 54th on the consensus board and David Roddy 23rd in 2022 when he was 45th. The New York Knicks took Immanuel Quickley 25th in 2020, when he was No. 48 on the consensus board.

"Even if James is picked 30th overall in the first round, he would still be the biggest outlier first-round pick since 2020 compared to the consensus board.

"But that’s also as of now. There’s still about another month to go until the draft and it’s plausible that James can make a move up the public boards, and thus the consensus board, and make this point less pronounced."

We're still weeks away from draft night, and opinions/evaluations can certainly shift.

As of now, the potential of drafting James still looms like a debatable possibility for the Suns.