With the NBA Draft looming on June 26 and 27, a prospect that is garnering some noise is former USC Trojans guard Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

While there were some evident struggles in his lone season at USC, Bronny possesses a valuable 3-and-D skillset and could develop nicely under the right situation.

However, some of this noise surrounding the 19-year-old is that he will only get drafted to lure LeBron to that respective team. LeBron had floated that idea in the past, although Bronny has said that playing in the NBA is his dream, but not necessarily with his dad.

Nonetheless, there is pressure on Bronny due to his father being LeBron as there will be some unwarranted expectations to suceed right out of the gate. However, he believes that general managers are serious about their business and will draft him because they believe in his skillset as a player, not to recruit his dad, via Dan Woike of the L.A. Times:

“Honestly, I feel like this is a serious business. And I don’t feel like there would be a thought of, ‘I’m just drafting this kid just because I’m gonna get his dad,’” Bronny said. “Like, I don’t think a GM would really allow that.”

After an impressive showing at the NBA Draft Combine, hopefully that notion is dead as Bronny showcased his talents and some impressive shooting. But whoever drafts him needs to be considered a good development system as he still needs time to grow as a player.

Despite some ties to L.A., there may be some competition to steal Bronny before he falls to the Lakers at pick No. 55.

Regardless, it seems that Bronny’s stock is rising as the draft inches closer, and the hope is that he will get selected on his own merit.

Rich Paul telling teams drafting Bronny will not result in LeBron James signing

While the initial sentiment from LeBron James was he wants to play with Bronny in the NBA, it seems that he and Rich Paul of Klutch Sports have been working to walk that back.

A report recently stated that Paul has been putting it out there that if a team drafts Bronny, it will not result in LeBron signing with them.

After LeBron spoke for so many years about wanting to play with his son and willing to go to whatever team drafts him though, it will be interesting to see if teams still try to lure the Lakers superstar in free agency by selecting Bronny.