PHOENIX — On an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Wednesday, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia said that he felt Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James would have been a “good fit” in Phoenix.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“I don’t know exactly where Bronny wanted to go,” Ishbia said. “We really liked Bronny. We thought he was good player. I know the Lakers drafted him. I hope he has a great career. He’s got a great basketball IQ. He does a lot of great things, and he’s got a lot of pressure to be the son of one of the greatest of all time. He’s got pressure on him.
“We thought it might be a good fit here in Phoenix. Obviously, the Lakers drafted him.”
"We thought Bronny James would be a great fit here in Phoenix but the Lakers drafted him..
We want Phoenix to be a destination and it's always a positive thing when players wanna come here" ~ @Mishbia15 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Gjmy0j1MyU
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 17, 2024
The Lakers used their No. 55 overall pick to select James, creating the first ever father-son duo in NBA history with his dad, LeBron James. Bronny has averaged 5.0 points on 21.5% shooting and 4.0 rebounds in two games for L.A. in the Las Vegas Summer League so far.
The Suns were said to be the only other team besides the Lakers that James worked out for in the pre-draft process, and he reportedly worked out for them twice.
Phoenix entered the draft with the No. 22 overall pick, so many thought it would be a reach to draft James there.
However, the Suns traded down with the Denver Nuggets to No. 28 overall, which they used to select Virginia forward Ryan Dunn, and also received the No. 56 pick and two future second rounders from Denver. Phoenix ended up packaging the No. 56 pick and a future second-round pick from Boston to move up to the 40th selection, which it could have used to pick James, but instead chose Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro.
“I wish (Bronny) the best, but we feel good,” Ishbia said. “People want to come here. We want Phoenix to be a destination for the Mercury, for the Suns, for the players, for fans. We want it to be a destination. So when people want to play for us, or want to be part of our organization, whether it’s free agents, where it’s rookies, it feels great.
“We’re trying to build that here in Phoenix. We’re trying to do something special, and so it’s always a positive thing in my opinion.”
Suns still reported to have interest in Bronny James leading up to draft
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
