Even as he continues to celebrate the Boston Celtics’ 18th NBA title, Bill Simmons has begun to turn his attention toward the NBA Draft.
And that unsurprisingly includes some takes about Bronny James, who despite being projected to be a late-second-round pick, is clearly the most famous player in this year’s class.
On Thursday’s episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the Sports Guy discussed the Celtics’ plans for the 2024 NBA Draft, in which the defending champions lay claim to the No. 30 pick. And rather than taking a prospect who would likely be stashed overseas, Simmons suggested his favorite team select James — and not because he has high hopes for the former USC guard on the court.
“Here’s my case: everybody says this draft sucks. The Celtics are so deep… anyone in this draft isn’t going to play for them,” Simmons said. “Why not take Bronny and you basically hold him hostage? Because all these other teams want him, right?”
“That doesn’t sound toxic at all,” Chris Ryan replied sarcastically.
Simmons was just getting started.
“No, I’m saying for the asset,” The Ringer founder continued. “The Lakers, you want him? Well we took Bronny, give us Max Christie. How bad do you want him? I would say Bronny the asset at 30 as a trade thing is worth more than anyone they could get here.
“This is our ‘f*** you’ moment. This is Ben Affleck saying, ‘I just won for Argo, I’m going to be Batman.’ We have the title won, now we’re taking Bronny James! LeBron beat us in our last four playoff series against him, we’re taking your son!”
“You’re so f***ing Boston right now,” Ryan laughed.
“It’s like Taken,” Simmons added, furthering the bit. “‘LeBron, we have your son.'”
“This is truly deranged behavior,” Rob Mahoney said.
A pro-Celtics, anti-Lakers with multiple pop culture references sprinkled in is obviously vintage Simmons, who seemed to be caught between expressing his genuine belief Boston should select Bronny and leaning into Ryan and Mahoney’s reactions to the absurdity of the idea. For what it’s worth, he isn’t the only person to suggest the Celtics could select LeBron James’ oldest son, with one of ESPN’s most recent mock drafts projecting James to Boston, albeit in the second round.
Simmons, however, stated on a podcast earlier this week that he believes the younger James will be selected in the draft’s first round, implying that there could be a wink-wink agreement relating to LeBron’s impending free agency. If that’s the case, then perhaps the idea of the Celtics selecting him as a potential trade asset isn’t all that far fetched — although Simmons’ explanation of his suggestion was most certainly “deranged.”
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.