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• Lakers select Bronny James with second-round draft pick

  The time has come for guard Bronny James, son of four-time NBA champion LeBron James, to begin his professional career.

  The 19-year-old prospect won't have to look far for mentorship. 

  James was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 55 overall pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday, ushering in the next chapter of the years-long saga between the USC prospect and his future Hall of Fame father.

  James has become a somewhat controversial prospect because his family ties appear to have as much influence over his NBA future as his on-court production.

  The elder James said in January 2023 that it was a goal of his to play in the NBA with his son.

  “I need to be on the floor with my boy,” he told ESPN. “I got to be on the floor with Bronny.”

  In more recent interviews, James loosened his stance and opted for a more supportive and open-minded approach.

  “Whatever his journey, however his journey lays out, he’s going to do what’s best for him,” LeBron said last May. “We’re going to support him in whatever he decides to do. So just because that’s my aspiration or my goal doesn’t mean it’s his. And I’m absolutely OK with that.”

  Bronny’s NBA prospects became hazy on July 24, 2023, when he went into cardiac arrest during an offseason workout with the Trojans.

  James was treated for a congenital heart defect in Los Angeles and New Jersey before being cleared to make his collegiate debut last December.

  James, who was listed as 6-foot-4 at USC but measured 6-foot-1 ½ in socks at the NBA’s scouting combine, had an inconsistent freshman season with the 15-18 Trojans.

  James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 25 games while shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from 3-point range.

  Despite lacklustre shooting numbers in college, James displayed a confident shooting stroke during combine workouts, and his 40.5-inch vertical leap illustrated some impressive explosiveness. 

  As a small guard with an inconsistent shooting touch, James’ contributions early in his career will mainly be on the defensive end of the floor. Throughout his season at USC, James showed the athleticism, toughness and intelligence to project as a good defender at the next level.

  James has good length for his size, with a wingspan over 6-foot-7, and he carries plenty of muscle on his 210-pound frame – two features that should help him on the defensive end immediately.

  “Size is really the only issue for him on defence,” an NBA general manager told The Ringer in April. “If he was actually 6-foot-4 or even a bit bigger, he’d have really excellent potential.”

  The NBA community appears understandably torn on James’ future.

  On one hand, small guards who struggle to shoot rarely get chances at the next level, and it’s even rarer that they make an impact. Without James’ strong family ties, he likely would have been advised to return to college to show improvement as a sophomore.

  James is not without upside, however, and he has shown rare explosiveness and defensive prowess that give some scouts hope he can be a long-time NBA contributor.

   

• Celtics' Porzingis has surgery, out 5-6 months

  The Boston Celtics will begin defence of their NBA championship without the services of standout center Kristaps Porziņģis.

  Porzingis underwent surgery for a left ankle injury that sidelined him for much of the Celtics' run through the NBA Finals, the team announced Thursday. The one-time All-Star is expected to need five-to-six months of recovery time, which could delay his season debut into December.

  The Celtics said in a statement that Porzingis' procedure was to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in his left ankle, an injury he sustained in Boston's win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the Finals on June 9.

  Porzingis sat out Games 3 and 4 before returning for a limited role in the Celtics' title-clinching 106-88 victory in Game 5.

  The eight-year veteran previously missed 10 play-off games with a strained right calf before returning for Game 1 of the Finals.

  Porzingis will also miss next month's qualifying tournament for the Summer Olympics in Paris, where he was to compete for his native Latvia.

  Acquired from the Washington Wizards last June as part of a three-team trade that sent former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart from Boston to the Memphis Grizzlies, Porzingis played a major role on a Celtics team that compiled the league's best regular-season record at 64-18 before going on to capture the franchise's first championship since 2008.

  The 7-foot-2 Porzingis ranked third among Boston players in scoring at 20.1 points per game, shot 37.5 per cent from 3-point range and also averaged 7.2 rebounds in 57 games.

  Porzingis, an All-Star with the New York Knicks in 2017-18, was limited to just seven games this post-season and averaged 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds.

  The 28-year-old is under contract for one more season after signing a two-year, $60 million extension shortly after last summer's trade.

  Porzingis' injury will likely push veteran Al Horford into a starting role to begin next season. The 38-year-old Horford averaged 9.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists while starting Boston's final 15 post-season games and recently said he intends to return for an 18th NBA season. 

   

• French players go early, often at NBA draft

  For the second year in a row, a player from France was selected first overall in the NBA draft.

  As a testament to the NBA being a global game, a player from France was also taken with the second and the sixth pick in the 2024 draft.

  The Atlanta Hawks started off Wednesday's draft from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn by selecting Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick, and the Washington Wizards followed their lead by taking fellow Frenchman Alexandre Sarr with the No. 2 pick.

  The run on French players continued with the Charlotte Hornets selecting forward Tidjane Salaun with the sixth pick, making this the first time in modern history that a country other than the United States had three players selected in the top 10.

   

  Risacher is a catch-and-shoot 3-point specialist and an exceptional defender on the wing, while the big man Sarr possesses the ball-handling ability of a wing and is an elite rim protector.

  Salaun was the youngest player taken in the draft at 18 years old, and is considered an excellent athlete with a high motor.

  There was one more player from France taken before the first round ended, with the New York Knicks taking Pacome Dadiet at No. 25.

  With another Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama, being selected first overall last year by the San Antonio Spurs, this also marked the first time in NBA history consecutive No. 1 picks didn’t play collegiately in the United States.

  It wasn't all players from France selected, however.

  After the top two picks, the Houston Rockets took sharp-shooter Reed Sheppard from Kentucky, and the San Antonio Spurs used their first of two top-10 picks to select guard Stephon Castle from two-time defending American collegiate national champion Connecticut at No. 4.

  Three picks later, Castle's team-mate at UConn, centre Donovan Clingan, was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Spurs then used their second top-10 pick to take Kentucky point guard Rob Dillingham at No. 8, but later traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

  Forward Ron Holland II, an American who skipped college to play in the G League, went three picks earlier to the Detroit Pistons at No. 5.

  Perhaps the biggest - no pun intended - surprise of the first round was the Memphis Grizzlies taking Zach Edey with the ninth pick.

  The 7-foot-3 Canadian is the back-to-back American collegiate AP national player of the year, yet was slotted to get picked much later by many experts.

  The Utah Jazz rounded out the top 10 by selecting Colorado forward Cody Williams - a strong defender and adept ball-handler.

  One name absent from the first round was Bronny James - son of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James.

  The elder James had previously said it would be a dream to play with his son, but his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, ended up taking Dalton Knecht with the 17th pick.

  Knecht, a prolific scorer and an AP All-American this past season at Tennessee, was projected by many prognosticators to be a top-10 pick, but slid down the draft board.

  The younger James hadn't been predicted to be selected in the first round, but could be taken at some point on Day 2 of the draft on Thursday.