Bronny James reportedly entering transfer portal: 3 destinations for LeBron’s son

After a ho-hum freshman season with the USC Trojans, Bronny James is rumored to be on the move. And not to the NBA Draft.

On Tuesday, former NY Daily News columnist Dick Weiss reported that James is planning to enter the transfer portal.

UPDATE: However, LeBron James refuted that report during interviews after the Lakers win over the Raptors on Tuesday, saying instead that Bronny has "tough decisions" ahead of him.

Even so, Bronny transferring after he had a limited role with the Trojans and his coach left for another school wouldn't surprise anyone.

So let's look at his options...

3. SMU Mustangs

It's the obvious choice for good reasons. James ended up at USC to play for Andy Enfield. Since the head coach departed for SMU, the players could follow him to Dallas.

Rob Lanier, only got two years on the job before being fired. The Mustang's impending move to the ACC prompted Rick Hart to get aggressive and poach a sitting Power 5 head coach in Enfield from Los Angeles.

Enfield's recruiting ability helped him load up USC's roster with blue-chip talent. James obviously felt good enough about him to sign with the Trojans.

However, James didn't exactly feature in Enfield's USC lineup. He played 25 games with six starts, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes of play. Does James still have confidence in Enfield to get him ready for the NBA? That's the ultimate question.

If Hart and SMU really wanted to make a massive statement while moving to the new conference, taking a bold NIL swing to land Bronny would definitely qualify. In terms of getting eyes on the program, it wouldn't get bigger than bringing in LeBron's son. That's reason enough to try.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

During his high school recruitment, James was heavily linked to Ohio State. That's no surprise considering his father's roots in Ohio and his past declaration that he would have joined the Buckeyes if he hadn't been able to enter the NBA Draft out of high school. As far as LeBron has college allegiances, they're to the Ohio State University.

James' final three was rumored to include USC, UCLA and Ohio State. So it would stand to reason the Buckeyes would still be under consideration now.

Head coach Chris Holtmann was fired after missing the tournament two seasons in a row but the Buckeyes promoted assistant coach Jake Diebler into the head coaching role. Diebler recruited Bronny to Ohio State, so a relationship with the current staff exists.

The biggest hurdle for James is projecting his playing time. The Buckeyes have Bruce Thornton coming back for his junior season and just landed South Carolina's Meechie Johnson. Roddy Gayle is also expected to return. Ohio State would have to make room for Bronny. Do they want to?

1. Duquesne Dukes

The Dukes thrilled the college basketball world this year by winning the Atlantic 10 tournament, securing a No. 11 seed in March Madness then upsetting No. 6 seed BYU in the first round. They were led by head coach Keith Dambrot, but he retired from coaching after that magical tournament showing.

For Duquesne, the obvious next man up was assistant coach Dru Joyce. And it's because of Joyce that Bronny James' most obvious landing spot is with Duquesne.

Joyce played high school basketball with LeBron and they have remained friends. The Lakers star was openly rooting for the Dukes in the tournament on social media. There is a trust level with Joyce that no other coach could possibly boast.

There's also a huge opportunity for James, who struggled to get on the court with USC. The Dukes are losing star guards Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III. He'd come in and be "the guy" in Pittsburgh. He could make his name in the A10, whether it takes one year or two to develop into a player capable of playing in the NBA alongside his father.