Bronny James was not considered a first-round pick by many people entering the 2024 NBA Draft. It turns out some of those people were also in NBA front offices.
LeBron James’ eldest son, ranked No. 54 in the draft by Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports, was not selected in the first round on Wednesday. It’s not a huge surprise given how the younger James is ranked by most talent evaluators, but there was enough speculation that a team could select him to use his father that anything seemed possible.
Bronny is now by far the biggest name in Thursday’s second round, with Los Angeles Lakes standing out as an obvious landing spot at No. 55 overall. LeBron’s agent Rich Paul has made it very clear that the two are not a package deal, but the Lakers are still linked to him throughout the process.
Drafting Bronny and retaining LeBron, who could soon opt out of his contract, would give the Lakers the first on-court father-son combo in NBA history. The Lakers used their only other pick from the draft at No. 17 overall to take Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, possibly the biggest steal of the draft.
Bronny James’ pre-draft process was unusual
Notably, Bronny only worked for the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns before the draft. The Suns don’t have a second-round pick — they lost one to a bungled offense — but they could still trade their way back in.
Otherwise, Peek has reported interest from the Toronto Raptors (No. 31), Minnesota Timberwolves (No. 37) and Dallas Mavericks (No. 58) in the 6-foot-1 combo guard.
What further complicates the situation is that Paul says he only wants his new client to be selected by teams willing to offer him a guaranteed deal. James is currently considered a developmental prospect at his best, as he averaged just 4.8 points per game in a one-season USC career shortened by cardiac arrest. That could deter teams from taking a chance on him.
It’s hard to see a non-Lakers team selecting the younger James given all those self-imposed restrictions. That’s why so many people treat the Lakers as a done deal. Now we have to wait and see whether a team wants to spoil the fun.
