Lakers News: How LA Plans to Handle Bronny James with First Round Draft Pick

The Lakers have selections in each round of this year's draft.

Dec 10, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard Bronny James (6) watches his father LeBron James walk to his courtside seat before the start of a game against the Long Beach State 49ers at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

20-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers combo forward LeBron James' eldest son, one-and-done former USC Trojans reserve guard Bronny James, has declared for this month's 2024 NBA Draft. Although the Lakers aren't the only club that's going to be angling for his services at some point in the draft (the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns have both been linked to him of late), they do seem like a logical fit — plus, adding Bronny will be almost a surefire way to retain LeBron, who could conceivably decline his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season and become a free agent.

Despite an earlier report that suggested Los Angeles would be open to using either its first round pick (No. 17) or second rounder (No. 55) to select James, it sounds like the team is disinterested in burning said first round pick on a deep-bench reserve for a sub-.500 team, after all.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on his show ​​‎The Woj Pod, the club is open to making a move further up the ranks of the second round, but would avoid the first round selection.

"The Lakers, to my understanding, they're not considering Bronny James at No. 17," Wojnarowski said. "There's no reason to take him at 17. If you wanted to take him earlier than 55, you could move up some places but you are just giving away value."

Bronny James, 19, could one day offer an NBA club value as a defender and distributor, but he's still fairly raw. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged a scant just 4.8 points on .366/.267/.676 shooting splits, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals a night, across 25 contests.

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