Will The Lakers Draft Bronny James This Summer?

Should Los Angeles take a flyer on selecting their leader's son?

Feb 15, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Bronny James (6). / Alex Gallardo-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James remains a formidable force in the NBA. How he elects to handle his future could have severe ripple effects throughout the league, even ahead of his age-40 season in 2024-25.

The 6'9" combo forward has a $51.4 million player option that year. His eldest son, 19-year-old USC Trojans backup combo guard Bronny James, just declared for this summer's draft, though many don't think he's quite ready to go pro just yet.

But will the Lakers or another team hoping to acquire LeBron opt to select LeBron anyway?

The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo speculated on this very question on the former'sThe Bill Simmons Podcast.

"Will a team draft Bronny James to go after LeBron?" asked Simmons. "This was the subject of a lot of texts this week. Bronny did not have a good freshman season. That is an understatement. He was not one of the closing five guys on a USC team that I think finished under .500 and was in a bad conference and was just not good a basketball team. It's hard to fathom that he'd be one of the 58 players drafted... and yet, I do wonder if somebody in that 38-58 range will draft him as a way to get LeBron to sign for like a free agent midlevel exception, something like that, thinking, 'These picks after pick 35 [are] a f---ing crapshoot anyway. Let's just spend one here, and maybe LeBron will want to play with his son, maybe we can pull him in.'"

"And I'd think it would have to be a contender," Simmons said. "I think he's going to get drafted, even if he is not one of the best 58 guys in the draft."

The Lakers have their own second round draft pick, but it's currently pretty low, at No. 55, per Tankathon. Will LA use this on Bronny, or even trade up to grab him and assure LeBron sticks around? Time will tell.

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