After a fun first round of the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday night, the focus shifted to the second round on Thursday afternoon and arguably the biggest storyline was where Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, would end up.
The Lakers have been the most likely landing spot for Bronny for weeks and held the No. 55 overall pick in the second round.
Considering he needs some time to develop though, many have questioned if taking Bronny would be the right move for the Lakers. One person who was on board with it though is Anthony Davis, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“I talked to Anthony Davis this morning and I brought up Bronny James and he said, “Listen, I wouldn’t be mad at the team if we took him if he was still available at 55 and see where it goes from there.’ AD told me that he got to watch Bronny workout several times in the pre-draft process and he watched the way he played alongside a big man and AD told me he was ‘really impressed’ with the way he was able to break down a defense, get into the teeth of it and then be able to set up his teammates for success. So certainly it’s a name we got to be watching, the Lakers are waiting to see if his name will still be available when we get to No. 55.
Davis is very close with LeBron, Bronny and the James family, so it is not surprising to see him give the 19-year-old support if the Lakers were to draft him. He also discussed what Bronny brings to the table on and off the court:
“He’s very good defensively,” Davis told ESPN. “He can read the floor very well. I think he’s a really good playmaker. I saw him work out a couple times besides the [Klutch Sports] pro day and working with a big — his reads, reading the defense, making the right passes — that was really impressive to me. I think he’s going to be fine, man. Obviously it’s a lot of pressure on him with his dad being who he is.
“But one thing about Bronny, from what I’ve seen and what I heard, he wants to create his own path and he doesn’t want to be — even though he’s LeBron James’ son, he don’t want be seen as that. And I think having that mindset and trying to create his own path is going to work out for him. … Who knows, he might come in and be ready to play for us.”
Bronny ending up on the Lakers is a great opportunity for him, staying close to home while learning from his dad, Davis and the other veterans on the roster.
Dalton Knecht says being drafted by Lakers was dream come true
In the first round on Wednesday, the Lakers owned the 17th overall pick and used it to draft wing Dalton Knecht out of Tennessee.
He slipped a bit after being projected to go in the top-10 but still called it a ‘dream come true’ to end up in L.A. with the Lakers.
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