The second round of the 2024 NBA Draft takes place on Thursday afternoon and it seems to be a foregone conclusion that Bronny James will land with the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 55 overall.
Bronny only worked out for two teams during the pre-draft process, the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports clearly trying to steer his client to a certain team.
While LeBron James’ future with the Lakers is currently up in the air, it’s no secret that the team drafting Bronny would seemingly help convince him to stay.
And it appears that is the plan as Bob Myers reported on ESPN that Paul has been calling teams on draft day and telling them that Bronny will go play in Australia if they draft him:
“Right now, Rich Paul is calling teams, don’t take Bronny James. He’s telling them to not take him. Saying don’t take him, if you take him, he’s going to Australia. So he has a plan and he has a place.”
While this seems like a drastic measure, it’s not exactly uncommon for agents to steer their players to certain teams in the second round or as undrafted free agents. Austin Reaves’ agent famously did this a few years ago when teams were looking to draft him in the second round but he instead preferred to land with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent.
Paul has also made it clear that Bronny will not be signing a two-way contract, so barring any last-minute changes, it appears that James will land with the Lakers at 55 and take up a standard roster spot for the 2024-25 season even if he spends most of the year developing in the G League.
Anthony Davis on board with Lakers drafting Bronny James
One person who doesn’t mind the Lakers drafting Bronny James is Anthony Davis, who has watched him work out and improve over the course of this summer.
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