The Lakers may have a family pitch to keep LeBron James in Los Angeles.
With speculation centering on whether James will exercise his $51.4 million player option after this season or enter free agency, Los Angeles is “willing to explore the notion” of adding his son, Bronny James, for the 2024-25 season, according to The Athletic.
Bronny, a freshman at USC, can enter the 2024 NBA Draft, and the Lakers are willing to consider adding him since they know it will keep LeBron happy, per the report.
LeBron has long said that his goal is to play with his son in the NBA, and The Athletic reports that teams are aware they need to prioritize Bronny if they hope to lure his father.
While LeBron passed on joining the Warriors before this year’s NBA trade deadline, rival executives are “increasingly convinced” he wants out of Hollywood, according to the report.
The Lakers won a championship in LeBron’s second season with the franchise — albeit in the COVID bubble — and have not won a conference finals game since.
Even as he’s set to turn 40 in December, James is still a top talent and could help transform a team into a true title contender.
It’s uncertain, though, if his son will be in this year’s draft since he’s producing pedestrian numbers for a terrible USC team.
Bronny, ESPN’s No. 20 recruit, is averaging 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, while shooting just 35.6 percent from the floor.
From a pure production standpoint, he’s not playing like a first-round pick, let alone a lottery selection.
Bronny suffered cardiac arrest in July and did not debut until December.
But if drafting Bronny means it’s a package deal with LeBron, that surely will make it a lot more palatable for teams to use a selection on Bronny.
The Lakers may not have their first-round pick, since New Orleans can choose to have that pick or Los Angeles’ 2025 first-round pick as part of the Anthony Davis trade, but have two second-round picks.
The Athletic reports the Lakers are also “well-positioned” to add top talent this summer, which certainly won’t hurt their chances of keeping LeBron happy.
The Lakers (30-26) are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference, which would put them in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
