LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers throughout sport 4 of the NBAWestern Convention First Spherical Playoffs at Crypto.com Enviornment on April 27, 2024 in Los Angeles. –Ronald Martinez/Getty Photographs/AFP
EL SEGUNDO, California — Three days after LeBron James’ podcast companion turned the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach, the NBA staff drafted James’ oldest son, Bronny.
Except they rename the franchise after him subsequent, it’s troublesome to consider something extra the Lakers may do to verify the highest scorer in NBA historical past stays with them for the remainder of his matchless profession.
Nicely, in need of truly buying a 3rd famous person for James after years of attempting.
READ: Bronny James, LeBron’s son, picked by Lakers in NBA Draft
Though LeBron’s future nonetheless gained’t be a certain factor till he formally decides the place he’ll play subsequent season, the Lakers’ addition of his 19-year-old son within the second spherical of the draft Thursday appears to make it terribly unlikely LeBron might be anyplace however Los Angeles within the fall.
“The most important moments in sports activities occur with the Lakers,” basic supervisor Rob Pelinka mentioned. “That’s how we’re constructed, and we’re excited to see this story unfold.”
LeBron and Bronny — LeBron James Jr., that’s — could be the primary father and son to play within the NBA on the identical time, not to mention on the identical staff. If LeBron Sr. picks up his $51.4 million participant possibility for subsequent season this week, he would assure he’ll get to take his son to work within the fall.
Pelinka was cautious to not get forward of himself whereas triumphantly discussing Bronny’s potential, however the GM acknowledged {that a} father-son pairing in purple and gold was “one thing that could possibly be magical.”
“We all know and need to respect, in fact, that LeBron has a call about his opt-out,” Pelinka mentioned. “I’m certain he and his household and his agent will deliberate what they’re going to do there, and he has freedom to determine no matter is greatest for him and his household. But when it labored out that he was on our staff subsequent season, NBA historical past could possibly be made, and NBA historical past needs to be make in a Lakers uniform.”
READ: LeBron James needs to retire a Laker however has no NBA exit timetable
With their two main strikes this week, the Lakers have made it clear they’re decided to stay with LeBron as their centerpiece and chief via his record-tying twenty second NBA season this fall and past.
Los Angeles’ new coach is JJ Redick, who hosted the “Thoughts the Recreation” podcast with LeBron this 12 months. Redick is a 15-year NBA veteran who has by no means coached an grownup basketball sport, but the Lakers shortly made the bizarre selection of hiring the broadcaster after Dan Hurley turned them down — and Pelinka didn’t deny that Redick’s compatibility with LeBron was a plus.
JJ Redick speaks after being launched as the brand new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball staff Monday, June 24, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Picture/Damian Dovarganes)
The Lakers then used the fifty fifth total decide on Bronny, who put up modest statistics in his solely 12 months of faculty at Southern California. Bronny James is undeniably gifted, however an an identical participant with a unique identify would have been much less more likely to be drafted.
Pelinka and the Lakers scouted Bronny James extensively, and he carried out solidly on the pre-draft camp and once more in a exercise on the Lakers’ coaching complicated, which was adopted by a gathering with Pelinka. Pelinka mentioned he by no means even requested Bronny what he thought concerning the potential strain of taking part in alongside his father — one thing that even LeBron has mentioned Bronny wasn’t essentially desperate to do.
READ: Lakers coach JJ Redick nonetheless hopes to create nice content material with LeBron
“We actually saved the draft course of to Bronny being a Laker, and what we felt like we wanted to do to assist him turn out to be nice,” Pelinka mentioned. “We didn’t discuss rather a lot about that, simply because (we) wished to respect his dad’s determination as a free agent, in order that wasn’t actually one thing that got here up.”
That call feels ever extra like a formality now, relying on how LeBron decides to do it. The 20-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion has spoken repeatedly over time of his want to play a season along with his son, and now the dream is a signature away from actuality.
LeBron may decide up his possibility for 2024-25, or he may signal a brand new extension for much more cash. He may get a most three-year, $162 million deal that may give him the longest profession in NBA historical past if he performed out the contract.
Both possibility would doubtless be simply wonderful with Lakers proprietor Jeanie Buss, who confirmed a equally passionate loyalty to Kobe Bryant when she pushed to present him a $48.5 million extension for the ultimate two seasons of his profession regardless of his rising damage issues.
Bronny doubtless doesn’t the get Lakers nearer to successful now, however their selection with the seventeenth total decide simply may: Dalton Knecht, the high-scoring Tennessee wing who gained the SEC Participant of the Yr award, seems to be one of the vital pro-ready gamers within the draft, and never simply because he’s already 23 years outdated.
“In my thoughts, I assumed there’s no method a participant that expert could be obtainable to us (at No. 17),” Pelinka mentioned.
Pelinka has repeatedly tried to maintain fan expectations low for a serious participant addition to a staff that misplaced to Denver within the first spherical of the postseason, as a substitute focusing on incremental enhancements to the core round LeBron and Anthony Davis — together with a possible improve on the bench from Redick’s revolutionary basketball thoughts.
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“We’ve explored each improve we may to make our staff higher,” Pelinka mentioned. “Trades on the whole have simply because harder due to the brand new CBA system, and so there’s much less entry to creating these massive strikes than possibly there was beneath the outdated system. But it surely didn’t preserve us from attempting to take a look at all the things, and methods to place ourselves ready to be higher.”