LeBron James finally breaks silence on Lakers drafting Bronny James
LeBron James hadn't said much about the Lakers drafting his son, Bronny James, with the No. 55 pick until day one of the 2024 NBA Free Agency. The Lakers star tweeted about it late on Sunday night, saying 'he had a moment' about how things went down with Bronny's draft.
"With the 55th in the 2024 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select……. Bronny James.. Just had a moment!" James tweeted.
There was plenty of skepticism around Bronny's prospects in the draft. Some even thought he might not end up on the Lakers as other teams picking above LA in the second round showed interest in the former USC prospect.
However, the chips fell right where they had to for the James family to create history, as LeBron and Bronny might become the first father-son duo to play on the same team in the NBA.
The surreal moment doesn't seem to have hit LeBron James yet, prompting his late-night tweet, his first since Bronny got drafted.
Bronny joins LeBron James with free agency decision looming for 4x MVP
LeBron James is a free agent as of now. However, he's likely to resign with the LA Lakers. LA was ready to offer him a three-year $162 million deal, but the latest reports suggest LeBron is willing to take a pay cut of up to $20 million and sign year-by-year deals.
Doing that would allow the Lakers to get the full midlevel exception worth $12.8 next season to get a piece like Klay Thompson or another significant upgrade in that price range. If that doesn't work out, LeBron can always go back to the three-year $162 million contract, or sign a bigger and more lucrative deal next offseason.
The Thompson pursuit is on through day one of free agency, with James reportedly already calling the four-time NBA champion after the 3:00 PM PT FA tipoff time.
Meanwhile, LA is also pursuing trade options. Jerami Grant and Brook Lopez are among the candidates on the Lakers' radar if they don't take the midlevel exception route. All three moves seemingly look like difference-makers for the Lakers, addressing one need or multiple.
As things stand, the Lakers have essentially retained most of their core from last year after D'Angelo Russell, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish opted into their contracts and Max Christie resigned on a four-year deal. Only Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie are yet to be retained, while LeBron James remains likely to return.
The ceiling of the team isn't that high, so a slew of moves could be expected after a quiet free agency opening day.