Lakers' Rival Suddenly a Serious Threat to Draft Bronny James

The 2024 NBA Draft is one month away and the basketball world continues to wonder what's going to happen with Bronny James. The son of the future NBA Hall of Famer didn't have the greatest freshman campaign at USC, however, reports indicate that his family ties could potentially lead to him being a first-round selection.

With LeBron James contemplating free agency this offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers could potentially draft Bronny to convince his father to stay. Having said that, it looks like the Lakers will have some competition when it comes to targeting the 19-year-old prospect.

Lakers Draft Rumors: Suns to Target Bronny James?

According to NBA insider Evan Sidery, Bronny has begun to narrow down his potential suitors. The Athletic's Shams Charania reports that the USC product had 10 pre-draft workouts scheduled, however, he canceled all but two of them: those with the Lakers and Phoenix Suns.

Sidery added that the Suns "will legitimately be considering Bronny at No. 22 overall" next month. It shouldn't be surprising that Phoenix isn't in the mix considering how Charania reported on the team's interest in the 2024 prospect over the weekend.

The Suns are likely targeting Bronny in hopes that LeBron will follow his son to the desert. After all, they're desperately looking to turn things around after being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2023-24 postseason. Having said that, the 39-year-old would need to take a major discount to make things happen since the Suns are projected to have the fifth-fewest cap space next season, per Spotrac.

If drafting Bronny is the key to keeping LeBron in town, the Lakers must consider drafting the former. Even if a new head coach hasn't been named yet, Los Angeles will be gunning for a championship again next season, and retaining the best basketball player of all time would go a long way to accomplish that goal.

Having said that, it remains to be seen if Bronny will be a championship factor wherever he begins his NBA career. The Los Angeles native left much to be desired in his sole year with the Trojans, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists with .366/.267/.676 shooting splits while playing over 19 minutes per game.

But even with the Suns interested in the up-and-coming guard, all signs point to Bronny staying in California. FanDuel Sportsbook is currently favoring the Lakers — who hold the 17th overall pick — at +160 odds to select the 19-year-old prospect at next month's draft.

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