Lakers willing to draft Bronny James to keep LeBron James in Los Angeles next season: report

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Here’s one way to pitch LeBron James to stay put in Los Angeles: Draft his son, Bronny. 

James has a $51.4 million player option for the 2024-2025 season, and The Athletic is reporting the Lakers are "willing to explore the notion" of adding Bronny James as a rookie next season if that means the NBA’s all-time leading scorer remains in Los Angeles.

It’s unknown whether Bronny will enter the 2024 NBA Draft, but he has eligibility to do so after his freshman season at USC. Drafting Bronny would make his father happy, and the Lakers are well aware of that, per The Athletic.

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USC's Bronny James greets his father, LeBron James, before the game against Stanford at Galen Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2024. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

It’s also not a secret that LeBron, playing in his 21st NBA season this year, wants to play with his son. Because of that, though, The Athletic reports that other teams are thinking about pursuing Bronny if and when he enters the NBA Draft in the hopes of landing LeBron.

The Golden State Warriors did make a push prior to this year’s NBA trade deadline to acquire James amid its push for yet another NBA title. James and the Lakers both didn’t sign off on it.

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However, some rival executives of the Lakers are "increasingly convinced" LeBron wants to leave the Lakers, per The Athletic. 

LeBron turns 40 at the end of the year, though he continues to be one of the top players in the NBA, which is why teams are always after his services, if made available. He’s averaging 24.8