Lakers Rob Pelinka Reveals Real Reason For Drafting Bronny James, And It’s Not LeBron James

LeBron James has yet to make a decision on his player option and the chance to sign a new contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Lakers front office made a move to draft his oldest son, Bronny, and this was the biggest news related to this year’s class. Bronny declared for the NBA draft and had workouts with the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. Other teams could not get any near him and analysts had a few good reasons to believe that Bronny will become a Laker. That’s exactly what happened. The Lakers didn’t select Bronny in the first round, but did use their No.55 pick to get him.

Some fans claim that Pelinka drafted Bronny just to make his father happy. However, Pelinka shut down each and every comment pointing in that direction.

“Next season, NBA history could be made, and NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform,” Pelinka said about the idea of seeing Bronny join his popular dar.

“Bronny is first and foremost a person of high character, and second he is a young man who works extremely hard, and those are the qualities we look for in drafting players and adding to our developmental core with the Lakers.”

Will fans bite into this one?

Lakers had a good reason to draft Bronny, Dalton Knecht

Bronny didn’t have the best season in 2023, but he suffered a cardiac arrest. He needed some time to recover and did manage to average 4.8 points. Is this enough to join the Lakers? Probably not, but Pelinka has a plan.

Instead of Bronny, the Lakers selected sharpshooter Dalton Knecht. They used the 17^th overall pick to get someone who can elevate their shooting game. The talented player averaged almost 22 points and five rebounds during his time with the Tennessee Volunteers and was shooting 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line. Bronny and Knecht are expected to make an impact, but it’s too soon to make any prediction on their performance.