The Lakers have the 25th choice in Thursday's second round of the NBA draft with each of the six available mock drafts from sites NBA.com uses for its consensus mock draft predicting they will select LeBron James' 19-year-old son Bronny.
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"James is far from a finished product, but proved he belonged in this draft class as a prospect at the draft combine, where he shot the ball well and showed more scoring potential in the lane with his floater," Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports wrote.
James only participated in workouts for the Lakers and Phoenix Suns.
"This is nothing new," Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, who serves as agent for Bronny and LeBron James, told ESPN last week "The goal is to find a team that values your guy and try to push him to get there.
"It's important to understand the context and realize that this has always been the strategy with many of my clients throughout the years, especially those in need of development like Bronny. My stuff is by design."
Phoenix only had the 22nd selection in the first round entering the draft which began Wednesday, but on Wednesday acquired a second pick, the 56th overall selection, one after the Lakers.
The younger James' lone season at USC was limited to 490 minutes over 25 games with six starts. He missed the first eight games of the season while recovering from a medical procedure to treat a congenital heart defect.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 210-pound guard averaged 4.8 points per game.
The Clippers have Thursday's 16th choice, the 46th overall pick, acquired in a 2023 trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. They traded their natural pick, the 55th overall, to the Lakers as part of a four-team trade in 2023.
Both CBS Sports and The Athletic predict the Clippers will select Marquette forward Oso Ighodaro. The Ringer predicts the selection will be Arizona forward Keshad Johnson. Yahoo Sports' prediction was Colorado guard KJ Simpson.
NetScouts predicts the choice will be Ulrich Chomche, a forward who played for NBA Academy Africa.
The Clippers dealt their first-round pick in the 2019 trade they acquired Paul George.
The second round is being conducted at ESPN's Seaport District Studios in New York City.
This is the first time the draft is being held over two days.
"Based on feedback about the NBA draft format from basketball executives around the league and my own experience in draft rooms, we believe that teams will benefit from being able to regroup between rounds and having additional time to make decisions during the second round," Joe Dumars, the NBA's executive vice president and head of basketball operations said in a statement.
"Two nights of prime-time coverage will also enhance the viewing experience for our fans and further showcase the draftees."
The Lakers chose Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht with the 17th choice in Wednesday's first round, conducted at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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