Bronny James Top Potential Landing Spots in 2024 NBA Draft After Day 1

As expected, the first round of the 2024 NBA draft has come and gone without Bronny James being selected.

The son of LeBron James was regarded as a second-round pick coming into the draft. He will more than likely hear his name called at some point on day two.

Bronny's camp has made it clear their pre-draft approach with limited workouts for teams was done intentionally. The goal is to steer him toward an organization that can provide him with the right development path to make him a contributor in the NBA, rather than simply stash him on a G League roster.

Ahead of the second day of the NBA draft on Thursday, here are the top potential landing spots for James as he prepares to embark on his professional career.

At this point, it would be considered an upset if the Lakers weren't the team that came out of the draft with James. They were one of the teams he had a pre-draft workout with.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted when the Lakers were pursuing Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley that one reason they liked him was because he was "the perfect coach to guide (James') development."

There's also the obvious connections between the James family, Klutch Sports (Bronny's agency) and Los Angeles. LeBron can become a free agent by opting out of his current deal, but ESPN's Dave McMenamin noted the Lakers are prepared to offer him a full three-year max contract to keep him.

The Lakers own the No. 55 overall pick in the second round. At that point in the draft, there's no harm in taking a roll of the dice on a talented player who will need development before he can reasonably be counted on as an NBA contributor.

The only other team besides the Lakers known to have worked out James was the Phoenix Suns.

In fact, per ESPN's Jonathan Givony, James had two workouts for the Suns leading up to the draft.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Wednesday that the Suns "continue to be mentioned" as having interest in drafting James.

Even though the Suns might have interest in James, their ability to potentially draft him was going to be complicated because they didn't have a second-round pick. It was forfeited due to tampering violations involving Drew Eubanks during free agency last offseason.

Phoenix solved that problem by executing a trade with the Denver Nuggets shortly after the first round to acquire the No. 56 pick in the second round on Thursday night.

The Suns are in a very interesting spot with their roster right now. They are extremely top heavy with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal all playing on max contracts. Their draft capital is severely limited because of the deals they made to bring in Durant and Beal.

After trading the No. 22 pick in the first round on Wednesday night to the Denver Nuggets, the Suns don't have another first-round selection until 2031. The Houston Rockets could have as many as three of the Suns' first-round picks between 2025 and 2029 after a trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.

Houston made the deal with an eye on potentially trading for Durant in the future if the Suns decide to break up their big three at some point in the near-future, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Drafting James would be a long-term investment for a Suns franchise that doesn't have many long-term assets to build around right now.

The 76ers drafting James would be the ultimate Hail Mary move by president of basketball operations Daryl Morey.

Morey is known to be obsessed with star players. He's positioned the Sixers very well to potentially add an All-Star talent to their roster this summer. They could create up to $65 million in cap space prior to free agency.

Paul George has long been rumored to be the preferred choice for the 76ers, but there's growing speculation the nine-time All-Star wants to remain on the West Coast even if he leaves the Los Angeles Clippers.

It wouldn't be a surprise if LeBron wants to stay close to Los Angeles if he happened to leave the Lakers, but Morey could try to tempt him to come to Philadelphia by offering him the opportunity to play with his son.

NBC Sports' Kurt Helin told Randi Richardson of TODAY earlier this week that the Sixers have been mentioned as a destination for Bronny because it might help their chances of at least making a free-agent pitch to LeBron.

LeBron isn't prioritizing playing with Bronny, so this would certainly be a long-shot bet by Morey. But it's not so far-fetched that it's beyond the realm of what Morey might do, especially if the investment in Bronny would only cost a mid-second-round pick.

If nothing else, the Sixers could put pressure on the Lakers to make a trade since Philly will pick 14 spots ahead of Los Angeles in the second round at No. 41 overall.