Stephen A. Smith thinks the Dallas Mavericks might position themselves to draft Bronny James before the Lakers to tempt LeBron James into joining them.
The 2024 NBA Draft will see LeBron James’ son Bronny compete with hundreds of other prospects to secure a selection as one of the 58 picks in the Draft. Everyone expects the Lakers to get Bronny and have him playing alongside his father, Stephen A. Smith is watching out for the Dallas Mavericks positioning themselves to draft Bronny and recruit LeBron to join them in free agency.
Smith says that James would likely care more about the opportunity of playing alongside his son in Dallas than the money the Lakers could offer him while explaining how LeBron is inching closer to his dream of owning an NBA team.
The James camp has gone out of their way to dissuade fans from believing in the rumors of LeBron blindly following Bronny to whichever team drafts him. Whether there is truth to that notion is something we’ll see play out over the summer. But the Mavericks making a move like this would be quite significant.
LeBron has wanted Kyrie Irving to be his teammate since 2019 while referring to Luka Doncic as his favorite player in the NBA over recent seasons. Mavs’ head coach Jason Kidd has been a former assistant coach with LeBron as well as an Olympic teammate.
GM Nico Harrison worked closely with LeBron as a Nike executive, so the Mavs would be an enticing option for James. If there’s any non-Lakers team that could draft Bronny and interest LeBron in joining, it’s probably the Mavericks.
This tracks with recent messaging from reporters on the Bronny draft situation, with the Lakers prioritizing drafting the USC guard and James expected to live with the decision of whichever team gives his son an opportunity in the NBA. If it was the Mavericks, LeBron would at least take a free-agent meeting with them to see what’s possible.
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