Shams Charania, John Hollinger, Hunter Patterson, Lauren Merola
Lakers rookie Bronny James has had a “surreal” week since being selected with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by Los Angeles on Thursday, he said at his rookie press conference alongside Dalton Knecht on Tuesday.
“I'm just trying to soak it all up,” James said. “I'm incredibly grateful for everything JJ and Rob have given me and I'm excited to get started.”
In response, new Lakers head coach JJ Redick said, “Rob and I didn't give Bronny anything. Bronny earned it.”
Redick said both rookies will play in both the California Classic and the Las Vegas Summer League. The Lakers' first Summer League game is Saturday in San Francisco. They'll face the Sacramento Kings at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Knecht will wear the number 4 in honor of the team's new nickname, “Connect 4,” while James will wear the number 9.
The Lakers selected Knecht with the 17th pick. The team requested to work out with the 6-foot-6, 212-pound wing during the draft process, but declined because the camp didn't think Knecht would be available midway through the first round. Redick said he didn't think Knecht would be there when it came time for the Lakers to play, but that the 23-year-old adds something the Lakers “were missing.”
“I know all the players and the team, but I'm just excited to be here in the right place, working here and being able to go out and compete,” Knecht said.
Going deeper
The Lakers were surprised and excited to take Dalton Knecht with the 17th pick.
A league source said Tuesday that James is expected to sign a standard NBA roster contract with multiple guaranteed seasons.
James will join his father, LeBron James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, who is expected to re-sign with Los Angeles, but James said he “never thought about playing with my dad…it wasn't my main goal.”
The Lakers also re-signed guard Max Christie to a four-year, $32 million deal, meaning the Lakers will have up to 15 players with guaranteed contracts if LeBron decides to re-sign in the near future.
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The move to sign the younger James limits Los Angeles' flexibility and all but ensures they will have to make a trade to add someone new.
The Lakers have several avenues to acquire new talent. If Los Angeles chooses to sign a player to a non-taxpayer midlevel exception contract or minimum contract, they would have to make a trade to free up space on the roster or execute a sign-and-trade while sending a player back. The Lakers could also trade a player under contract with another team, but would then send out an equal or greater number of players in the deal.
Why the Bronny deal makes sense
It's no surprise that the Lakers signed the young James to a roster deal, even though most late draft picks end up on two-way contracts. But for tax-hit teams, putting a late pick on the roster makes a lot of sense. We saw it a year ago with the final two picks of the 2023 draft, Trayce Jackson-Davis of the Warriors and Chris Livingston of the Bucks. Allocating the 14th roster spot to a player making the rookie minimum salary minimizes the Lakers' luxury tax penalty and gives them about $1 million of wiggle room under the first apron in case it becomes an issue at some point in the offseason. By John Hollinger, Senior NBA Writer
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
