The latest 2024 NBA mock draft from ESPN has Bronny James to the Celtics

Would the Celtics actually select Bronny one pick before the Lakers?

We still have more than a month until the 2024 NBA Draft, but the intrigue surrounding USC Trojans freshman Bronny James remains high.

There is excessive coverage of Bronny, who is the son of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, relative to his projected draft position in the second round. It isn’t surprising, though, considering LeBron has talked about playing with his son in the pros for literal years.

While the Lakers are reportedly very open to drafting Bronny, especially after a strong showing at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine, perhaps there are other suitors as well. Several mock drafts have Bronny landing alongside his father in Los Angeles, but teams like the Jazz are now linked to him as well.

In our first 2024 NBA mock draft after the lottery, we did not include Bronny in our projections (as we only included the first round).

But in the latest two-round mock draft from ESPN, draft expert Jonathan Givony included Bronny to the biggest rival of Los Angeles one pick ahead of the Lakers at No. 54 overall.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony recently described this as a “positive week” in Chicago for Bronny James:

“He’s moved into the late second round of our latest projections. We’re going to have him at 54 in our next update. That’s all the way from the backend of our top 100. Talking to NBA people out here, they feel like he’s legitimized himself as a real NBA prospect. He’s not just some kind of sideshow, LeBron’s son … The way he shot the ball in drills, the athletic testing … he played a great role helping his team to a win, playing good defense, making shots, just showing his feel for the game, his versatility. People love his attitude, his enthusiasm, the way he understands what type of player that he is.”

This would be a shocking but savvy move by the Celtics if it happens. It is unclear if this would be a move to try to somehow lure LeBron to Boston, to try to pry trade assets from the Lakers, or out of genuine interest for the guard as a prospect.

Either way, Bronny has made it very clear that he does not necessarily want to play on the same team as his father once in the NBA. He is happy to make his own name for himself, which is the right approach.

Make sure you check out our newest post-lottery mock draft, along with the official full draft order post-lottery.