We’re on Day 2 of the 2024 NBA Draft, and one crucial thread remains unpulled.
After it was suggested he’d inevitably join his dad, LeBron James, on the Los Angeles Lakers, Bronny James still does not have a team.
That opens the door to any of the other 29 NBA franchises doing the funniest possible thing on Thursday night. They can draft Bronny and effectively hold him for ransom from the Lakers, knowing that they likely want to appease LeBron at all costs. According to ESPN’s Tim Legler, the Boston Celtics should spearhead this kind of audacious plan. It probably also helps that Joe Mazzulla seems to have the stomach for these kinds of “crimes.”
During Thursday’s episode of First Take, the analyst jokingly suggested that Boston should “renew its Cold War” with Los Angeles by drafting Bronny in the second round and holding him hostage in return for a sizable trade asset. Like, say, Austin Reaves.
It’s so silly and so funny, but it really just might work:
"54th pick. We renew the Cold War between the Celtics and the Lakers. The Boston Celtics take Bronnie James and send a ransom note to the Lakers:
'We have your son. We have your son. If you want him back…If you want him back, it's gonna take Austin Reeves'"- Tim Legler pic.twitter.com/bVKOgM7M3e
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 27, 2024
Could you imagine if the Celtics, of all teams, really pulled this off?
I love the framing of Boston being this kind of bad guy from a bog-standard action movie, and LeBron has to come to rescue his son from languishing on, uh, the reigning NBA champion. And after watching so much of The Town, Mazzulla’s fake intimidating voice over the phone has probably been perfected. The pieces are all there.
If not the Celtics, I’d also like to submit the Denver Nuggets for this “hostage” plan.
Nikola Jokic’s crew has been one of the rare teams to completely vex LeBron on the court during his career. The Nuggets have won eight of their last nine games against the Lakers and have sent them home packing twice in the last two postseasons. That means Denver using a pick to purely bait LeBron and L.A. would be hilarious drama.
One thing’s for sure here. If the Lakers don’t draft James and someone else swoops in, we might be in for a wild and unnecessary saga.