Bronny James drafted by Lakers

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by packs

They drafted him for an aging star. I think it's just as hard for people to truly explain their beef as it is for me to understand it. Why does anyone have a beef with the Lakers appeasing Lebron? He won them a championship and is the greatest player of his generation. Who else do you make these kinds of considerations for if not Lebron? The Lakers had 6 guys spend time on the roster last season who played under 100 minutes on the season, five of which made less than 10 total shots. I don't see Bronny taking up space anymore than those players did.

Did any of those 6 guys have a fully guaranteed 4-year/$7.9 million contract? Since players drafted in the second round don't usually have a significant impact on a team, it's one thing to use a pick to make LeBron happy since he will probably contribute about the same as anyone else they would have selected instead. Giving that much money to him is what I find moe appalling.

[packs]

I feel like the money is actually a pay cut for him though. He made 5.9 million last year in NIL money.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by packs

I feel like the money is actually a pay cut for him though. He made 5.9 million last year in NIL money.

That's not the point. The guaranteed money they're giving hom is money the Lakers can't use to pay other players that might be more helpful to the team.

[packs]

Sure but that same logic could be applied to signing Lebron at all, an aging superstar whose best years are behind him.

I think the Lakers have made it clear they're prioritizing marketing Lebron and marketing the NBA's first and maybe only father / son duo over signing a different anonymous bench player in Bronny's place.

Can't say I disagree with that strategy. It makes them the most money.

[jayshum]

LeBron was 13th in the league scoring 25.7 ppg and 5th in assists with 8.3 so he still seems to be contributing pretty well to his team. If his son is going to maybe play a few minutes a game, is that really going to make the Lakers any real extra money, and if he shows he shouldn't be on the court, he's either going to sit or keep playing and bring more negative publicity than the Lakers would probably want.

[packs]

Home attendance has been dropping since 2020:

2019/2020: 18,997 average
2021/2022: 18,649 average
2022/2023: 18,613 average

We're in the hobby, my friend. What do you think the odds are the first home game where the world gets to see the first father / son duo in NBA history sells out? How many jerseys are going to be sold that day? How many Topps Now cards will be printed? Do you think there will be a bigger game on earth that night once the networks sink their teeth in?

The sports world will be watching the Lakers all year long. That kind of attention wasn't being paid last year when it was just Lebron out there.

I also think it's fair to conclude that Lebron was not interested in playing at all if the Lakers weren't going to draft his son. I don't know what your opinion of the rest of the team is, but without Lebron who is anyone there to see?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by packs

Home attendance has been dropping since 2020:

2019/2020: 18,997 average
2021/2022: 18,649 average
2022/2023: 18,613 average

We're in the hobby, my friend. What do you think the odds are the first home game where the world gets to see the first father / son duo in NBA history sells out? How many jerseys are going to be sold that day? How many Topps Now cards will be printed? Do you think there will be a bigger game on earth that night once the networks sink their teeth in?

The sports world will be watching the Lakers all year long. That kind of attention wasn't being paid last year when it was just Lebron out there.

I also think it's fair to conclude that Lebron was not interested in playing at all if the Lakers weren't going to draft his son. I don't know what your opinion of the rest of the team is, but without Lebron who is anyone there to see?

So what you're saying is LeBron essentially blackmailed them. Draft my son play him and pay him or I'm outta here and fuck you. Seems pretty distasteful.

If LeBron's wife wanted to be an assistant coach, say -- heck, between LeBron and Bronny she likely knows a thing or two about the sport herself -- would that be cool too?

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by packs

Home attendance has been dropping since 2020:

2019/2020: 18,997 average
2021/2022: 18,649 average
2022/2023: 18,613 average

We're in the hobby, my friend. What do you think the odds are the first home game where the world gets to see the first father / son duo in NBA history sells out? How many jerseys are going to be sold that day? How many Topps Now cards will be printed? Do you think there will be a bigger game on earth that night once the networks sink their teeth in?

The sports world will be watching the Lakers all year long. That kind of attention wasn't being paid last year when it was just Lebron out there.

I also think it's fair to conclude that Lebron was not interested in playing at all if the Lakers weren't going to draft his son. I don't know what your opinion of the rest of the team is, but without Lebron who is anyone there to see?

For completeness, their 2023/24 home attendance was 18,903 so pretty much back to where it was a few years ago. During the last few years, their record was also a lot worse before getting up to 47-35 this season. Winning usually helps bring people out, I would think more than the possibility of LeBron playing 2 minutes with his son, especially after it's happened once. LeBron wasn't retiring if they didn't draft his son, not after the year he just had. Maybe they sell a few jerseys more, but his son would probably benefit more from actually playing in the G league than sitting on the bench and getting occasional minutes.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by packs

Home attendance has been dropping since 2020:

2019/2020: 18,997 average
2021/2022: 18,649 average
2022/2023: 18,613 average

We're in the hobby, my friend. What do you think the odds are the first home game where the world gets to see the first father / son duo in NBA history sells out? How many jerseys are going to be sold that day? How many Topps Now cards will be printed? Do you think there will be a bigger game on earth that night once the networks sink their teeth in?

The sports world will be watching the Lakers all year long. That kind of attention wasn't being paid last year when it was just Lebron out there.

I also think it's fair to conclude that Lebron was not interested in playing at all if the Lakers weren't going to draft his son. I don't know what your opinion of the rest of the team is, but without Lebron who is anyone there to see?

I would posit people are more interested in watching Caitlin Clark drain 3's from the paint than will ever care to watch Brony play ball.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by packs

Home attendance has been dropping since 2020:

2019/2020: 18,997 average
2021/2022: 18,649 average
2022/2023: 18,613 average

Those differences could be attributed to numerous things including comps to the rich and famous in LA, or maybe they increased the area of a bar selling overpriced drinks or a shop selling overpriced merch, either of which might be grossing more than the now "unsold" ticket would have generated.

But even if it actually is dropping the 36 ticket drop between 22 & 23 is certainly not a number that caused an emergency meeting in the sales department.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Did any of those 6 guys have a fully guaranteed 4-year/$7.9 million contract? Since players drafted in the second round don't usually have a significant impact on a team, it's one thing to use a pick to make LeBron happy since he will probably contribute about the same as anyone else they would have selected instead. Giving that much money to him is what I find moe appalling.

It's just an insult to the team and the whole sport to draft one substandard player, put him on the roster, and pay him millions to "appease" another. No matter who he is.