The Los Angeles Lakers were overwhelming favorites to draft Bronny James, and they pulled the trigger at 55 to pair him with his legendary father. Los Angeles was -160 to select him with the next closest teams the Phoenix Suns (+750) and Dallas Mavericks (+900).
The pick was apparently orchestrated behind the scenes as ESPN's Bob Myers reported during the broadcast that Bronny's agent Rich Paul warned teams not to select him. If so, he threatened he’d instead head overseas. The broadcast doubled down on their report later on, calling it "the shock of the draft" if Los Angeles didn't take him at 55.
FanDuel set the line where Bronny would be drafted at 54.5, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots. After all, the Lakers owned the 55th pick, which is why it was +118 to go before it and -158 after. Bronny was also -155 to go between the 51st and 55th pick, compared to +1000 between 31-40, +1100 between 41-45 and +1200 between 46 and 50.
The Lakers had long been favored to draft Bronny, but the odds rose dramatically as the draft grew nearer. They opened at +185 to select him, with the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder all +1400.
