(FILES) Bronny James (No 6) of the West team talks to Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers after the 2023 McDonald's High School Boys All-American Game at Toyota Center on March 28, 2023 in Houston, Texas. [Photo/Agencies]
PHOENIX — The NBA's Pacific Division wasn't the destination for many young projects during this year's draft, though there was one extremely notable exception to that rule.
The Los Angeles Lakers used their No. 55 selection to select USC guard Bronny James, who will team with his dad LeBron in a historic father-son pairing. The 19-year-old James is certainly a project after scoring just 4.8 points per game in his only college season at USC, but it was impossible for the Lakers to ignore his bloodline.
Other than the James selection, the division's teams were mostly interested in grown men who could help their teams right away.
The Sacramento Kings used the No. 13 selection to select Providence's Devin Carter, a 22-year-old who averaged nearly 20 points per game during his final college season. The 6-foot-2 guard is considered a good defender, too, and could mesh well with the team's other guards, including De'Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk.
The Lakers went for scoring with their No. 17 pick, adding Tennessee's 23-year-old Dalton Knecht. The 6-foot-5 guard was one of the college game's elite scorers last season, averaging nearly 22 points per game.
The Phoenix Suns did some manuvering during both days of the draft, trading the No. 22 selection to the Nuggets for the No. 28 pick, No. 56 pick and two more future second-round selections. Phoenix took Virginia wing Ryan Dunn at No. 28, giving the team a defensive standout to play with the team's star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
The Suns then flipped the No. 56 pick in another proposed trade, moving up to No. 40 and acquiring Marquette big man Oso Ighodaro. The athletic 21-year-old will have a chance to become Jusuf Nurkic's backup immediately.
