The Lakers are already scouting Bryce James

While he may be far removed from being draft-eligible, Bryce James already has the attention of NBA scouts, including the Lakers. The famous Peach Jam tipped off this weekend with the younger son of LeBron making his debut with his team Strive For Greatness.

Most sites either do not have a Class of 2025 rankings or a very preliminary list. ESPN does not have Bryce James in their current top 60 and 247 Sports do not have a rankings list up. Rivals has Bryce listed as a four-star recruit and No. 82 in their rankings.

Being LeBron’s son though is enough to command attention, and it doesn’t hurt that Bronny blossomed into a legitimate college and NBA prospect in his own right. The result was that the NBA was paying attention to Bryce this weekend.

According to Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports, the Lakers were one of nearly a dozen teams in attendance for Bryce’s game.

Scouts from the Lakers, Magic, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Heat, Knicks, Suns, Hawks and other teams all made James a priority on Day 1 of games.

Barring some drastic rule change in the coming years, Bryce won’t be eligible to be drafted until the 2026 NBA Draft. The Lakers have their first round pick in 2026 as things stand right now.

I’m not going to be the one to doubt LeBron, but it would quite the feat if he was still around come the 2026 season. His goal all along has been playing with Bronny, and considering he is already throwing out the idea of retirement, it’s hard to imagine him hanging on for that many more seasons.

But that shouldn’t stop the Lakers from looking at top prospects. It’s unlikely the Lakers and other NBA teams were at the Peach Jam exclusively for Bryce, as top prospects are scattered across the court for all teams at all times. Consider this some due diligence with the added relevance of it being Bryce.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.