The Pacers could draft a certain player to demand assets from the Lakers

The 2024 NBA Draft starts on Wednesday night. For the first time, the first round and second round are split into different days. The Indiana Pacers don't have any first-round picks, so they shouldn't be too active on Wednesday. They should be very active on Thursday.

On Thursday, the Pacers will have three second-round picks to use. They are in a position to win now so they won't be drafting too many guys with upside. To be honest, they probably won't even sign all three second-round picks once the picks are actually made.

With so many second-round picks to use, they can afford to use one of them to draft someone with upside though. They could also draft someone to trade them to another team. That's exactly what they should do with one of their picks. They should draft Bronny James.

The Indiana Pacers should use a draft pick on Bronny James

If Lebron James is serious about playing with his sun, he could demand that the Lakers draft him. If they can't he might demand that they trade for him. Since the Pacers have three second-round draft picks, why not draft him and extract an asset from the Lakers for him?

Indiana has the 36th pick, the 49th pick, and the 50th pick. All of those second-round picks are higher than what the Lakers have in terms of second-round picks. They could use one of them on Bronny, even if they don't think he's a good player that will contribute to winning right away.

Rick Carlisle doesn't seem to think he's going to even get to 36. There is no downside to drafting him though if he does fall to them. The Pacers need defense and that is one thing that Bronny can offer right out of the gate. As a guard, he's a solid defender.

We'll see if the Pacers end up doing anything in terms of a trade during either day of the Draft. I wouldn't expect it. Their moves will come afterward.