Every draft pick made by the Los Angeles Lakers is both overvalued and overanalyzed. That will apply to the 17th and 55th picks this year, and that's especially true if the front office uses one on LeBron James' son, Bronny.

Once he's on the roster, the attention is going to ratchet up even more.

Of course, it's far from a foregone conclusion that he'll wind up on the Lakers, but it's at least a possibility.

And it's a strong enough possibility to weigh the pros and cons of that potential pairing.

Pro: LeBron Gets to Play with His Son

For much of the last 18 months, LeBron has been pretty open about wanting to play NBA basketball with his son.

"I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing," he told ESPN in January 2023. "That would be ideal for sure."

A year after that interview, LeBron followed up a Lakers loss by saying his son "could play for us right now. Easy."

And after the Lakers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets this postseason, a report almost immediately hit the internet suggesting L.A. was open to drafting Bronny.

More recently, the All-Star and his agent have backed off the idea that he and his son are a package deal, but it's still fair to say LeBron would still appreciate the opportunity to suit up with his son.

Giving a legend such an opportunity is good business. It'll draw even more eyeballs to an already popular franchise. It will make LeBron happy, and it will fulfill a dream no one else has been able to live out in the NBA.

Con: The Potential Media Circus

Whether they're contenders or not, few teams in the NBA garner the kind of consistent attention the Lakers do. And if Bronny is drafted to the team this week, that focus is going to intensify.

Even if he's not ready, you can be sure some outlet or analyst will wonder (and probably pretty loudly) why he isn't playing. That noise will be worse during rough patches of the season.

And if we've learned anything about the Lakers over the last decade or so, it's that there will be rough patches.

What would be worse (though maybe not as expected) is if the pressure to play the young James starts to come from his dad.

There are a lot of hypothetical dominos in play there, but this is the Lakers. Drama seems to follow them, regardless of circumstance. And this is a circumstance that might welcome it.

Pro: Time to Develop

Tons of talented basketball players have quickly filtered through the NBA. And falling out of the league isn't always about raw ability.

A player being in the right (or wrong) situation goes a long way toward determining how his career turns out. And though playing with the Lakers comes with a lot of pressure, it might also give Bronny a little extra time to develop.

Plenty of second-round picks get cut within a couple years of being drafted, but can you imagine the firestorm from fans and media if L.A. dropped LeBron's son? While LeBron was on the team?

I can't.

And if that means more time to work full-time with NBA coaching and development staffs on his shooting, playmaking and other weaknesses, Bronny's career prospects would be a lot better.

Con: Los Angeles Needs to Be Good Now

The flip side of that coin is that the Lakers are in the West, and contending there typically means you have to be deep. Like "every single roster spot counts" deep.

If one of those spots is occupied by a three- or four-year project, it could cost L.A. in the short term. And the short term is really all LeBron has left.

Even in his age-39 season, he played like a top 5-10 player, but we've yet to see a basketball immortal. A decline could be coming soon, and the Lakers' window to contend will likely shut when it does.

L.A. can't take a single month of the rest of LeBron's career for granted. And even if there are some fun fringe benefits to employing his son, using a roster spot on him instead of a difference-making veteran could be taking that window for granted.

Pro: Bronny Might Be Good

That calculation quickly becomes unnecessary if the Lakers simply (and legitimately) just believe in Bronny as a prospect. And when it comes to using the 55th pick on him, that's a reasonable conclusion to make.

As a freshman at USC, the 19-year-old averaged just 4.8 points and had dreadful shooting splits (48.1 percent on twos, 26.7 percent from deep and 67.6 percent from the line). But he had a respectable showing at the combine, where he looked comfortable in scrimmages, registered a 40.5-inch vertical leap and measured a 6'7.25" wingspan.

With those measurements and the pedigree that comes with being the son of one of the top five players in NBA history, it's not crazy to believe Bronny can be a bona fide, NBA-level defender.