By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
An emotional evening for the Los Angeles Lakers, selecting Bronny James with the 55th overall pick of the 2024 NBA draft and teaming him up with his father, LeBron James. Besides creating the first father-son pairing in league history on Thursday, the storied franchise picked up several undrafted free agents, including French forward Armel Traore.
Traore, 21, will sign a two-way contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
French prospects in the annual draft went from top pick Zaccharie Risacher landed by the Atlanta Hawks to Alex Sarr ranking second, Tidjane Salaun in the sixth spot, Pacome Dadiet in the 25th spot, and Melvin Ajinca in the 51st spot to Traore emerging as another new entry to the NBA.
The young upstart spent the 2023-24 campaign at ADA Blois. He tallied 10.8 points behind 62.9% two-pointers, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 0.6 steals per contest over 33 appearances in France’s Betclic Elite. Further professional experience ranges from Metropolitans 92 in 2022-23 to splitting the 2021-22 season between ALM Evreux and AS Monaco. With La Roca Team, he recorded one brief appearance in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Playing alongside wunderkid Victor Wembanyama in the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship and the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup, he captured silver medals in both junior international competitions. In the 2023 FIBA U20 European Championship, he contributed 8.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the run to gold medals for Les Bleus.
The Lakers will also sign 24-year-old small forward Blake Hinson to a two-year contract, per Charania. Sean East II and Quincy Olivari will get Exhibit 10 contracts, as reported by Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress.com and Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, respectively.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL