But No.7 NAB AFL Draft pick James Aish insists the Lions' den already feels like a home away from home despite leaving behind his famous footballing family in South Australia.

The Lions have thrown out the welcome mat to Aish and fellow draftees Darcy Gardiner, Daniel McStay, Lewis Taylor, Tom Cutler and Nick Robertson in a bid to bond before the team's Christmas break.

The Lions are keen to avoid a repeat of this year's trade period exodus in which Billy Longer (St Kilda), Patrick Karnezis (Collingwood), Elliot Yeo (West Coast), Sam Docherty (Carlton) and Jared Polec (Port Adelaide) all returned to their home states.

And Aish, 19, has strong ties to SA, particularly SANFL heavyweights Norwood.

His father Andrew played for SA and Norwood.

His uncle Michael is a SA Hall of Famer, state captain and a 307-game Norwood legend who won the state's highest individual honour, the Magarey Medal.

And his grandfather Peter also played state football and captained Norwood before taking up the club's coaching reins.

Oh, and teenager Aish won two premierships in as many years with Norwood after he became the youngest player in 134 years to make his debut for the club at 16.

Aish said his SA football upbringing would help him settle into the Lions' environment.

"Norwood build a very strong culture - hopefully that gave me a taste of what a successful environment is like. Their professional standards should keep me in good stead here," Aish said on Wednesday.

"I have played against men for two years and trained with men and AFL-listed players, so I think that has given me a pretty good insight into what the AFL entails."

Aish said he had already accepted he would be plying his trade away from SA next year.

"I am sure any excuse (my family) will be up here for a holiday and hopefully to watch me play," he said.

"I am sure everyone gets homesick but I am pretty confident I will be happy here.

"It seems like a good group. Success should be just around the corner."

Meanwhile, the son of Brisbane Bullets legend Andre Moore was always expected to feature in the draft - the NBA draft, that is.

But the Lions snared Moore's son Archie Smith via Wednesday's NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

Smith, 18, capped a whirlwind AFL introduction when he was snapped up by the Lions (pick No.69) along with Queensland under-18 captain Isaac Conway (No.6) and Zac OBrien (No.23).

Smith looked on track to repeat the success of his father when he received several US college basketball scholarship offers.

However, the 200cm Smith derailed his immediate NBA chances by opting for the Lions after 12 months in the AFL club's development program.

After just six months of training, the budding ruckman was picked for Queensland in this year's Under-18 AFL national championships and featured in a total of eight NEAFL matches with Mt Gravatt and the Brisbane Lions Reserves.

"We're really happy to have Archie on board," Lions national talent manger Rob Kerr said.

"It's a real coup for the club and the Lions Academy to convert such a promising basketball player to our code.

"Clubs spend a considerable amount of time scouring the world for such natural talents, and it's terrific that we've been able to find one in our own backyard.

"Archie has shown an enormous amount of improvement over the past 12 months, and has many of the attributes to succeed in the AFL.

"That said, he's still very much a work in progress, and will require a considerable amount of development before he's ready to play senior AFL football."