As part of the father-son bidding process, which will be held on Monday, all clubs have the chance to nominate the selection at which they would be willing to select a nominated player.
The club that has nominated the player as a father-son selection must then commit to taking the player with its next pick.
It is unlikely that any of the clubs in the top five of the draft would nominate McDonald, meaning West Coast at pick six and the Lions at pick seven shape as the clubs most likely to place a bid for him before North Melbourne's first pick at number eight.
If they don't, the Kangaroos would be able to select the skilful left-footer with their second round pick.
On Thursday, Lions recruiting manager Stephen Conole said he rated McDonald highly.
"We'd certainly love Luke at our footy club, there's no doubt about that," Conole told AFL.com.au.
"I've seen Luke play a lot since he's been a young 14-year-old out in the Kew area.
"I've always been a big fan, and I'm sure there's a lot of clubs around our selection and just prior who will be interested in putting Luke on their list.
"It will be an interesting morning on Monday morning, I'm sure."
McDonald, the son of 155-game Kangaroo Donald McDonald, won All Australian selection for his performances for Vic Metro in the 2012 NAB AFL under-18 Championships.
More recently, he starred for North Melbourne's VFL affiliate Werribee in the latter stages of the 2013 season.
The Lions recently met with McDonald at his Kew home.