Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James, selected with the No. 55 pick out of USC in June’s 2024 NBA Draft, will be deployed strategically to kick off his 2024-25 rookie campaign.
Sources inform Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN that the 6-foot-2 pro will be with the team at least through its impending Oct. 28-Nov. 6 road trip, and will subsequently be toggled between the team’s 15-man standard roster and its G League affiliate squad, the South Bay Lakers.
LeBron James #23 and Bronny James #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers react during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena on October 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Now, L.A.’s strategy for deploying Bronny James had been reportedly revealed. Harry How/Getty Images© Harry How/Getty Images
The 6-foot-2 pro is considered a raw prospect, and has struggled to acclimate to the NBA level thus far in his first season. He played behind guards Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier in college for a middling 15-18 Trojans club that missed the NCAA Tournament last year. The 20-year-old had difficulty as a scorer in that backup capacity.
Across his five preseason bouts, the younger James — son of 20-time All-NBA Lakers superstar LeBron, still active — averaged 4.2 points on .297/.083/.500 shooting splits, 1.7 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals in 16.2 minutes per. He played sparingly for Los Angeles during his regular season debut, suiting up for just under three minutes of L.A.’s 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. James scored zero points on 0-of-2 shooting and had one rebound.
Bronny James has the physical tools to at least be a Tony Allen-esque, defense-first point guard, but were he not the son of LeBron James he would most likely have been advised to stay in school for another year or two to finesse his shooting and improve some of his defensive instincts. He’s a developmental player now, albeit signed to a fully-guaranteed four-year, $7.9 million contract and a part of L.A.’s standard roster.
Many NBA ate second round draft picks are inked to two-way deals, where they can be toggled between a club’s NBAGL affiliate and its main team throughout the season. Although, if they can’t produce, teams will often cut them from the two-way slots and use them strictly as affiliate G League players. Bronny James could take years to grow into being an actual NBA-caliber contributor. His dad, who was already the oldest active player in the league at the start of the 2023-24 season, will turn 40 in two months.
Bronny James was brought on board now by the Lakers’ front office for the opportunity make NBA history, and he did that when the two generations of James men suited up alongside each other on the hardwood Tuesday. The question now becomes — can he prove himself at the G League level?