ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday afternoon that Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James has been assigned to the franchise’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, and is “expected to debut” Saturday against the Salt Lake City Stars.
“For now, sources said, the G League plan is for Bronny James to play in only South Bay home games – as he shuttles between both leagues and team manages his time on respective rosters,” Charania wrote.
The Lakers today assigned Bronny James to their NBA G League affiliate, South Bay, where he’s expected to debut vs. Salt Lake City on Saturday, sources said. James will be on Lakers roster vs. 76ers Friday, then rejoin South Bay. https://t.co/Bj1zP5YO7I
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 7, 2024
An NBA G League Explainer
The NBA G League is the NBA’s developmental league. It’s where rookies and other young players go to receive minutes when they otherwise wouldn’t with their NBA teams, as well as where veterans play — often in hopes of landing an NBA contract somewhere. Not only do players accrue reps to prepare for the NBA, but coaches, trainers, referees and front office management often rise through the G League ranks before breaking into the Association.
Sometimes, a player will participate in G League games following injury as an opportunity to rehab before rejoining their NBA club. In James’ case, though, he’s a 20-year-old rookie buried on Los Angeles’ depth chart and has scarcely played through 2.5 weeks of the NBA season. The South Bay Lakers will allow him a chance to see far more minutes and, ideally, develop his game.
There are 31 G League organizations, and 30 of them are tied to an NBA franchise. The G League regular season spans 50 games. The top-six teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs, where the top-two seeds from those conferences earn byes into the second round. The first three rounds are single elimination before a best-of-three series in the Finals. Last season, the Oklahoma City Blue defeated the Maine Celtics in three games to win the G League title.
What Should We Expect Of James?
The South Bay Lakers are pretty well-stocked at guard, but I’d imagine James is among the priorities for playing time and development. Since Charania reported that James will only play home games, that means he’ll suit up, at most, for 24 contests. The first of those is Saturday at 8 p.m. EST.
Prior to the draft, James was billed as an off-ball, 3-and-D guard. The goals for him are likely to refine his jumper (26.7 percent in college at USC on 60 attempts), grow as a ball-handler — he’s flashed passing ability — and continue blossoming defensively. He’s already shown some chops as an on-ball defender, too.
While it may not materialize this season, the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster would benefit from more defensive gusto on the perimeter, so the archetype James projects as is particularly relevant for them. There seems to be a ways to go before that’s reality, but if he can become a consistent shooter, handle NBA-level physicality and build upon his defensive acumen, it’s easy to see how he fits into their plans. The best way to gauge and facilitate that is through reliable playing time, which will come for him with the South Bay Lakers this G League season.
