Bronny James is officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers after the team selected him in the second round of the NBA Draft Thursday night.
The draft process was more peculiar than usual for the 19-year-old due to his dad being LeBron James and pops making public his desire to play on the same team as his son. That public knowledge muddied any real sense of Bronny’s true draft value and where he would end up.
Now, that some of those questions are answered, the next thing people may be wondering is if James is good enough to hold down a roster spot in year one, or whether he’ll be assigned to the Lakers’ G League affiliate. We already have some clues as to what might happen with that.
Who is the Lakers’ G League team?
Good question, because I’m guessing most of us don’t know many G League teams outside of the ones associated with our own teams.
The Lakers’ affiliate is called the South Bay Lakers. They play their games right in El Segundo, California, at the LA Lakers’ training facility called the UCLA Health Training Center. So if Bronny James does end up there, LeBron could watch him play all the time.
OK, cool, but will Bronny James actually play games for South Bay?
Well, if you believe his agent, the answer is probably not. Or at least not often. Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told Bleacher Report in May that James won’t sign a two-way contract, which allows for players to split time between the NBA and G League.
“Teams know that. I’m not doing that,” Paul said.
Rich Paul says his client, Bronny James, will not sign a two-way contract which allows players to be on an NBA and G-League team 👀
Full story here: https://t.co/WKlOdMLN6H
(via B/R’s @ChrisBHaynes) pic.twitter.com/tqLXTCSYyp
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 24, 2024
In other words, he expects James to be a full-time NBA player his first year. And considering Paul’s relationship with the Lakers and their biggest star, I’m inclined to take him for his word. That doesn’t stop the Lakers from assigning James to the G League occasionally, but he’ll always have a spot on the big league team.
So will he see minutes for the Lakers?
This part is probably a little more open. He’ll definitely see the floor at times, probably in blowouts and garbage minutes. But will he actually crack JJ Redick’s rotation? I’m skeptical about it happening but I guess it’s possible.
It all depends on how he looks in Summer League, training camp and the preseason. If he progresses fast enough, anything is possible. We already know he’ll have a certain somebody in the building pushing him everyday to be the best player he can be.
