Bronny James had his ups and downs with the big squad in his rookie season, but showed good growth and development in the G-League, which is all part of the plan.
Welcome to our annual Lakers season in review series, where we’ll look back at each player on the team’s roster this season and evaluate if they should be part of the future of the franchise. Today, we continue with a look at Bronny James.
With accusations of nepotism for even being drafted coinciding with more scrutiny than any other player ever selected with the No. 55 overall pick, Bronny James was not your normal rookie.
As the son of LeBron James, Bronny has been used to this sort of spotlight and the kinds of critiques that come with it. But as a player taken where he was in the draft and who would ultimately spend a large portion of his season on assignment in the G-League, there may not have been a bigger discrepancy between attention paid and takes spewed relative to on-court minutes compiled in the entire NBA than what he saw this season.
Just ask Stephen A. Smith. Actually, please don’t.
Through it all, though, Bronny put in the work and carried himself with a combination of joy and thoughtfulness that belies his general youth. Every interview — whether at practice, or after or before games — included honest reflections of where his game was and soundbites of him stating that he simply wanted to get back to feeling comfortable on the court and of him putting in as much work as he could to help achieve that goal.
And, ultimately, that’s what this season was for him — a way for him to begin to reestablish some of the momentum that was lost to the cardiac incident that disrupted his freshman campaign at USC (to put it mildly), and do so in an environment in which his support structures would be caring and his family circle ever-present.
In that way, I’d argue this year was a rousing success for Bronny and that the best is still yet to come.
How did he play?
Bronny made just 27 appearances and tallied only 181 minutes with the big club in his rookie campaign, so there is not much to really speak of statistically. He totaled just 21 made field goals in his 67 attempts (31.3%) for 67 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, dished out 22 assists with nine turnovers, swatted three shots, and snared nine steals all season. So speaking about his numbers or his statistical averages is a bit of a red herring of what your intentions are when offering analysis.
From a practical standpoint, then, his season is best captured through what his progression looked like much more from the eye test than how his numbers did or did not change. And, in that respect, there are real positives to take from this year.
Early in the season, he mostly played hot potato with the ball, moving it on to a teammate moments after receiving it, not even giving the crowd a chance to work up the swell of enthusiastic reaction to wanting him to fire off a shot. Clearly not yet comfortable with where his game was or, even, what he should be doing out there to positively help the team gain the advantage, this sort of anti-forcing of the action was understandable.
As the season went along, though, and as he got more reps in the G-League and his feet more underneath him in general, his short stints — usually at the end of blowouts — showed a different level of confidence and willingness to press the issue, look for his own shot, and, most critically, flash a sense of belonging critical to his long term success as a prospect.
Defensively, playing in some of the game’s least serious minutes did not do him any favors and he could sometimes be too upright in his stance, too eager to hunt a steal or block, or sometimes let go of the rope within his one-on-one assignment as the flow and tenor of the game wasn’t always about him locking in. That said, he did show that he could be disruptive when his activity and focus turned up, another important aspect of his development and any potential pathway to a consistent role in the future.
As for the G-League, Bronny got much more usage via an on-ball role that came with a great opportunity to play as a shot creator in the pick-and-roll and isolations. In that setting, he had multiple big performances and countless highlight-level plays, showing an ability to get downhill and finish with force at the rim and improved comfort taking and making his jumper when defenses gave him space or went under picks.
Whether this is the sort of role Bronny will have in his NBA future remains to be seen, but showing that he has this ability and that he could put up sustainable production at that level was a nice building block for him in his growth this rookie season.
What is his contract situation moving forward?
Bronny signed a four-year contract via the newly created second round pick exception in the most recent collective bargaining agreement. With that, he is under contract for three more seasons with next year being fully guaranteed, his third year being non-guaranteed, and his fourth season being a team option.
So, yes, Bronny will be back and has already said he expects to play in Summer League coming up in July.
Should he be back?
Even if his father weren’t who he is or if LeBron somehow was not back himself next season, I would advocate for Bronny to be back next year.
By all accounts, he’s well-liked by players and coaches alike, works extremely hard and is dedicated to being an excellent player. He made very good strides this season in the G League and with further development both physically and with his skill work, as well as reps in both practice and games, we should expect to see improvement on both sides of the ball.
Which, ultimately, is the plan. The Lakers understand that Bronny is a long-term prospect — just as every player drafted where he was would be — and are hopeful that their player development program can help foster and encourage the type of growth that will allow him to have a long NBA career.
Those seeds were certainly planted this past season, but there is more work to do to nurture and see his game blossom — work that will, and should, continue next year.
You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegold.