Report: Lakers plan to use Bronny James primarily in the G League

The Los Angeles Lakers plan on using second-round pick Bronny James primarily in the G League in the 2024-25 season, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.

“And though Bronny James had an impressive end to summer league, at least by his modest expectations, the Lakers plan on using him primarily in the G League as he remains far from a rotation-caliber player,” Buha wrote.

The No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of the University of Southern California (USC), James had some struggles shooting the ball early in Summer League, but he ended up playing well over his final two appearances against the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Against the Hawks, James shot 5-for-11 from the field and 2-for-5 from beyond the arc, scoring 12 points to go with one rebound and one steal.

He followed that game up by playing well against the Cavs, scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field (1-for-3 from 3-point range) while adding five rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Both games were encouraging performances for the young guard, as he was able to shake off a slow start shooting the ball from 3-point range this summer.

As a late second-round pick, James was unlikely to step into a big role for the Lakers in the 2024-25 season since they are looking to compete for a title. The Lakers already have some intriguing guard options in D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Max Christie and Austin Reaves that should get a large chunk of the minutes in J.J. Redick’s rotation.

In addition, the Lakers have their last two first-round picks in Dalton Knecht and Jalen Hood-Schifino that could potentially be ahead of James in the pecking order when it comes to playing time.

So, it makes sense for the Lakers to allow James to continue to develop at the G League level so he can hopefully become an impact player in the future.

During the 2023-24 season for USC, James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. He scored in double figures on three different occasions for the Trojans in his freshman season.

It will be interesting to see how the Lakers’ second-round pick performs during training camp and in the preseason ahead of the start of the regular season this fall.