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Bronny James Predicted to Land New Role With Lakers Ahead of Next Season

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated May 29, 2025 10:17 PM ET

Going back to the NBA draft almost a year ago, when the Lakers chose him with the No. 55 overall pick, the feeling around Bronny James was that he was in the league solely because his father happens to be LeBron James, undoubtedly among a handful of the greatest players in the game's history.

Early in the year, that's certainly how things appeared to play out. Bronny James struggled in summer league, struggled in his rare NBA appearances and struggled early on in the G League.

But slowly, he started hitting a stride, showing a bit of what could be expected of him--energy, defense and a decent 3-point try--if he were to eventually earn a rotation spot.

And it appears the Lakers are dead-set on pushing for Bronny James to be part of the rotation next year. "I don't think there's any doubt that's their plan," one Western Conference executive said. "I know the guy gets a lot of grief because of who his dad is, but we've seen a lot fo tape on (Bronny) and the fact is, he was a lot better player in April than he was in October, and definitely in July."

The exec pointed out that, after a heart condition before his freshman year at USC, James was running behind in his development for more than a year. He seemed to catch up in the G League with the South Bay Lakers. James averaged 21.9 points, 44.3% shooting and 38.0% 3-point shooting there.

James made only 27 appearances at the NBA level, playing 181 minutes total.

"He's 20 years old," the exec said. "He had a whole year where his development was thrown all out of whack. But he can defend the perimeter and he showed he can shoot the 3. If he can show that wasn't a fluke, he is going to start getting 10, 15 minutes a night because the team is going to feel like they can trust him.

"I think he is going to do all that. He is going to be a regular for them next year."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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