One NBA executive sees a lot more playing time in Bronny James’ immediate future.
No second-round pick ever had a more highly anticipated rookie campaign than James. The intense scrutiny was fully expected, given that he’s LeBron James’ son and plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite some early struggles, Bronny flashed some real potential toward the latter part of the season. He may not be a star in the making, but his skill set is reportedly developing enough to become a real part of the Lakers’ rotation next season.
One Western Conference executive recently spoke to NBA reporter Sean Deveney about how the Lakers view Bronny James. According to the NBA exec, the purple and gold are “dead set” on integrating the 20-year-old into the rotation next season.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that’s their plan,” the executive told Deveney. “I know the guy gets a lot of grief because of who his dad is, but we’ve seen a lot of tape on [Bronny] and the fact is, he was a lot better player in April than he was in October, and definitely in July. … He is going to be a regular for them next year.”
Bronny’s rookie numbers were nothing to write home about. In 27 games, he averaged 2.3 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists on 31.3% shooting from the field and 28.1% from beyond the arc. But that’s also considering the younger James had a historically bad start to his first season, which was likely, in part, due to the heavy spotlight on him early on.
James was later sent to the G League and dominated against lesser competition, averaging 21.9 points on 44.3% shooting. The skills are very much real and could prove useful on a Lakers team desperate for quality role players.
Lakers coach JJ Redick himself has hinted at an increased role for Bronny. It will be up to the young guard to take advantage of the opportunity coming his way.
