USC Basketball: How Scouts Feel About Bronny James' Summer League Run

Experts weigh in on the young Trojan-turned-Laker.

Jul 15, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) competes against the Boston Celtics during the second half at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James, eldest son of 20-time All-NBA superstar L.A. combo forward LeBron James, had an uneven Summer League debut. After a miserable first four games between the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League, the 6-foot-2 USC product turned things around mightily in his final two contests, averaging 12.5 points on good efficiency in those two games, both wins.

All told, the younger James averaged 7.0 points on .327/.130/.625 shooting splits, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks a night.

Per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, league scouts are still convinced that James was a worthwile flier for where he fell in the draft, following a disappointing one-and-done Trojans season in 2023-24.

“He was the 55th overall pick," an Eastern Conference scout told Siegel. "The fact that he is LeBron's son is why there is all of this hype he will never be able to live up to, but to his credit, Bronny has handled himself better than almost any other player out here,” one Eastern Conference scout shared with ClutchPoints. “He is professional and is willing to change the way he has played all of these years before being drafted in attempts to find success in Los Angeles. We have to give him credit for that.”

It seems likely that James will at the very least be a developmental project, and should log significant time with the club's NBA G League affiliate club, the South Bay Lakers, although he's signed to one of L.A.'s 15-man standard roster contracts, not a two-way deal that would naturally see him toggle between both the NBA proper and the NBAGL program.

“At the combine and his pro day, Bronny showed flashes of his potential,” a different scout informed Siegel. “Nobody saw him as a first-round guy. With that said, there is certainly potential there for him to truly develop into a role player in the G League. Everyone needs to calm down a little bit with the label of him being a bust because these growing pains were expected. Between his heart problem last summer and having the handle the pressure of being LeBron's son, Bronny is about where a lot of us thought he would be.”

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