Lakers News: LA Reveals Plan For Bronny James Over First Few Weeks of Season

Matt Levine | Oct 25, 2024

With the start of the new NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers are weighing how to navigate rookie guard Bronny James between the G-League and active roster. He has been expected to play most of the season in the G-League but Los Angeles has now revealed their plan.

ESPN NBA insiders Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin have reported the news. It seems that James will travel with the team over the upcoming road trip before going down.

"Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James is expected to travel on the team's upcoming road trip from Oct. 28-Nov. 6 and then begin shuttling between the active roster and the franchise's South Bay G League affiliate, sources told ESPN on Friday."

The Lakers will host the Phoenix Suns on Friday to conclude a two-game home stand to open the year. They then will travel to take on the Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, and Suns.

Having James around for the first road trip could be a way for the Lakers to show him the ropes early on. He isn't expected to play much but just taking in everything could be good for the young guard.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick has previously said that he wants to focus on the development of James and that he has a good opportunity in front of him.

"For us, prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as like, case study one, because his base level of feel, athleticism, point-of-attack defender, shooting, passing, there's a lot to like about his game," Redick said in July. "And as we sort of build out our player development program holistically, he's going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player."

James is a work in progress, especially on the offensive side of the ball. He has flashed great instincts on defense but the team needs him to fully mature as a player before they can trust him on the floor in the NBA.

If the Lakers can be patient with James and allow him the time needed to grow, he could become an impactful player down the line. But it will be up to him to maximize what the Lakers offer to him in terms of development tools.

He can hone in on his skills while in the G-League and eventually turn into a nice role player for the Lakers. They have a lot of faith in his progression but now the real work starts.

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