The Los Angeles Lakers signed second round pick Bronny James to a four-year contract worth $7.9 million, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The deal includes $4.4 million guaranteed and a team option for the fourth season. Bronny will officially be on the roster with his father, NBA superstar LeBron James, who is re-signing with the club to go after another NBA championship alongside Anthony Davis and new head coach JJ Redick.
Second round picks don’t often sign multi-year guaranteed contracts, although it’s not unprecedented. Andrew Nembhard signed at the time the largest guaranteed contract for a second round pick back in 2022, although he was the first player picked in the second round.
Chris Livingston is perhaps a better example, as the former Kentucky product was picked with the second to last pick in the 2023 NBA draft and signed a four-year, $7.6 million deal with $3 million guaranteed. Livingston was represented by Rich Paul, the same agent representing both Bronny and LeBron.
Bronny had a pedestrian freshman season at USC, averaging under five points per game while shooting 36% from the field and under 27% from beyond the arc.
However, his testing at the NBA combine was solid and the opportunity to have the first father-son duo in league history ultimately led to the Lakers bringing Bronny on board – and could lead to him getting real minutes at point guard behind D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent.