Now that Bronny James has been picked by the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA draft, we are all looking for clues about Bronny’s future with the Laker organization and the NBA in general. If Bronny was going to sacrifice a second year of college basketball — and by extension, a chance to be a first-round draft pick in 2025 — it always made sense that his first year of pro ball would be spent in the minor leagues, otherwise known as the G League. Bronny wanted to get into the NBA so he could share some experiences with LeBron James as a Laker teammate, but the tradeoff is that Bronny would need to spend time in the G League before being fully NBA-ready. How LeBron James handles his dealings with the Lakers is a key detail to watch in the larger process of understanding how Bronny’s NBA career will be managed.
We might now have a better, clearer idea of what will happen.
LeBron Wire picked up on an ESPN report which said the following:
“James has until June 29 to opt in to the final year of his contract with the Lakers or become an unrestricted free agent,” wrote Dave McMenamin. “L.A. is committed to re-signing James and would offer the maximum three-year deal for which James is eligible to take him through his 24th season in the league, sources told ESPN.”
If LeBron James does sign a three-year deal, that tells us LeBron is content to wait two years for Bronny to develop his game to an NBA-ready level. Bronny would have two whole basketball seasons to see if he can hack it in the pros. The third year would be LeBron’s final year as an NBA player, and that year would be the LeBron-Bronny NBA tour, with father and son both playing for the Lakers. Bronny, in Year 3, could be a legitimate teammate with his father — not just in a token appearance as we’re likely to see in these next two seasons, but as a contributing rotational player with the Lakers. Bronny wouldn’t be ready to do that in his first two years of pro ball. LeBron signing a three-year deal gives his son the chance to develop his game in two years so that father and son can both be main attractions for the Lakers in Year 3.
That sure looks like the plan for the Jameses and the Lakers at this point. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s the best way to read the situation in the present moment, from what we can gather.