{"id":142952,"date":"2025-06-01T15:03:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T19:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=142952"},"modified":"2025-06-01T15:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T19:05:00","slug":"lakers-rumors-bronny-james-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/01\/lakers-rumors-bronny-james-rotation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Rumors: LA \u201cDead Set\u201d on Latest Bronny James Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lakers guard Bronny James<\/a> has received plenty of attention for a second-round pick, from getting chants to play during garbage time<\/a> to his highlights flooding social media<\/a>. Now, after a year of growth under his belt, he could enjoy the fruits of his labor if the team makes good on a rumored decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Rumors: LA \u201cDead Set\u201d on Latest Bronny James Decision<\/b><\/h2>\n

Another James in LA\u2019s Rotation?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Athlon Sports\u2019 Sean Deveney <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> that the Lakers are \u201cdead-set on pushing for Bronny James to be part of the rotation next year,\u201d according to remarks from a Western Conference executive.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that’s their plan,” the exec 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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He’s 20 years old,” that exec continued. “He had a whole year where his development was thrown all out of whack. But he can defend the perimeter and he showed he can shoot the 3. If he can show that wasn’t a fluke, he is going to start getting 10, 15 minutes a night because the team is going to feel like they can trust him. I think he is going to do all that. He is going to be a regular for them next year.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In 27 games (one start), the former USC guard averaged 2.3 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists on .313\/.281\/.786 splits. He showed some promise in the back half of the regular season, posting a <\/span>career-high 17 points<\/span><\/a> in nearly 30 minutes off the bench in March.<\/span><\/p>\n

James Jr. also flashed plenty of potential in the G League, where his <\/span>debut game drew a sold-out crowd<\/span><\/a>. In 11 games for the South Bay Lakers, he <\/span>averaged<\/span><\/a> 21.9 points (.440\/.380\/815 splits), 5.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. His <\/span>G-League<\/span><\/a> stint included several high-scoring affairs, including a <\/span>39-point outburst<\/span><\/a> against the Santa Cruz Warriors in March, days after his NBA career-best.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is Bronny Ready for the Moment?<\/b><\/h3>\n

Bronny James has ridden the rollercoaster of a rookie season with the Lakers<\/a> and taken it all in stride. He showed tremendous growth over the course of his first campaign, improving as an on-ball defender and three-level scorer. With the Lakers needing some backcourt help off the bench, pushing for James to earn a rotation spot would be a laudable move by the team\u2019s front office and coaching staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

At season\u2019s end, head coach JJ Redick touched on Bronny\u2019s growth as a scorer, <\/span>saying<\/span><\/a>, \u201cWith his physical tools and just his burst and his handle, we think he’s going to be an above-average to really good NBA shooter. He’s gonna have a chance to really make an impact.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Apr
Apr 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) takes a shot in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James Jr. reflected on his rookie campaign with pride, <\/span>telling Lakers Nation<\/span><\/a>: \u201c<\/span>Proud of what I\u2019ve become, proud of the growth that I\u2019ve had over the year and ready to get back at it next year.\u201d<\/span> In another interview with FOX Sports, he said that he was somewhat affected by the pressure around him, but noted that belonging in the league is \u201call [he\u2019s] been trying to prove.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Judging by his work ethic, tangible growth, and mentorship from his superstar father, Bronny James is ready for the crucial next steps in his NBA journey. Regardless of what happens in free agency, the Lakers\u2019 backup two-guard slot<\/a> is there for the taking, and the 20-year-old has a chance to make good on his word and prove doubters wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lakers guard Bronny James has received plenty of attention for a second-round pick, from getting chants to play during garbage time to his highlights flooding social media. Now, after a year of growth under his belt, he could enjoy the fruits of his labor if the team makes good on a rumored decision. Lakers Rumors: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":142957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4572,2279,4557],"class_list":["post-142952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-bronny-james","tag-jj-redick","tag-nba-offseason"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142952"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142965,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142952\/revisions\/142965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}