LeBron James has signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, leaving his son Bronny James on the Los Angeles Lakers roster and reviving questions about whether the 2024 second-round pick belongs in the NBA at all.
The Lakers selected Bronny James, a former USC player, 55th overall in the 2024 draft. The timing of that pick came amid speculation that LeBron James might leave Los Angeles if he could not play alongside his son. With LeBron now three time zones away in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scrutiny of Bronny’s on-court production has intensified.
In his rookie season, Bronny James played 27 games, averaging 2.3 points and 6.7 minutes per game while shooting 31.3% from the field and 28.1% from three-point range. In his second season, across 42 games, he averaged 2.9 points and 8.9 minutes, shooting 40.9% from the field and 38.6% from deep. Through five games this season, he is averaging 0.8 points.
His numbers in the G League, the NBA’s developmental league, have drawn further attention. In 18 G League games during the 2024-25 season, he averaged 18.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 31.4 minutes, shooting 41.5% from the field and 33.6% from three. Last season, in 20 G League games, his averages dropped to 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists over 29.5 minutes, though his field-goal percentage rose to 50.2% and his three-point percentage to 37.6%. His Player Efficiency Rating of 12.9 ranked 330th among qualified G League players.
Bronny James is in the final guaranteed year of a contract paying him approximately $2.3 million this season. The Lakers would still owe that money if they waived him, but doing so would open a roster spot.
Notably, the Lakers have already parted ways with another member of their 2024 draft class, Dalton Knecht, the 17th overall pick, who has since joined the New York Knicks. Knecht averaged 7.1 points on 46.0% shooting across 132 games in Los Angeles — production that exceeded Bronny James’s output, raising questions about why he was waived while Bronny remained on the roster.
Rich Paul, the agent for both LeBron and Bronny James, has said the two are
