The Los Angeles Lakers committed to third-year guard Bronny James by guaranteeing his contract this season, but the franchise may start to regret that decision over time.
James did not have any standout performances in the Lakers’ five preseason games, and with just days before the start of the regular season, the son of LeBron James has subsequently been mentioned in trade rumors and put back on the chopping block as one of the players who could get waived before the year begins.
While James appears to have a better chance of staying on the Lakers roster than Jaden Hardy or Dalton Knecht, his recent returns haven’t been great, and he’s been named one of the ‘losers’ in the lead-up to his third season in the NBA.
Bronny James Gets ‘Loser’ Tag After Preseason
Writing for LakeShowLife.com, Svyatoslav Rovenchuk named James the Lakers’ one ‘major loser’ from the preseason.
“Bronny James started the preseason with a ton of trust from Redick. He was deployed prominently relative to the guard room. There was a feeling of him being a notch above the cut candidates for the Lakers. The young guard has gone in the wrong direction,” he wrote.
“James had more turnovers (12) than he did points (11) during the preseason. The offensive game has lacked so much that others in the guard rotation have quietly passed him by amid his struggles. Redick was even forced to defend Bronny in an uninspiring way after four games were in the books.”
Redick gave a strong verdict on James through the preseason. The young guard played some big minutes, but as the coach said, he didn’t necessarily jump off the page, despite what he’s reportedly shown in practice.
“I don’t think he’s played well in the four preseason games, but he’s had good practices.”
(h/t @TheNBABase )
“I thought he had a really nice September and a good summer with us,” Redick previously said of the guard. “I don’t think he’s played well in the four preseason games, but he’s had good practices. Some of it’s just rhythm. Some of it’s who he’s playing with. He’s played a lot of minutes, especially in the second half of games, with our two-way guys.”
In five total preseason games, James averages 2.9 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, and Rovenchuk mentioned he was a turnover machine.
“Were it not for Dalton Knecht’s equally rough play, James’ future could be in a lot more danger,” the writer added. “As things stand, the situation will still lack a ton of comfort for him all the same.”
Lakers Trade Rumors Continue On Young Guard
While the Lakers will likely keep James around because there’s a real chance they’ll need another guard throughout the season, his name has been mentioned in trade rumors over the past few weeks.
First, it was Heavy’s Sean Deveney who reported that other teams could be interested in the young guard.
“But don’t rule out a Bronny James trade, not because the Lakers are seeking to sump him but because he could bring in draft assets–even a second rounder or two, which is what James would bring,” he wrote.
More recently, it was CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn who urged the Lakers to trade James, as other teams could see him as more valuable than Los Angeles does right now.
“If I were the Lakers, I’d be trying to trade Bronny right now to some owner who wants to sell some jerseys. I’d rather keep Knecht on the books as possible trade salary than cut him and deal with dead money. The Lakers don’t really need the James brand like other teams do,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Just hasn’t reached the point of offensive viability through two years, and the defensive threshold is just so freaking high at that size that if he’s never gonna make shots, he basically has to be a Jamal Shead-level pest to even justify a roster spot and he isn’t,” Quinn added.
James hasn’t shown too many flashes of being more than a reserve player for the Lakers in his career so far. It does look like he’ll stay on the roster, but the young guard should be on high alert that his job might not be safe even with the name on the back of his jersey.
The Lakers have given James a ton of chances to succeed, more than some of their other recent draft picks, and if he continues to not live up to the hype, he could be traded in the near future.
Lakers Bronny James Handed Harsh ‘Loser’ Tag As Trade Buzz Continues