The Los Angeles Lakers will be playing their Friday night NBA Cup game against the Portland Trail Blazers without Bronny James, as the team recently announced the third-year guard was sent down to the G League ahead of the Coachella Valley Lakers’ season-opener.
James, now in the G League alongside rookie teammate Cameron Carr, will not be playing in the Lakers-Blazers game on Friday night, officially listed on the team’s injury report as ‘out’, despite not actually holding an injury designation.
Through nine games for the Lakers so far this year, James has appeared in five. He has averages of only 0.8 points and 0.2 blocks in 2.4 minutes, while not yet recording an assist or a rebound, numbers that are down from the first two seasons of his NBA career.
Is Bronny James Playing Tonight? Lakers Announce G League Decision
No, James is not playing in the Lakers’ Friday game against Portland, as he is currently on G League assignment.
The team announced on Thursday that both he and Carr would be moved to the Coachella Valley Lakers, with the two also listed on the injury report, officially on G League assignment. They are the only two players on the roster who won’t be available to suit up for the Friday night game.
While the Lakers guaranteed James’ contract this season and he wasn’t listed on the G League roster, the team has subsequently moved him back to the developmental team, a roster he spent a lot of time with during the first two seasons of his career.
“James has performed better in the developmental G League, averaging 18.4 points on 49.6% shooting (including 41.3% from 3), 4.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 25 games the past two seasons for the South Bay Lakers, who were rebranded and relocated this season,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote after the news was announced. “The team plays its home games at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, rather than at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo.”
James is expected to play in the Coachella Valley Lakers’ season opener on Friday night, the exact same time his NBA team is scheduled to play. The G League organization also has games on Monday and Tuesday of next week, but it’s uncertain whether the young guard will stay with the team or get brought back to Los Angeles before then.
Regardless, James will miss the Lakers’ NBA Cup game hosting the Trail Blazers, which marks yet another moment in his career when his future in the league has been put into question.
Bronny James Faces Uncertain Future In Los Angeles
While scrutiny around his roster spot has followed James his entire career, pressure about his status on the Lakers ramped up when the team picked him over Dalton Knecht for the final roster spot ahead of the 2026-27 season.
That decision put more of a spotlight on the 54th pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, as through the first two seasons of his career, and even to begin this latest season, he hasn’t been a consistent rotational player in Los Angeles.
“The reality is that James is unlikely to see significant minutes. Dončić, Reaves, Grimes and Sexton can all handle playmaking duties, and mixing and matching the team’s various wing options will likely be a bigger priority than getting James much work in the rotation,” Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report wrote on James before the season. “While James making the roster over Knecht may feel like a vote of confidence from head coach JJ Redick and the front office, it’s just as likely that the Lakers felt Knecht was no longer a fit and needed a change of scenery.”
Over the past few weeks, James has been mentioned as both a Lakers trade candidate and someone who could be waived, should the franchise look to add another player in free agency or the buyout market. Team reporter Jovan Buha discussed James’ uncertain status when addressing the Lakers’ need for a backup center.
“So Bronny is the one who’s only making a couple million that they could potentially waive,” he said on his show, Buha’s Block. “They’re in a situation where, at a minimum, I think you gotta change the two-way spots and bring in a big who can play, but potentially you do that with the back end of the roster.”
The Lakers are reportedly interested in making a trade to upgrade the roster, but it remains to be determined if James would be included in a deal. He doesn’t appear to have a ton of value in Los Angeles right now, but could be of higher value to another franchise looking to capitalize on his last name and family ties.
With James in the G League for the time being, in what was expected to be a breakout season for the 22-year-old reserve guard, it might now be fair to say that his future in the NBA is in greater question than ever before. He’s no longer playing with his father, LeBron James, and is getting less playing time compared to his first two seasons.
For now, James remains with the Lakers, but he won’t be playing in the team’s game on Friday night, with an uncertain status going forward as it relates to his current G League Coachella Valley stint or his time left in Los Angeles.
James is under contract for $2.3 million this season with a $2.5 million team option for next year. In 74 career games with the Lakers, he has averaged 2.5 points, 0.6 rebounds, one assist, and 0.4 steals on 37.8/34.4/81 shooting splits in 7.7 minutes per appearance.
The Lakers’ NBA Cup game against the Trail Blazers tips off at 7 pm PST and will be live on Amazon Prime Video.
Is Bronny James Playing Tonight? Lakers Make G League Decision As Uncertain Future Looms