The Los Angeles Lakers' guard will aim for a break out campaign this season.
Lakers’ G-League star Bronny James to battle for major NBA promotion in 2025-26 originally appeared on The Sporting News
Bronny James authored a wildly impressive debut season with the Los Angeles Lakers' G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers in 2024-25, as the former No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft displayed true two-way ability in 11 appearances with the team.
The 20-year-old defensive-minded guard averaged 21.9 points, 5.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals while knocking down 38.0% of his 8.4 attempts from three-point range with South Bay, proving to be a game-wrecking defender and explosive scorer at the G-League level.
Though he played sparingly for the main NBA franchise as a rookie and was not featured in the Lakers' nightly rotation alongside his father and 21-time All-Star LeBron James, his rapid development with South Bay and a potential confidence boost could lead to the 6-foot-2 guard sneakily rising through the ranks of the Lakers' guard room.
In fact, one NBA reporter believes that if James has a shot to earn a call-up and even leapfrog veteran guards in Los Angeles' pecking order, it will be due in large part to his immense defensive potential.
"What I do think is that he has the upside and the defensive potential to be a game-changer on that end," NBA reporter Jovan Buha shared during a Tuesday episode of the Buha’s Block podcast.
"If he can really hone that in and continue to develop on that end, as he talked about earlier in the summer when we talked to him at Summer League practice, if he can do that and continue to do what he’s done in garbage time and scale that up into potential backend rotation minutes, that’s where I think he could start creeping up on a guy like Gabe Vincent."
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"If Bronny is outperforming him offensively, maybe he’s shooting better than him and all of a sudden he’s being this impactful firecracker off the bench defensively who’s pressuring 94 feet and wreaking havoc and leveraging his athleticism and speed."
"All of a sudden, that’s the way I see a potential path for him to be a backend rotation guy."
There's no question that James' defense could lead to the under-sized point guard enjoying a successful NBA career, but a consistent three-point shot at the next level may see him quickly elevate to becoming a trusted piece of a competitive team.
Luckily for James, the Lakers' need for high-energy defensive stoppers on the perimeter has increased tenfold in the wake of Luka Dončić's arrival at last season's trade deadline.
This summer, Los Angeles brought in 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to assist the slow-footed Dončić on that end, but the 31-year-old guard has been battered by injuries for the past two seasons.
If the Lakers are looking to inject energy into their rotation by trotting out a young, aggressive on-ball defender and incredible shot-blocking guard each night, James could be their guy.
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