The South Bay Lakers begin their season on Saturday against Salt Lake City and the Lakers have officially announced that Bronny James will debut in the home opener.
ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report the news.
The Lakers today assigned Bronny James to their NBA G League affiliate, South Bay, where he’s expected to debut vs. Salt Lake City on Saturday, sources said. James will be on Lakers roster vs. 76ers Friday, then rejoin South Bay. https://t.co/Bj1zP5YO7I
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 7, 2024
Bronny will reportedly split his time between South Bay and the Lakers. He will not travel with South Bay for their road games, only playing in home matchups.
For now, sources said, the G League plan is for Bronny James to play in only South Bay home games – as he shuttles between both leagues and team manages his time on respective rosters.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 7, 2024
South Bay is pivotal to Bronny’s development.
Given that he was the No. 55 pick in this year’s draft and the Lakers are aiming to win, he can’t crack the rotation. He did step on the floor with LeBron as the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA during the home opener and had a couple of shifts in the Lakers’ five-game road trip. However, he has yet to play double-digit minutes in any contest.
Bronny has only made four appearances in the NBA, playing a total of 13 minutes while registering four points, two assists, one rebound and one steal.
G League games are a great way for him to log game time, which he hasn’t been able to do for a couple of years now dating back to his one season at USC.
This is a common strategy the Lakers use to support their younger players. Last season, Jalen Hood-Schifino went on a G League assignment and players such as Max Christie and Maxwell Lewis have spent time in South Bay.
The Lakers didn’t just overhaul their coaching staff this summer but also made changes with their G League affiliate.
They hired Zach Guthrie as head coach of the South Bay Lakers and Lakers coach JJ Redick has said that South Bay will be an extension of the main team as he wants to better integrate the G League and NBA Lakers moving forward.
Bronny’s development and ability to bounce between South Bay and the Lakers is the first example of this ideology being implemented.
If it works well, Bronny can finally get significant playing time, which he hasn’t had since his high school days at Sierra Canyon.
You can watch Bronny’s G League debut against Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 9, on Tubi and Spectrum SportsNet.
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