Lakers 'Very Open' To Adding Bronny James Next Season

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Los Angeles Lakers are "very open" to adding Bronny James to their roster next season and could potentially draft him.

Bronny James is evaluating his options after his freshman season at USC, which includes declaring for the draft or transferring to another school. Bronny was a projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA draft before his cardiac arrest and disappointing freshman season with USC. Bronny was moved by ESPN from the lottery in 2024 to the second round in 2025 in their mock drafts.

LeBron James is expected to be a free agent this offseason and has spoken about his desire to play on the same team as Bronny in the NBA.

Via Shams Charania, Jovan Buha, Sam Amick/The Athletic

[moocow007]

Hey if Chris Smith can make an NBA team as a favor to JR Smith (lol), I'm sure Bronny James can make the Lakers as a favor to Lebron.

[CobraCommander]

Hey if Chris Smith can make an NBA team as a favor to JR Smith (lol), I'm sure Bronny James can make the Lakers as a favor to Lebron.

Lakers Making the Hunter and Don Jr pick… wait even those crazy dudes didn’t actually make their unprepared under qualified sons part of their official team yet the lakers willing to waste a spot on a team that’s 1-8 in their last 2 playoff series on a kid avg 4 points on a team that was wayyy under 500 in college?


Every dude in the g league better than Bronny should basically call out this BS.

Sports is a meritocracy or it isn’t sports - it’s performance art or sports entertainment like the WWF

If I’m Bronny I say no

[castor777]

Hey if Chris Smith can make an NBA team as a favor to JR Smith (lol), I'm sure Bronny James can make the Lakers as a favor to Lebron.

Lakers Making the Hunter and Don Jr pick… wait even those crazy dudes didn’t actually make their unprepared under qualified sons part of their official team yet the lakers willing to waste a spot on a team that’s 1-8 in their last 2 playoff series on a kid avg 4 points on a team that was wayyy under 500 in college?


Every dude in the g league better than Bronny should basically call out this BS.

Sports is a meritocracy or it isn’t sports - it’s performance art or sports entertainment like the WWF

If I’m Bronny I say no

Thanasis Antetokounmpo would also like to say hi.

If LeBron helps sell out the Lakers games and is nearing his final season which will be a historic, Lakers will draft Bronny to make sure he stays put. If not, I'm sure the Cavs, Knicks, 76ers, and 25 other teams will likely consider it too.

[Heat3]

Bronny will get drafted by the Lakers, sit at the end of the bench and retire on the same day Lebron does.

[purpleswordfish]

Of course they are. If they were willing to make some of the trades they've made over the past few years to keep Lebron happy, I don't see why they would have a problem adding Bronny to the roster. Competitively, I don't imagine he'd have much positive impact. But, if he takes the roster spot of (just an example) Maxwell Lewis (-0.3 VORP), I can't imagine it really hurts the team either. Bronny would be a below VORP player and you're just swapping him with another negative VORP player.

What is worth mentioning is the money this will make for everyone involved. It'll get media attention/TV ratings, it'll sell a ton of merch, it might even help some of the gate numbers (especially on the road). This is a rare opportunity and the Lakers would be stupid to not capitalize on it.

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is that there's plenty of teams that would like to win. The Lakers are definitely one of those teams. But, every single team is interested in making money and being profitable.

[the_process]

This was obvious two years ago.

[Rek]

Of course they are. If they were willing to make some of the trades they've made over the past few years to keep Lebron happy, I don't see why they would have a problem adding Bronny to the roster. Competitively, I don't imagine he'd have much positive impact. But, if he takes the roster spot of (just an example) Maxwell Lewis (-0.3 VORP), I can't imagine it really hurts the team either. Bronny would be a below VORP player and you're just swapping him with another negative VORP player.

What is worth mentioning is the money this will make for everyone involved. It'll get media attention/TV ratings, it'll sell a ton of merch, it might even help some of the gate numbers (especially on the road). This is a rare opportunity and the Lakers would be stupid to not capitalize on it.

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is that there's plenty of teams that would like to win. The Lakers are definitely one of those teams. But, every single team is interested in making money and being profitable.

I agree entirely with this. The other issue is that Bronnie would never be allowed to simply earn his playing time like other rookies. Players deserving of minutes will likely sit on the bench so they can force Bronnie into the game and get that media attention all because it's Bron's kid. That is where I think the real damage will be done.

[StlHawksFan]

Lakers have very few first round picks moving forward. Are they going to waste one on him? Or are they banking on getting him at 56? I could see a lot of rival clubs trying to screw with them by taking him earlier than that in the 2nd.

[hauntedcomputer]

Sign him as an undrafted free agent to a two-way contract and cash checks.

[purpleswordfish]

Of course they are. If they were willing to make some of the trades they've made over the past few years to keep Lebron happy, I don't see why they would have a problem adding Bronny to the roster. Competitively, I don't imagine he'd have much positive impact. But, if he takes the roster spot of (just an example) Maxwell Lewis (-0.3 VORP), I can't imagine it really hurts the team either. Bronny would be a below VORP player and you're just swapping him with another negative VORP player.

What is worth mentioning is the money this will make for everyone involved. It'll get media attention/TV ratings, it'll sell a ton of merch, it might even help some of the gate numbers (especially on the road). This is a rare opportunity and the Lakers would be stupid to not capitalize on it.

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is that there's plenty of teams that would like to win. The Lakers are definitely one of those teams. But, every single team is interested in making money and being profitable.

I agree entirely with this. The other issue is that Bronnie would never be allowed to simply earn his playing time like other rookies. Players deserving of minutes will likely sit on the bench so they can force Bronnie into the game and get that media attention all because it's Bron's kid. That is where I think the real damage will be done.

I think it'd literally be a novelty where Bronny wouldn't play many meaningful minutes. Probably get him on the court at the same time as Lebron in some garbage time situations for the "moment." I mean, it's technically a record...I don't think a father/son have ever been on the floor at the same time in the NBA, much less for the same team. So, there's that.

I don't know, maybe Bronny becomes a fan favorite bench player that the fanbase will root for over time. We see this happen all the time. The fans know the player isn't a starter, will probably never be a star and they love the player anyway.

[Pickled Prunes]

Lakers have very few first round picks moving forward. Are they going to waste one on him? Or are they banking on getting him at 56? I could see a lot of rival clubs trying to screw with them by taking him earlier than that in the 2nd.

There is zero chance he goes in the 1st round. He's a scrub and will most likely go undrafted. I hope another team drafts him just to mess with the Lakers but it's unlikely. These GM's try and have positive working relationships with one another.

[Pickled Prunes]

Of course they are. If they were willing to make some of the trades they've made over the past few years to keep Lebron happy, I don't see why they would have a problem adding Bronny to the roster. Competitively, I don't imagine he'd have much positive impact. But, if he takes the roster spot of (just an example) Maxwell Lewis (-0.3 VORP), I can't imagine it really hurts the team either. Bronny would be a below VORP player and you're just swapping him with another negative VORP player.

What is worth mentioning is the money this will make for everyone involved. It'll get media attention/TV ratings, it'll sell a ton of merch, it might even help some of the gate numbers (especially on the road). This is a rare opportunity and the Lakers would be stupid to not capitalize on it.

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is that there's plenty of teams that would like to win. The Lakers are definitely one of those teams. But, every single team is interested in making money and being profitable.

Bronny couldn't get playing time on a bad college team... and the playing time he did get is for the exact same reasons you mentioned. College teams need money too, and people are definitely willing to pay to see Bronny at that level.

The reality is that Bronny will be the worst NBA player in uniform next season. The first game will get media attention but once reality sinks in people will stop talking about it. The only reason this is a money maker for LAL is that it could entice Lebron to stick around a little longer. And how long will he stick around if fans boo every time the Lakers put his son on the floor. Will they even have a coach willing to put their worst player on the floor over players that have earned it? This could get ugly quick!

[CobraCommander]

Hey if Chris Smith can make an NBA team as a favor to JR Smith (lol), I'm sure Bronny James can make the Lakers as a favor to Lebron.

Lakers Making the Hunter and Don Jr pick… wait even those crazy dudes didn’t actually make their unprepared under qualified sons part of their official team yet the lakers willing to waste a spot on a team that’s 1-8 in their last 2 playoff series on a kid avg 4 points on a team that was wayyy under 500 in college?


Every dude in the g league better than Bronny should basically call out this BS.

Sports is a meritocracy or it isn’t sports - it’s performance art or sports entertainment like the WWF

If I’m Bronny I say no

Thanasis Antetokounmpo would also like to say hi.

If LeBron helps sell out the Lakers games and is nearing his final season which will be a historic, Lakers will draft Bronny to make sure he stays put. If not, I'm sure the Cavs, Knicks, 76ers, and 25 other teams will likely consider it too.

I agree but he taking a spot from a guy that deserves it.

You lose the moral high ground when you do the same thing the good ole boys have been doing all along.

[Rek]

Lakers Making the Hunter and Don Jr pick… wait even those crazy dudes didn’t actually make their unprepared under qualified sons part of their official team yet the lakers willing to waste a spot on a team that’s 1-8 in their last 2 playoff series on a kid avg 4 points on a team that was wayyy under 500 in college?


Every dude in the g league better than Bronny should basically call out this BS.

Sports is a meritocracy or it isn’t sports - it’s performance art or sports entertainment like the WWF

If I’m Bronny I say no

Thanasis Antetokounmpo would also like to say hi.

If LeBron helps sell out the Lakers games and is nearing his final season which will be a historic, Lakers will draft Bronny to make sure he stays put. If not, I'm sure the Cavs, Knicks, 76ers, and 25 other teams will likely consider it too.

I agree but he taking a spot from a guy that deserves it.

You lose the moral high ground when you do the same thing the good ole boys have been doing all along.

I'm a Lakers fan who cares much more about the team than any particular player, especially Bron.

I don't think there's a lot of moral high ground involved with any Bron-centric team and that also applies to our FO and ownership that pretty clearly bends to Bron and Klutch's will at every turn.