Bronny James exceeded expectations as he finished his rookie season strong in the G League. If he comes back even better next season, it will just be a matter of time before he’s going to crack the Los Angeles Lakers rotation.
That’s the bold prediction of ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on LeBron James‘ son after riding the Lakers’ bench for most of his first year in the pros.
“I think he could be a rotation player by mid-season of next year if he continues this trajectory,” McMenamin said on the “Hear District” podcast.
McMenamin’s strong belief in Bronny is rooted in his rapid growth from a player who lacked confidence at the start of the season to a consistent 20-point scorer in the G League.
“He found a way to push through it and had a very successful G-League season, like averaged 21 points per game on good shooting percentages,” McMenamin said. “Certainly his outside shot needs work because he’s going to have to consistently hit the three to get minutes with this [Lakers] group, especially with Luka [Doncic] and LeBron being able to spread the ball out to shooters.”
Bronny averaged 21.9 points on a 44/38/82 shooting split, with 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals across 11 games in the G League regular season.
Bronny’s Career Game
The 20-year-old Lakers rookie finally broke through in the NBA after gaining confidence in the G League.
It came against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks when nearly half of the Lakers’ roster was not available.
Down four starters, including his father, Bronny stepped up and co-led the Lakers in scoring with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with five assists and three rebounds in 30 minutes in a 118-89 loss to Milwaukee in March.
Towards the end of the first half, Bronny found himself cross-switched with Antetokounmpo. Instead of getting intimidated by the former MVP, Bronny became audacious as he dribbled behind his back past Antetokounmpo to the delight of the home crowd before losing the ball out of bounds. It was Bronny’s second of four turnovers, a wrinkle to his game that he needs to clean up.
Despite not finishing the play, his boldness to take one of the best defenders in the league one-on-one showed how far he’s come in his first year as a pro.
“He’s a much bigger guy than me,” Bronny said of Antetokounmpo, who is eight inches taller. “So I just got to find a way to get around him somehow. May have got fouled. That’s up for argument, but it is what it is. I tried to get me a bucket.”
Bronny’s Motor Needs to Amp Up
McMenamin noted that aside from his outside shot, Bronny has to work on his motor.
“He’s an elite athlete but his motor isn’t always in your face and he just needs to amp his motor a little bit,” McMenamin said, “because when he uses his athleticism to hawk the ball to get in the passing lanes, to go and take a charge, to have a chase down block, he can really impact the game defensively.
The Lakers beat reporter for ESPN gave Bronny some grace as he noted that the one-and-done prospect out of USC was coming off a serious heart ailment, which nearly ended his basketball career.
Bronny finished his rookie season with modest averages of 2.3 points in 6.7 minutes across 27 games, including one start.
“I thought I got better,” Bronny told reporters after the Lakers were eliminated in the first round. “I thought I grew as a player and a person. More work to be done. I feel like my progression has been slow, but getting better every day.”
