Bronny James' future with the Lakers hinges on three potential outcomes influenced by LeBron James' decisions regarding retirement and next season. His recent performance showed improvement, but his season ended without playing in a crucial game.
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Bronny James' future with Lakers has 3 possible outcomes originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Bronny James is a bit like the undercard to the main event.
LeBron James' eventual decision on retirement, and potentially on where he'll play next season, will be the top ticket in the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason. But there'll be impacts on his son Bronny, too, and that will grab plenty of attention, as well.
Bronny showed some growth in his second professional season, particularly as a shooter, but it ended quietly for him on Monday night when he didn't get into the game for the Lakers as they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder to have their season end in a sweep.
Late in the season, Bronny had played more as the Lakers dealt with injuries, but even without Luka Doncic back, Bronny had still been pushed out of the rotation entirely.
Maybe that indicates the Lakers' plans for his future, but the reality is there are essentially three main outcomes in play here for Bronny.
Bronny James' future with the Lakers could involve him continuing with the team, being traded, or exploring opportunities elsewhere depending on LeBron's decisions.
Bronny James showed growth as a shooter during his second professional season, but it concluded quietly as he did not play in the final game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LeBron James' retirement decision will significantly impact Bronny's future with the Lakers, as it could determine the team's direction and Bronny's role moving forward.
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The first is that he follows his dad wherever he goes. If LeBron chooses not to retire, and signs elsewhere in free agency, he could hope for that team to negotiate a trade for Bronny. It probably wouldn't cost a ton, unless the Lakers wanted to play hard to get.
Whether LeBron retires or not, Bronny could also stay in Los Angeles. He's got a couple years remaining on his rookie contract.
And if Bronny stays in L.A., this story could go one of two ways. The first is that he sort of stays what he is, a deep bench player who can earn some minutes when the injuries pile up. Or he could continue to make improvements, like he did from year one to year two, and actually seize a consistent rotation role as one of the first two guards off the bench.
Depending on how the next season-plus goes, Bronny could line himself up for another contract with the Lakers. But if his growth stagnates, he may be looking at an oddly high-profile free agency in a couple seasons for a player who isn't necessarily a big contributor.
Bronny's journey has included the lifelong reality of following in his father's footsteps, and by the time he dealt with serious heart issues at USC, it was never going to be easy. He's proved he can play NBA minutes, and now where he goes from here remains an open question.