Lakers’ Bronny James open to playing in G League

LAS VEGAS — It’s common for second-round picks – especially ones selected in the back half of the round – to spend a significant portion of their first NBA season in the G League.

The Lakers’ 2023 second-round pick, Maxwell Lewis, played 25 games for the organization’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, after being selected 40th overall.

So when asked about a potential G League assignment at some point during his rookie season, Bronny James seemed open to the possibility.

“I’m just looking forward to any basketball I play – no matter what level I’m playing at,” he said after the Lakers’ 99-80 loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday, which was the Lakers’ first Las Vegas Summer League game.

James was asked about the possibility of spending time in the G League in light of playing a Rockets team that had multiple players on their summer league roster who played for Houston’s G League affiliate, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and NBA team last season.

Cam Whitmore, the No. 20 pick in the 2023 draft, played 13 games for the Vipers as a rookie. Jermaine Samuels, who went undrafted in 2022 and signed a two-way contract with Houston last summer, played 25 games for Rio Grande Valley and 14 games for the Rockets in 2023-24 before signing a standard NBA deal with Houston last week.

Lakers summer league and South Bay Lakers coach Dane Johnson isn’t sure what James’ path will be.

James, the No. 55 pick in the draft, signed a four-year, $7.9 million contract with the Lakers.

“I don’t know about that yet, so I can’t really comment on that,” Johnson said. “But I think all these guys are going to be in the G League at some point – the draftees.

“The G League is good. These players are good. You see these guys that don’t get recognition and they’re playing from the G League. I tell our guys, ‘Don’t sleep on these guys.’ These guys can play.”

The 6-foot-2 James finished with eight points but on 3-for-14 shooting Friday, including missing all eight of his 3-point attempts, to go with five rebounds, two steals and three turnovers to continue his offensive struggles.

“Always telling him to be aggressive,” Johnson said. “We’ll live with the threes he shot [on Friday]. He’s going to make those going forward. Just again, getting more reps at it. He was aggressive at the beginning and he’s going to keep building on that.”

James has scored 15 points on 6-for-26 shooting (0 for 12 from 3-point range) in three summer league games (he sat out one).

“I just feel like I’m in a little slump right now,” he said. “The shot hasn’t been falling.”

New Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke with ESPN during the second quarter Friday and in the on-air interview said he has told James to focus on defense and what will be an intense player development program the team will create for him.

“He had a heart procedure last year, up-and-down freshman year, obviously going through the pre-draft process, there’s a conditioning element to being able to play that way defensively,” Redick said. “But overall, we like what we’ve seen in practice. We like what we’ve seen in Summer League.”

The Lakers’ next game is Monday night against the Boston Celtics at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“Just getting better every time I step on the court,” James said about what he wants to get out of summer league. “Especially playing older guys, just finding out what my role is and excelling at that.”