The Lakers’ roster math is getting tight, but Bronny James does not appear to be the odd man out.
Los Angeles is sitting at 16 players, which leaves the team one over the official 15-man limit. That means a move has to come soon, and a waiver decision is one of the possibilities on the table. Bronny’s name has come up in that conversation, but the latest reporting points in a different direction.
“Clearly, the Lakers need to dump someone, and I think it's going to be one of three players," Lakers insider Jovan Buha said. "It's going to either be Dalton Knecht, Jaden Hardy, or Bronny James."
Even with that speculation floating around, the sense around James is that he is not the priority cut. He is entering his third NBA season, and the Lakers still have work to do in sorting out the back end of the roster. But according to Lake Show Life’s Tyler Watts, the money and contract timing suggest James is staying put.
“Bronny is set to make just $2.2 million this season. The Lakers currently have 16 players under guaranteed contracts and will have to trim their roster to 15 before the regular season opener.
There is no word of Bronny being on the chopping block. Los Angeles is looking to move on from Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, or Jaden Hardy," Lake Show Life's Tyler Watts wrote.
That idea got reinforced by a later update. If the Lakers were planning to move on from James, the argument goes, they likely would have already done it at the point when his contract could have been handled more cheaply.
“If the Lakers wanted to get rid of James, they would have done it when they could have saved money by releasing him. That crucial date on his contract came and went without Bronny moving an inch off the roster. One would imagine Los Angeles wants to see one more year of his development,” LakeShow Life’s Syvatoslav Rovenchuk wrote.
For James, this season matters. It is the first time in his career that he’ll be out there as a pro on his own, and he’s now in the next-to-last year of his rookie deal. If he can show real growth and maturity, he would put himself in position to return for a fourth season.
The message for now is simple: Bronny James looks safe. The bigger question is what happens after that.
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