Although it is still expected that Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James will be part of the team’s opening day roster in the coming 2024-25 NBA season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski earlier reported of the former USC Trojans’ guard’s likely possibility of spending most of his time in the G League.
Bronny is far from a finished product and that is being highlighted by his up-and-down play in the NBA Summer League thus far. Nevertheless, Lakers Summer League coach Dane Johnson believes that Bronny has a solid basketball career ahead.
“Shoot, he’s going to have a long career,” Johnson said the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after the Lakers suffered a 99-80 loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday (via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). “This is just the beginning. We just keep instilling [confidence], keep that in their heads. So, we’ve got a long way to go.”
In the loss to the Rockets, James gathered eight points and had a nice dunk in the first quarter to go with five rebounds and two steals. However, he shot just 3/14 from the floor and missed all his eight 3-point attempts.
The ‘Other’ Los Angeles Rookie Shines In Loss To Rockets
While James struggled with his shot, it was a different case for Lakers rookie and first-round pick Dalton Knecht. The former Tennessee Volunteers bucket-getter led all scorers in the Houston game with 25 points on 9/18 shooting. Knecht also knocked down five triples, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out four assists.
The 17th pick in t his year’s NBA Draft has been showing plenty of promise in the Summer League and he’ll continue to be a player to watch out for amid all the attention James is getting in the offseason.
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