There were a couple of things said at the Los Angeles Lakers' start of season press conference that should have been music to the ears of Bronny James. Combining the comments from JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka paints a picture of real opportunity for the young Lakers to see the court in 2026-27.
Pelinka highlighted that getting players who fit Redick's principles of dribble, pass, and shoot was a main offseason pillar after LeBron James gave them notice of his coming departure. There must be some level of confidence in Bronny fitting those if he is still around. Then, there is what JJ said.
"We're gonna play more guys this year. We're just naturally deeper. We have the luxury of doing that, if we're healthy, with this roster."
If the Lakers are playing closer to — let's say — 11 guys with regularity, that should bode well for Bronny. There would have been little to no case for James carving out a role on a team that ran a nine-man rotation. If Redick is moving past that number, there is extra opportunity to be found.
Deeper Lakers rotation will ask Bronny James to fine-tune two key things to play
Dribble, pass, shoot — Bronny is good at two of the three. One of them requires a touch more growth on his part. However, there is also a secret fourth thing that needs to line up to go with those main principles.
The desirable area of growth among the core three is the dribble aspect.
Both the G League and NBA numbers and tape suggest the shooting is coming along nicely for Bronny. With South Bay, James shot 45.6 percent from beyond the arc. In a more limited sample with Los Angeles, the Lakers guard knocked down 38.6 percent during the 2025-26 regular season.
Passing is also not a problem either. Throw on a game you will see that James has a good feel for making plays for others.
Dribbling is the holdup. James ball-handle has always been the thing that stands out as needing improvement. There are just too many instances of Bronny needing a tighter hold on controlling the rock. The Lakers need to see more stability.
The secret second thing that needs to tie all those three principles together is the ability to make quick decisions with the basketball. Think about it. How many times do you remember Redick yanking James out of a game because of his frustrations following too much hesitancy from Bronny?
If things get up to speed in both of those departments, things suddenly gets interesting. No one is going to proclaim James as an every night, 20 minutes off the bench player. However, sneaking in as that 10th or 11th man throughout the campaign is within the realm of doability.
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