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As expected, the Los Angeles Lakers assigned Bronny James to their G League affiliate South Bay on Thursday, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Per that report, he’ll remain with the Lakers on Friday for a matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers before making his G League debut on Saturday against Salt Lake City.
Charania added that the younger James is only expected to play in South Bay home games.
The 20-year-old second-round pick has been a non-factor for the Lakers thus far this season, appearing in four games and averaging a point per contest while shooting 16.7 percent from the field.
James was always expected to spend time in both the NBA and G League this season.
“Our plans are always fluid based on real time,” head coach JJ Redick told reporters last week. “I believe we have two guys dressing today that as of yesterday we’re not dressing out. The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. [General manager] Rob [Pelinka] and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that.”
James is undoubtedly an unfinished product after just a single season at USC, where he averaged only 4.8 points in 25 games, largely coming off the bench. At this stage in his career, he’s shown some promise as a defender and secondary playmaker, but his offensive game is not yet close to being NBA caliber.
“For us, prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as like, case study one, because his base level of feel, athleticism, point-of-attack defender, shooting, passing, there’s a lot to like about his game,” Redick told reporters back in July. “And as we sort of build out our player development program holistically, he’s going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player.”
In the G League, James can be given more game time to hone his craft. Outside of garbage time, he’s unlikely to feature regularly for the Lakers.
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