Bryce James

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Bronny, Redick, Offseason

May 1st, 2025 at 7:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for a second straight season, 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James was noncommittal about his future in the NBA.

The four-time MVP holds a lucrative $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season, which would be his record-setting 23rd in the league. At 40, James has been the NBA’s oldest player for two straight years. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it is anticipated that James will at least return to suit up next season, as he noted on The Pat McAfee Show (YouTube video link).

“There’s no expectation for LeBron James to retire,” Charania said (hat tip to RealGM). “I will say that my sense, my understanding is he will play at least another NBA season. You think about next year, it’ll be year 23, that would set a league record. Year 23 for number 23. The All-Star game is in Los Angeles. He’s potentially playing in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of stars that would align for next season, potentially, if that’s what LeBron James decides. He’d be 41 years old in December.”

James put up impressive averages of 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game in L.A.’s 4-1 first round loss to Minnesota, but he often appeared exhausted by the fourth quarter of those bouts.

“And the other thing is does Bryce James, his son, does that factor play into it at all?” Charania said. “His son is going to be potentially draft-eligible in 2026 next year. So if he feels at some point next year Bryce James might be an NBA player. Might be a draft-eligible player, does he extend that window? I think that’s the only potential carrot caveat that you think of out there that could keep LeBron James even longer than at least one more year.”

Bryce James has committed to play at Arizona in 2025/26.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

LeBron James’ eldest son, Bronny James, was a deep-bench rookie guard with the Lakers this past season. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link), the 20-year-old verified after Wednesday’s loss that he will return to suit up in Summer League activities with L.A. for the second straight season.
After a generally successful 50-win regular season, first-year Lakers head coach JJ Redick had a strange playoff run during a 4-1 first round elimination to the Timberwolves, opines Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. Swanson noted that Redick’s unusual coaching choices may have contributed to L.A.’s expedient exit. Redick played just five players for the entire second half of an eventual Game 4 defeat, and subsequently insisted that the club’s late-game failings were not a result of clear fatigue. Redick also opted to play reserve big man Maxi Kleber in Game 5 in his first game as a Laker after a three-month recovery from foot surgery. The Lakers, who essentially opted against using a traditional center in Game 5, surrendered 56 paint points and 20 second-chance points to Minnesota in the loss.
The Lakers now head into an uncertain offseason, as Mark Deeks of HoopsHype and Bobby Marks of ESPN observe in their respective summer previews. Beyond James’ contract decision, forward Dorian Finney-Smith also has a $15.4MM player option for 2025/26. The Lakers could offer five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension as of August 2. Veteran players on sizable deals like forward Rui Hachimura, guard Gabe Vincent, and Kleber could all be used to match salaries should Los Angeles look to acquire perimeter or center help on the trade market.

And-Ones: Bryce James, Draft Assets, Randle, Bailey, Boban

January 1st, 2025 at 10:35pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Bryce James, the youngest son of Lakers star LeBron James, has officially committed to play his college ball at Arizona for 2025/26, per Tobias Bass and Brendan Marks of The Athletic.

The 17-year-old senior guard is considered a three-star recruit, and is currently ranked as the No. 257 player among his graduating high school class. The 6’5″ wing was also fielding offers from Ohio State and Duquesne.

In his scouting report, Marks notes that James is less physically strong and athletic than his older brother Bronny James was at the point in their respective prep careers. The 20-year-old Bronny is currently a rookie with Los Angeles following a one-and-done season with USC. Marks believes that Bryce will need significant developmental time in head coach Tommy Lloyd‘s system.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

In a fresh ranking of each NBA team’s draft assets, Bobby Marks of ESPN calls the Thunder’s cadre of picks the best across the league. Oklahoma City boasts 13 first-round pick across the next seven seasons, including all seven of its own future picks. Marks ranks the Nuggets’ future draft equity as the worst pick portfolio in the league. Denver has just four incoming first-round selections available over the next seven years, and none available to trade due to protections.
A pair of former NBA players were involved in a recent three-team G League trade. According to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link), the Kings‘ NBAGL affiliate, the Stockton Kings, traded for guard Chasson Randle from the Iowa Wolves, the Timberwolves‘ affiliate. Stockton shipped out forward Drew Timme to the Nets‘ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. Long Island, meanwhile, sent former NBA wing Amari Bailey to Iowa.
Boban Marjanovic‘s agent, Misko Raznatovic, has confirmed (Twitter link) a prior report that his client is signing with the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. The 7’4″ big man, who last played for the Rockets in 2023/24, logged nine pro seasons in the NBA. In 331 career regular season games (25 starts), Marjanovic averaged 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per night. He kicked off his 2024/25 run with Turkish club Fenerbahce, but was released earlier this month.

Pacific Notes: George, Kawhi, Durant, LeBron, Huerter

October 25th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As he enters his age-33 season, Clippers forward Paul George is thinking about the legacy he’ll leave behind when his NBA career is over, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. And George isn’t happy that he has no championship hardware to show for his four years in Los Angeles (or his nine NBA seasons before that), as injuries have repeatedly sidelined him and fellow star Kawhi Leonard.

“My legacy here is just haven’t been able to finish,” George said. “I think in a lot of ways, injury-prone, inability to finish. So can’t even say that — like, I never go into a summer like, ‘Hey, what do I need to work on to get better, what do I need to’ … I got to just try to find a way to stay healthy.”

The Clippers appear to approaching the 2023/24 season with a heightened sense of urgency. Head coach Tyronn Lue talked prior to training camp about a need to take the regular season more seriously and not just be looking ahead to the playoffs. And with both George and Leonard healthy entering the season for the first time in three years, the rest of the team has noticed a shift in the group’s collective mindset, Greif observes.

“Night-and-day different, just in terms of intensity at training camp,” Clippers guard Norman Powell said.

Here’s more from out of the Pacific:

Leonard, who underwent surgery on his torn ACL in July of 2021, spoke repeatedly last year about the idea that the injury requires a two-year recovery period to get back to full strength. The Clippers forward reiterated that point on Tuesday, confirming he feels as good now as he has since injuring his knee in 2021. “I feel good and I’m ready to go,” Leonard said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “… Talking to guys [who suffered ACL injuries] and seeing when they do start feeling good or just trusting your knee, it’s just something that you feel and I mean one day just turns around for you.”
Suns forward Kevin Durant tells Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports that it was “good to have stability” this summer after a tumultuous final year in Brooklyn. Durant also admitted that he’s starting to think about what his life will look like after he retires from the NBA, though he added that he wants to play for “as long as I can.”
While much has been made over the years of LeBron James‘ desire to play with son Bronny James before he retires from the NBA, a new Beats by Dre commercial voiced by LeBron’s wife Savannah references the Lakers star’s desire to play with son Bryce James as well, notes ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). Bryce, 16, is three years younger than Bronny.
Kings head coach Mike Brown flirted during the preseason with the idea of having Chris Duarte replace Kevin Huerter in the team’s starting five, but Huerter will be the starter at shooting guard to open the season, Brown confirmed on Tuesday (Twitter link via James Ham of The Kings Beat).