Bronny James (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Bronny James’ rookie year might not go the way most expect it to.

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted the 19-year-old as the 55th overall pick last month and have since signed him to a curious four-year contract worth $7.9 million, with three years guaranteed.

There’s been some outrage online because Bronny is a second-round pick who’s gotten a one-way deal, but he might not actually be with the Lakers next season—well, at least not these Lakers.

Bronny James Could End Up In The G League

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the former USC guard might spend his rookie year with the South Bay Lakers in the G League, although he is likely to take to the court with his father for the first week of the campaign just for show.

“Well, what the Lakers’ expectations are is that he’ll largely be a G League player like almost any 19-year-old player coming into the league drafted in the second round,” Woj explained during an appearance on ESPN. “I think what you’ll ultimately probably see is Bronny James in the first week of the season on the court with his father, in a very…I don’t want to call it ceremonial but the eyes of the world will be on that. 

“They’ll do that the first week of the season, but there’s no expectation Bronny James is going to be in the Lakers’ rotation. He’ll spend a lot of his time playing with their G League team which shares a practice facility with the Lakers.

LeBron James Might Not Approve A G League Move, However

Paying a player that much money to play in the G League is bizarre, but you do have that kind of pull when you’re LeBron James’ kid.

Then again, LBJ’s influence might make it so that his son never even sees the G League.

Time will tell.