What is Bronny James making in comparison to other late second round picks?
While JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers organization are adamant Bronny James has earned his spot on the team, there are some who disagree.
The Los Angeles Lakers officially signed their newest player, Bronny James, to a two year, $4.4 million contract less than a week after he was drafted out of the University of Southern California. The decision to draft him didn’t sit well with some, and seeing the contract will only strengthen that sentiment.
The Prince of LA
Is it nepotism? Is it not nepotism? We aren’t here to debate whether or not Bronny James deserved to be drafted with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The Lakers had their reasons to do so, and in doing so ensured LeBron James would stick around for at least the next year or two.
He averaged less than 5 points a game in his freshman year at USC and many experts and GMs around the league thought it would be prudent for Bronny to stay in college for at least another year. The fact that he even played this past season is impressive enough when you consider he suffered a cardiac arrest last summer.
He is an undersized but athletic guard who has a natural instinct and feel for the game. Basketball is in his blood and before he was struck down by heart issues he rapidly rose into one of the most prominent high schoolers in the country.
What’s done is done, and people can claim nepotism if they please but the fact of the matter is Bronny is a Laker. That became official when the Lakers and the eldest son of the James family put pen to paper earlier this week. There were reports that Rich Paul, Bronny and LeBron’s agent had a few stipulations even before the Draft last Thursday.
Two-Way contract the norm for No. 55
Apparently teams were warned that Bronny would go to Australia if taken by anyone other than the Lakers, and once he was drafted he would not be signing a two-way contract. That’s what a lot of players who are drafted that late in the second round are subject to. If you look at the last four players drafted in with the 55th pick, three of them have two way contracts. Thanks to our friends at Hoops Hype for doing the digging on the last few years of draft contracts in the late second round.
Kyle Guy was drafted by the New York Knicks in 2020 before getting traded to Sacramento and signing a two way contract. The next year, Jay Scubb was traded to the LA Clippers after getting drafted by Brooklyn Nets. He signed a two-way contract in his first year out of college. The same happened to Aaron Wiggins who was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The only one to have guaranteed money with the 55th pick in the last four years was Gui Santos who is mostly playing with Golden State’s G League team, but he got $75,000 guaranteed.
Bronny’s $4.4 million dollars are guaranteed, which may not sit well with a lot of people, but that shouldn’t be Bronny’s problem. He is set have a chance to impress in Summer League and earn his way onto JJ Redick’s roster. If not there could be a chance he drops down to the Summer League, but at least he would be one of the top earners.