Why Bronny James’ Lakers debut will be difficult to write about, according to a Lakers reporter

One of the more intriguing storylines at the start of the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season will be the NBA debut of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James, son of franchise icon LeBron James. Bronny, of course, was selected by the team in the second round of the draft last June, and although he struggled for the Lakers during Summer League, he is still expected to be a member of the main roster on opening night.

Speaking of Opening Night, that event is just three weeks away against the Minnesota Timberwolves and some are wondering whether newly-elected Lakers head coach JJ Redick will be able to find minutes for Bronny in this contest.

One person who is skeptical of such an event is ESPN NBA insider Dave McMenamin, who recently shared his concerns on the Hoop Collective podcast.

“If you look at the depth chart, it’s hard to say that Bronny will be higher than the 13th or 14th player,” McMenamin said. “That should make it rather difficult to say I’m going to pencil it in on opening night to get minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that could play in this year’s NBA Finals.”

McMenamin also talked about why the Lakers will want to make sure this moment doesn’t feel contrived.

“I imagine it’s going to come early, but I think they’re going to have to come to terms with it to make it feel like a real moment that they’ve earned and not something that’s kind of staged,” McMenamin said.

Meanwhile, insider Tim Bontemps took a more pessimistic approach.

“Still, it seems like it was all scripted, right? I think everyone will come to terms with it eventually,” Bontemps said. “It almost feels like you have to get rid of it sooner, for no other reason, because if you wait for the right time to do it, it feels like we could be waiting a very long time, and then it gets awkward.”

Will Bronny James get regular minutes?

Probably not.

There are several guards ahead of Bronny James on the Lakers’ roster right now, including Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Max Christie, Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent and likely others.

A more likely scenario is that the younger James will spend most of his time in the NBA G-League this year, trying to refine his game at the highest level before eventually taking his talents back to the main roster.

Anyway, the game against the Timberwolves is scheduled for October 22 at 10 p.m. ET.