A large part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster during the 2026-27 season will be comprised of new faces. There are only a handful of returning players with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves being chief among them. But one name that hasn’t been discussed as much is someone who has been talked about ad nauseam over his first two seasons in the NBA and that’s Bronny James.
Now going into his third year, James will be surrounded by a number of new teammates, one of which will not be his dad. But so far, he is liking what he is seeing from the group after their team bonding minicamp in Slovenia.
“Everyone’s great,” James said in an interview on ESPN LA. “We’ve been in the gym working. It’s good vibes everywhere. I think that, again, the Slovenia trip helped because we got back home, we got to work and it’s coming around.”
It will take time for the team to build up chemistry, but Doncic hosting the entire roster in Slovenia was a huge step in the right direction and now everyone looks to be on the same page in putting in the work to be able to hit the ground running once training camp begins.
This will be a very interesting year for James, who has undoubtedly taken strides since being drafted in 2024. He even played some playoff minutes for the Lakers last season and has had his moments. And with his father LeBron James now on the Philadelphia 76ers, he won’t have that shadow being cast over him.
However, a road to regular rotation minutes will not be easy because of all those new players the Lakers brought in. Doncic and Austin Reaves are locks as the starting backcourt with Collin Sexton being the first guard off the bench. So James will have to battle with the likes of promising rookie Cameron Carr, defensive stalwart Matisse Thybulle and pure scorer Jaden Hardy to have a chance at cracking the rotation. But he will do everything in his power to do just that.
Bronny James discusses his projected role with Lakers
James does have a good idea of what his projected role will be on this Lakers team and what will be asked of him this season as he spoke about being a secondary ball-handler and creator capable of generating offense, while also needing to knock down shots off the ball. But ultimately he will do whatever he needs to help the Lakers win.
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