Bronny James Has Played Seven Minutes in Five Games, and the Lakers Trade and Cut Talk Is Growing

The minutes tell the story. Through the first five games of the Los Angeles Lakers' season, third-year guard Bronny James has played a total of just seven minutes and scored only two points, Heavy Sports reported — all of it in the season opener, with no playing time since. By this point in his rookie year he had appeared in two games, and last season in three games for a combined 28 minutes.

The low point came in a 103-87 win over the Clippers played without Luka Doncic and three other players, when James still could not get on the floor. "Bronny did get 6.7 minutes in garbage time of the season opener, but he hasn't played since," Tyler Watts wrote for Lake Show Life, in comments carried by Heavy. "Hardy got nine minutes and was in the rotation. Bronny is nowhere near an opportunity in a close game." Head coach JJ Redick has said of the preseason: "I don't think he's played well in the four preseason games, but he's had good practices."

Team reporter Jovan Buha put the roster math bluntly on his show, Buha's Block: "Whatever they decide, I think something has to happen soon because they can't keep playing this current rotation. Then it's Hardy or Bronny. And then I think they're gonna try to flip Hardy. So Bronny is the one who's only making a couple million that they could potentially waive." CBS Sports' Sam Quinn, writing on X on October 17, suggested another team might value James on his name alone: "If I were the Lakers, I'd be trying to trade Bronny right now to some owner who wants to sell some jerseys."

None of that is a Lakers decision, and James's contract for this season is guaranteed, as Heavy noted. But with his father LeBron James now gone from Los Angeles and the Lakers hunting for a backup center, the reporting around the league's most famous bench seat is only getting louder — and the next few weeks will show whether the 22-year-old gets minutes, a trade, or a pink slip.