If you’re a team entering the LeBron business, you best be ready to lay out the red carpet. One of the biggest caveats of bringing in “The King” these days is keeping a roster spot open for his son, Bronny.
Bronny James remains on the Lakers roster, although he is not participating in the NBA Summer League for the purple and gold. The 21-year-old 3-and-D wing played for the Lakers in the Summer League the past two years.
There are two ways to interpret Bronny’s absence from the Lakers’ Summer League team. Either the Lakers now view him as established enough that he does not have anything left to prove in Summer League play, or they are ready to move on from him altogether. It’s much more likely that Rob Pelinka is gearing up to trade Bronny to whichever location his father ends up choosing.
NBA reporter Jake Fischer, of The Stein Line, reported the following when it comes to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“One conspiracy theory making the rounds: [the Cavs] want to make sure that they have open roster spots to be able to trade for the Lakers’ Bronny James in the event that they are able to welcome Dad back as a free agent signee,” Fischer said.
Bronny James to the Cavaliers trade rumors
The Cavs are the most likely landing spot for not only LeBron, but for Bronny as well. The Athletic’s Joe Vardon wrote about Bronny’s potential fit in Cleveland this week.
“A roster spot remains open [on the Cavs], potentially for Bronny James,” Vardon wrote. “On Tuesday [Donovan] Mitchell and the Cavs agreed on a four-year, $273 million contract extension that could keep him on the shores of Lake Erie through the 2031 season. Mitchell signing such a deal will not impact the salary cap for this coming season, so it wouldn’t impact Cleveland’s attempt to sign LeBron.”
The other side of this coin is what Pelinka could potentially recoup from the Cavs in return for Bronny.
LA is currently in need of a wing and they have one open roster spot, after reportedly signing Kevon Looney yesterday.
Max Strus is a wing that Pelinka could be intrigued by, and Strus to the Lakers was discussed this week by Lakers insider Jovan Buha.
“Max Strus is making $16.7 million expiring,” Bruh said. “So fitting in Strus, you would have to send out either Vando [Jarred Vanderbilt] or some combination of [Jaden] Hardy or [Jake] LaRavia as the base, and then like, DK [Dalton Knecht], and it would have to be Hardy plus DK, Jake plus DK, or Hardy plus Jake. One of those three two-man combinations would have to be [sent back] for Strus.”
Vardon also recently discussed Strus potentially being on the move, as well as Bronny potentially relocating.
“As of right now, currently, with Dennis [Schroder] and Max [Strus] still on the roster, they have 14 roster spots,” Vardon said on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. “It’s being reported, not by me, but it’s being reported and makes sense, and I’ve had past conversations that would align with this, that if LeBron came [to Cleveland], there would be interest in Bronny, whose contract has been guaranteed. So they could plug him in at a minimum. By the way, the Lakers would have to waive him first. His contract is fully guaranteed out there.”
Josh Cornelissen of KingJamesGospel.com also wrote on July 5 about the complicated matter of getting Bronny to Cleveland.
“On the one hand, such a trade should be relatively easy to execute,” Cornelissen wrote. “Bronny fits into the minimum salary trade exception, so any team with a roster spot can take him in. The receiving team can send back a nominal asset like draft rights or a protected second round pick and call it a day.
“The potential hiccup, however, is that the Lakers are currently balancing a multitude of plates, trying to get the math to work on their free agent signings. They are working hard to shave a few hundred thousand dollars off their payroll to make it all click into place. They cannot take back a player in the Bronny James trade.”
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