Lakers won't trade Bronny, 'more than happy' to keep James | Report

The Los Angeles Lakers might no longer have LeBron James Sr. on their roster, but they still have junior and seem to want to keep him.

There have been questions on what will happen with Bronny James since his dad decided to ditch Los Angeles and the Lakers for free agency.

Well, the Lakers, to the surprise of some, have gone all in on Bronny and keeping him in LA.

His contract with the Lakers became fully guaranteed for $2.3 million on June 30. The 21-year-old has a contract that will pay him that figure this year, while a team option to keep him for 2027-28 remains on his deal.

Bronny wouldn't be a free agent until 2028. There is belief that the Lakers value Bronny and would not move on from him unless a real offer came to surface.

During a radio appearance on the Brock and Alex Show on 97.1 The Fan LA, California Post reporter Khobi Price, who covers the Lakers, said during a discussion of who is the most likely Laker to be traded that "it would take something real" for the Lakers to want to trade Bronny.

"If LeBron chooses X team, what if X team is willing to send the Lakers, I don't know, a second round pick for Bronny James? That automatically puts Bronny James as the most likely player," Price said. "Now, what I want to make clear is that the Lakers are more than happy to keep Bronny James."

"They've drafted him in the second round two years ago. They developed him. They're a fan of him. He has a lot of people who like him within the building. So it's not going to be one of the situations where, oh yeah, they're just going to send Bronny to wherever LeBron goes. Like it would take something real for the Lakers to want to trade him," Price added.

In the 2025-26 campaign, his second NBA season, Bronny James averaged 2.9 points, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals in 8.9 minutes per game. He shot 40.9% from the field, 38.6% on 3-point field goals and 85.7% from the free throw line.

He saw playoff minutes in the first round against the Houston Rockets. In a Game 3 win, Bronny scored his first career playoff points, putting up 5 points, in a back-to-back sequence netting a pull-up 3-pointer off of an on-ball screen by his dad, the team getting a defensive stop that led to a fastbreak where elder James threw a lob to junior who keyed in a reverse layup finish.

Bronny was the 55th overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft, taken by the Lakers out of USC.

He made history becoming the first father-son duo to share an NBA court playing alongside LeBron.

And once his pops makes his anticipated decision, the two will make history again next season, this time becoming the first father-son duo to share an NBA court as opponents.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Lakers won't trade Bronny, 'more than happy' to keep James | Report