Bronny James plans to sign a four-year, $7.9 million guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Lakers with a team option on the fourth year, according to Shams Charania. The deal comes as no surprise for a number of reasons. Obviously, the presence of his father, LeBron James, all but ensured that Bronny would be taken care of, but also, his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, had said on the record that the younger James would not be taking a two-way contract.
The rules governing second-round pick contracts are fairly relaxed. While first-round picks must be paid according to the rookie scale, second-round picks can go in a number of directions. Teams can sign them to deals above the minimum salary using portions of their mid-level exception, they can sign them to two-way deals, or they can sign them to multi-year deals at a defined salary using the new CBA’s second-round pick exception.
Often nowadays a team will use its second round picks based largely on the sort of contract that a player will take. If a team is only interested in offering a two-way deal, agents will steer their clients away from that team.
In Bronny’s case, Paul seemingly steered the entire league away so that he could land with the Lakers. Bob Myers reported during ESPN’s draft broadcast that Paul told teams that James would not sign if they picked him and would instead go to Australia.
James and Paul have ultimately secured the guaranteed deal they were looking for. He will have every opportunity to develop in Los Angeles alongside his father (who has agreed to re-sign with the Lakers), and even if minutes aren’t readily available right away, he should have the time to needs to become the best version of himself as a professional.
