Bronny James' NBA Career Reportedly Hits Early Road Bump

Bronny James might not actually end up spending much time in the NBA at all as a rookie.

The Lakers drafted Bronny James 55th overall, and the pick was widely-panned. It seemed to be done only to please LeBron James. Nepotism at its finest.

The former USC star, who struggled mightily in college, agreed to a four-year deal worth up to $7.9 million. There's been a lot of chatter that because it's a one-way deal, Bronny would be with the Lakers the entire time.

That might not actually be true.

Bronny James reportedly will go to the G League.

While fans might have thought Bronny would waste away at the end of the bench for the Lakers, he might be bound for the South Bay Lakers.

Adrian Wojnarowski reported the following during a Wednesday appearance on ESPN when discussing Bronny James:

"Well, what the Lakers’ expectations are is that he’ll largely be a G League player like almost any 19-year-old player coming into the league drafted in the second round. I think what you’ll ultimately probably see is Bronny James in the first week of the season on the court with his father, in a very…I don’t want to call it ceremonial but the eyes of the world will be on that. They’ll do that the first week of the season, but there’s no expectation Bronny James is going to be in the Lakers’ rotation. He’ll spend a lot of his time playing with their G League team which shares a practice facility with the Lakers."

You can watch his full comments in the video below, and hit me with your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

The Lakers paying Bronny James a full NBA salary to play in the G League if that happens just goes to prove how absurd this situation is. Instead of just signing him on a two-way deal with a much lower salary, the Lakers gave him millions of dollars to please his dad.

As I wrote Wednesday, his deal appears pretty unprecedented for a guy picked 55th overall. Why is a guy who couldn't average five points a game in college getting millions in guaranteed cash?

The answer is because Los Angeles would do anything to keep his future hall of famer father happy.

Bronny James reportedly will spend most of his rookie season in the G League. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Will Bronny find success in the G League? Time will tell, but he has a much better shot developing somewhere he can actually get on the floor than at the end of the bench with the Lakers. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.