USC Professional Athletes

Bronny James Is the Most Scrutinized Backup in the NBA

No player entering his third season carries more external noise than Bronny James. The 22-year-old USC product — who turned 22 this week, with mother Savannah marking the occasion on Instagram — is navigating a preseason that functions less like a tune-up and more like a job audition, with a roster cut deadline looming and trade rumors already circulating before a single regular-season game has been played.

The backdrop is new: LeBron James is gone. Luka Doncic is the face of the franchise now, and the Lakers' supporting cast has been substantially reshuffled. That shift makes Bronny's roster spot both more visible and more precarious. Coach JJ Redick has publicly outlined a role for him — primarily defensive and off-ball — but the question of whether that role survives to opening night remains legitimately open.

Highs, Lows, and a Viral Moment with Steph Curry

The preseason told a two-chapter story. In a 127-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, Bronny was a bright spot, and in a subsequent 114-110 victory over Sacramento, he posted four points, four rebounds, six assists, and a steal in 22 minutes — surpassing Nikola Jokic in assists for the game, a stat that lit up NBA social media and offered a glimpse of the playmaking upside that keeps his advocates engaged.

Then came the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers were blown out 124-98, with Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Walker Kessler all sitting. Bronny scored just four points, and some analysts used the performance to renew calls for the front office to make a definitive decision on his future. That game also produced the week's most shareable moment: Bronny thought he'd created space against Stephen Curry on a dribble move; the officials disagreed; and both players dissolved into laughter at the call — a rare, human flash amid an otherwise high-stakes week.

Redick's post-game comments have offered some cover. He described Bronny as better suited for a defensive and off-ball role than as a primary ball-handler, which aligns with what Bronny himself revealed about his offseason adjustments heading into this campaign.

Trade Market and the Roster Clock

Trade chatter has been anything but quiet. Multiple reports surfaced this week examining Bronny's odds of being dealt before or around the roster cut deadline, with analysts noting that the Lakers could theoretically recoup assets if they move him. A reality check from Heavy Sports, however, tempered the speculation — any trade requires a willing partner, and Bronny's market value is still being defined in real time by exactly the preseason performances everyone is watching.

What's clear: the Lakers are not a team with roster slack. The departures of Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes, Luke Kennard, and Marcus Smart tightened the depth chart, and every remaining spot carries weight.

DeRozan Quietly Plots a Nuggets Comeback

Away from the Bronny circus, fellow USC alum DeMar DeRozan is getting a fresh start in Denver. Nuggets head coach David Adelman confirmed a usage plan for the veteran that draws on his roots — a throwback to his early-career role, suggesting a more fluid offensive deployment alongside Nikola Jokic. After departing Sacramento in free agency, DeRozan lands on a championship-caliber roster with legitimate Finals aspirations. It's a quieter storyline than anything happening in LA, but potentially a more rewarding one.

The USC pipeline into the NBA is as active as ever. The spotlight, for now, belongs entirely to Bronny.

Two USC alumni are entering the 2026-27 NBA season at inflection points — one a six-time All-Star trying to squeeze more out of a decorated career, the other a young guard finally stepping out of the longest shadow in basketball.

DeRozan Finds a New Home in Denver

DeMar DeRozan signed with the Denver Nuggets on a veteran minimum deal this offseason, joining a team that lost Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valanciunas, and Bruce Brown in a difficult summer. The Compton native figures to fill the scoring depth void those departures left behind.

By all early accounts, the transition is going smoothly. After his first Nuggets practice, DeRozan highlighted two things that stood out to him about the team — a promising sign that the veteran is already plugged in culturally. Head coach David Adelman has since confirmed DeRozan's defined role for the season, offering the kind of clarity a veteran needs when arriving on a new squad. Aaron Gordon, meanwhile, spoke publicly about what he expects DeRozan to bring to Denver — underscoring that the locker room views the addition as more than just a depth move.

Nikola Jokic, for his part, gave an honest assessment of a relatively quiet Nuggets offseason, but the core of Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Gordon remains intact. DeRozan joining that group on a minimum deal is a low-risk, high-upside bet — and early camp buzz suggests he's treating it like a starting opportunity, not a sunset tour.

Bronny Goes It Alone — And Likes It

The storyline surrounding Bronny James this preseason has been impossible to ignore, and the third-year Lakers guard isn't running from it. With LeBron James now a Philadelphia 76er, Bronny is suiting up for the first time in his NBA life without his father on the roster — and by his own account, he's embracing it.

"Excited" is the word Bronny used to describe his mindset heading into Year 3. He's also been direct about wanting to make his own name in the league, separate from his lineage. That message has been backed up on the court: a viral training camp video turned heads and signaled that James may be primed for a genuine breakout. Coach JJ Redick's staff has taken notice, with reports indicating Bronny has positioned himself for a legitimate rotation spot.

None of this came without turbulence. Trade rumors circulated throughout the summer, and roster cut speculation followed Bronny deep into preseason. The Lakers ultimately kept him through camp, and the latest reporting suggests he's not atop the team's trade candidate list. Even actor O'Shea Jackson Jr. entered the conversation publicly, urging the franchise to retain him.

The noise is real, but so is the resolve. Bronny James has described his Year 3 approach as "aggressive" — a word that, in context, reads less like bravado and more like a young player who has quietly been waiting for this moment.

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For USC fans, this is a week worth watching. Two Trojans, two fresh starts — one a proven star finding his footing at altitude, the other still writing the first chapter of his own story.

Heading into Lakers training camp, the question surrounding USC alumnus Bronny James isn't about development — it's about survival.

Los Angeles enters camp carrying 16 players on standard contracts, one above the league maximum, and the math is unforgiving. Someone has to go. James, now entering his third NBA season, remains squarely in the crosshairs despite being a player the organization has publicly invested in since drafting him without a conventional path to a guaranteed roster spot.

The Lakers' GM offered comments this week that did little to settle the uncertainty — described as "revealing" by observers but far from a ringing endorsement for James's place on the 15-man roster. The front office has options, and it's weighing all of them.

Three Players on Notice — But James Isn't Off the Hook

Heavy Sports reported that three Lakers have surfaced as realistic trade or waive candidates, a development framed as a potential lifeline for James. But the picture isn't clean. A separate report noted that an "exciting new 6'8″ wing" has emerged as a genuine competitor for James's spot, with at least one analyst urging the Lakers to cut a 6'6″ three-point specialist instead and retain James at all costs.

The competing narratives tell the real story: there is no consensus inside or outside the organization about what the right move is. James is neither safe nor doomed — he's in the uncomfortable middle ground of a roster crunch with no obvious resolution.

What James does have going for him is film. Sports Illustrated noted that the third-year guard has been putting his athleticism on display in pre-camp workouts, making a visible case for himself as the roster decisions loom. Whether that translates into a guaranteed spot remains to be seen, but James isn't waiting around — and a recent offseason golf outing captured by Bleacher Report, featuring LeBron James and Austin Reaves, showed the USC product staying connected to the franchise's orbit even after LeBron's departure from the team.

Elsewhere in the USC NBA Alumni Landscape

The Trojans have no shortage of representation across the league heading into the 2026-27 season, even if none of it generated the volume of coverage James commands.

DeMar DeRozan continues to settle into Denver, where ClutchPoints reported the Nuggets have been active in roster-building ahead of camp — adding pieces around a core that now includes the veteran USC product.

Onyeka Okongwu got indirect good news in Atlanta: a Yahoo Sports report confirmed that Hawks rookie Henri Veesaar suffered a torn ACL, a blow to the team but one that cements Okongwu's standing as the unquestioned starting center entering the season.

Jordan McLaughlin turned up in France, where Sports Illustrated captured video of a Spurs offseason workout in Nanterre featuring Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox, and other San Antonio players — with the USC guard in the mix, a small but telling sign of where McLaughlin stands in the Spurs' rotation plans.

Evan Mobley in Cleveland drew a pointed Sports Illustrated feature asking whether the Cavaliers big man can take the next developmental step — framing him as the player with the most left to prove on a contending roster.

The Bronny situation, though, is the one with a clock on it. Training camp is here. The Lakers have to cut someone. And right now, nothing is settled.