USC Professional Athletes

USC's alumni footprint in the NBA shifted considerably this week, with two former Trojans landing in new homes on the same day — and one of them doing so under very different circumstances than the other.

DeRozan Joins Jokic in Denver

DeMar DeRozan's next chapter is officially underway. The Denver Nuggets announced on September 8 that they had signed the six-time All-Star, completing a deal that had been in the works for weeks. DeRozan — a Compton native who spent one season at USC before going ninth overall in the 2009 NBA Draft — joins a Nuggets core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon as Denver looks to reload around its franchise center.

The signing was confirmed by NBA insider Marc Stein, and the Nuggets' own social media left little room for modesty: "The numbers speak for themselves." Nuggets starter Christian Braun echoed that enthusiasm, telling The Denver Post he was excited about DeRozan's addition to the roster. At 36, DeRozan is chasing a championship on a contender — a move that puts a USC legend directly in the title conversation.

Gibson's Road Gets Longer

The week was far murkier for Taj Gibson. The 41-year-old power forward was included in a trade on September 8 that sent him from the Memphis Grizzlies to the New Orleans Pelicans — but Gibson didn't stay long. The Pelicans, executing a cost-cutting move designed to create room to sign Bennedict Mathurin, quickly waived him after the trade was finalized.

The deal itself sent Gibson and AJ Johnson to New Orleans in exchange for Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, and draft assets. For Memphis, it was an asset-accumulation play. For Gibson, it was a one-way ticket to free agency. He appeared in just 10 games for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds on 46.2% shooting. His NBA future is now uncertain, though his longevity in the league — drafted in 2009, the same year as DeRozan — has already made him one of the sport's more durable big men.

Bronny Navigates the Noise in LA

A third USC alum, Bronny James, is generating plenty of headlines of his own, though none involve a finalized roster move — yet. The Lakers currently carry 16 players and must trim to 15 by league rule, and James has been at the center of speculation about who gets cut. Multiple reports this week flagged his roster spot as uncertain now that his father, LeBron James, has departed for the Philadelphia 76ers.

James, entering his third NBA season, has publicly addressed his role on the new-look Lakers alongside Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves — projecting confidence despite the outside noise. No move has been announced. For now, the youngest USC alum in the league is holding his spot, at least on paper.

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Three Trojans, three very different situations. DeRozan is betting on glory in Denver. Gibson is searching for a lifeline. And Bronny James is just trying to survive the roster math in LA.

The Bronny James Referendum Has Officially Begun

LeBron James is a Sixer now. That sentence alone reshapes everything for Bronny James — and the clock on his Lakers tenure is ticking louder than ever.

The USC product is entering his third NBA season as the central storyline in Los Angeles, a city that has never been shy about rendering verdicts. With his father's eight-year run in purple and gold over, Bronny no longer has the league's most famous player in the locker room to deflect criticism or complicate roster decisions. What he does have is Luka Doncic — and the Slovenian star has already shown a notable willingness to invest in the younger James.

Bronny spent part of August in Slovenia for a minicamp organized by Doncic, and came back with straightforward ambition. "All across the board," he said when asked what he's working to improve, per Heavy Sports. Playing alongside Doncic and Austin Reaves, Bronny is expecting a bigger role in Year 3 — one he'll have to earn without the complex shadow that followed him through his first two seasons.

A Roster Spot That Isn't Guaranteed

The goodwill narrative, however, runs directly into cold roster math.

Multiple reports have the Lakers weighing trades that would involve Bronny as the outgoing asset. One scenario has L.A. targeting a 39% three-point shooter; another involves a $63M veteran ex-Nuggets champion who could fill an elite role-player need. In both cases, Bronny's name surfaces as the chip that makes the deal work.

Not every projection has him gone. The Sporting News reported that the Lakers are more likely to part ways with an $18M disappointing first-rounder than with Bronny or Jaden Hardy, and a separate report suggested L.A. would move a $15M defensive piece before touching either Bronny or Dalton Knecht. The throughline: Bronny has some level of organizational support — but it is explicitly conditional.

According to The Sporting News, head coach JJ Redick has a specific developmental blueprint he expects Bronny to follow. If the third-year guard fails to adapt to that system, the Lakers are predicted to move on. That's as direct a mandate as a young player gets.

At least one veteran voice has offered a contrarian take. A 14-year NBA veteran, per Heavy Sports, pushed back on the prevailing narrative that Bronny's spot was purely a product of nepotism, arguing the young guard has legitimate tools that deserve a fair evaluation now that the LeBron variable is removed.

DeRozan and Mobley: Trojans Elsewhere

Bronny dominates the USC-Lakers conversation, but two other Trojans are quietly in compelling situations of their own.

DeMar DeRozan, now with the Denver Nuggets, is being evaluated as a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate in his new role. Sports Illustrated laid out the case: the veteran scorer gives Denver an elite second-unit weapon, with Denver effectively swapping Peyton Watson for DeRozan in the offseason.

Evan Mobley in Cleveland faces a different kind of question — how the addition of Watson affects his own on-ball usage. Sports Illustrated flagged the dynamic as worth monitoring heading into the season, though Mobley remains a foundational piece of a Cavaliers team that has steadily climbed the Eastern Conference ladder.

For all three Trojans, the 2026–27 season carries real stakes. But none more than Bronny, who finally gets the unobstructed runway he's been waiting for — and will have no one else to credit, or blame, for where it leads.

The Lakers' offseason has a recurring character, and his last name is the whole point.

Bronny James, the USC product drafted by Los Angeles in 2024, has become the focal point of the franchise's identity crisis following LeBron James' departure to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. Multiple reports from the week of Aug. 23 frame Bronny not just as a roster question but as a symbol — the last visible artifact of the LeBron era, and a decision the new-look Lakers may feel pressure to resolve.

The Trade Chatter

FanSided floated four potential trade scenarios centered on moving Bronny, framing any such deal as the cleanest way for the franchise to formally close the LeBron chapter. The premise is pointed: retaining Bronny makes it harder for the organization to signal a genuine reset.

The most concrete scenario to surface came from The Sporting News, which projected a three-team deal that would send Bronny to the cross-town rival Clippers in exchange for a $60 million former first-round pick — a paint-presence big the Lakers reportedly covet to fill frontcourt gaps alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The optics of a Lakers-to-Clippers move would be jarring, but the basketball logic, per the report, is straightforward.

A separate Sporting News analysis went further, urging the Lakers to remain open to parting ways with Bronny mid-season if he fails to carve out a meaningful role in the new Doncic-led system. The argument: loyalty to the James name shouldn't override roster construction, and Bronny will need to demonstrate he belongs independent of the legacy that got him drafted.

Not every report is pushing Bronny out the door, though. Another Sporting News piece noted that the Lakers are expected to retain a veteran defensive stalwart — valued at $48 million — over cutting Bronny, Dalton Knecht, or Jaden Hardy from the rotation bubble. That suggests the front office, at least for now, isn't treating Bronny as the easiest salary to move.

Off the court, Yahoo Sports reported that Bronny may be navigating personal change as well, noting social media activity that fueled speculation about a split from longtime girlfriend Parker Whitfield, whom he had been dating since high school.

DeRozan Lands in Denver

Away from the Bronny noise, fellow USC alum DeMar DeRozan had his own offseason headline: a reported signing with the Denver Nuggets. The Sporting News revealed that DeRozan turned down the Miami Heat — where Klay Thompson landed a starting role — specifically because Miami was unwilling to guarantee him a starting spot over Thompson. Denver offered what Miami wouldn't. The Nuggets are now projected to add another veteran alongside DeRozan to round out their roster on a budget deal, per a separate Sporting News report.

DeRozan, one of the more decorated USC alumni in NBA history, adds a proven scoring guard to a Nuggets team built around Nikola Jokić and in need of perimeter juice.

The Bigger Picture

Two USC alumni, two franchises recalibrating. DeRozan made a clean, empowered choice about where he wanted to land. Bronny's situation is murkier — subject to trade speculation, roster politics, and the weight of a legacy that followed him into the league. How the Lakers handle the next few months will say as much about their organizational direction as any other offseason move they make.