The Philadelphia 76ers may pursue a trade for Bronny James, son of star forward LeBron James, following LeBron's decision to sign with the team on a reduced contract. The potential move raises questions about how such a trade would be structured between the 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
One proposed trade scenario involves the 76ers acquiring Bronny James, who is entering his third NBA season, in exchange for either Dalen Terry or Jabari Walker and one of Philadelphia's multiple second-round picks in upcoming drafts. Bronny James is set to earn $2.3 million in the 2026-27 season, a figure less than the non-guaranteed $2.6 million salary for Terry and the partially guaranteed $2.6 million for Walker next season. To accommodate LeBron James under the salary cap, the 76ers would need to waive either Terry or Walker after acquiring Bronny.
For the Lakers, this trade would allow them to gain an asset, a second-round pick, for Bronny James and potentially waive either Terry or Walker, keeping their roster at 15 players on standard contracts with minimal cap implications. The Lakers drafted Bronny James with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, making him and LeBron the first father-son duo in league history. During his time with the Lakers' G League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Lakers, Bronny James showed significant improvement, particularly in his shooting percentages and assist-to-turnover ratio during his second season.
He appeared in 42 regular-season games for the Lakers in the 2025-26 season and became a regular rotation player after injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. In the final 10 games of that season, he averaged 5.6 points while shooting 35.7% from three-point range. Bronny James also played in eight of the Lakers' 10 playoff games, including a notable stretch where he and LeBron James scored 10 consecutive points in Game 3 of their first-round series victory against the Houston Rockets. If Bronny James remains with the Lakers, he would likely compete for reserve backcourt minutes against players like Collin Sexton, rookie Cameron Carr, and Jaden Hardy.