NBA Exec: Bronny James Has Been 'Set Up for Failure' by Lakers amid Recent Hype

As the most-hyped second-round draft pick in NBA history, Bronny James is facing a mountain of expectations the likes of which a player selected No. 55 overall has never faced.

Per ESPN's Baxter Holmes, a frequently shared opinion among executives and scouts from around the league is that James is being "set up for failure" as he begins his professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"You're set up for failure," one Eastern Conference scout who has evaluated Bronny for years told Holmes. "It's like, what's the expectation here?"

The biggest point of emphasis for those who spoke to Holmes is that being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers—who are always under an intense spotlight, which is only magnified because LeBron James plays for them—is the "worst possible situation for him to develop" as an NBA player, as one Western Conference executive put it.

An executive from an Eastern Conference team explained to Holmes that the "expectations" for James by the Lakers' fanbase, LeBron and Rich Paul "are not commensurate with the reality of his game" at this point.

"If they had any real idea of how far away Bronny is," the executive added, "they just would not have done this."

The thought leading up to the draft was that James would need to be in a situation that allowed him time to develop.

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman wrote in March that James' inefficient scoring during his lone season at USC "raised questions about his ability to create, finish in the half court and hit jumpers consistently" and he "hasn't demonstrated any single, convincing skill for scoring at the next level."

James shot just 36.6 percent from the field in 25 games for the Trojans. He didn't look much better in Summer League, connecting on just 35.0 percent of his attempts (15.8 percent from three-point range), albeit in a small sample size of four games.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick has said there is a plan in place for James to spend at least some time in the G League, but he also noted that Bronny and LeBron will play together "sooner rather than later."

Since the G League season starts after the NBA regular season begins, it does make sense for Redick to get Bronny playing time when possible. The South Bay Lakers' first game is on Nov. 9. Los Angeles will have played nine games by that point.

There is an intense level of pressure on the Lakers to be good this season with James nearing the end of his career and their recent regular-season struggles that have left them in the play-in tournament in each of the past two years.

That doesn't leave a lot of room in games to develop a rookie. James will get more coaching and training than a typical player drafted where he was, so any potential shortcomings won't be due to lack of attention from the L.A. staff.

It would probably be easier for James to enter the NBA if he wasn't on the Lakers with his father, but this is the situation everyone involved seemed to want to happen. It's up to both the Lakers and the 19-year-old to prove the skeptics wrong.

Our first indication of what Redick and the Lakers' plan for Bronny will come when they open the regular season on Oct. 22 when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.