The Los Angeles Lakers are heading out on a four-game road trip a little short-handed. Backup center Jaxson Hayes re-aggravated an ankle injury and will miss the next two to three weeks. The Lakers are already short-handed in the frontcourt with Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt yet to make their season debuts. Rookie guard Bronny James has been dealing with a left heel injury, and he got a new update ahead of the Lakers’ road trip.

Bronny James’ heel injury is progressing and he will be reevaluated in one week as he starts the process to return to the Lakers’ active roster, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Bronny was recently recalled from the South Bay Lakers in the G League in time for the Lakers’ home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, as well as for the upcoming road trip. South Bay is on a road trip of their own with two games against the Rip City Remix. The Lakers’  G League plan for Bronny this season is to only play in South Bay home games.

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The No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Bronny made history earlier this season with his dad LeBron James in becoming the first father and son duo to play on the same team together in the NBA. He signed a four-year, $7.9 million contract in the offseason.

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Following that moment, Bronny has been shuffled back and forth between the Lakers and South Bay. He appeared in only two games for South Bay before suffering the heel injury.

During those two games, he averaged 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 21.1 percent shooting from the field and 100 percent shooting from the free-throw line, at a little over 28 minutes per game.

While the efficiency is certainly concerning, it’s something that can improve with additional game reps. What is clear is that Bronny has the tools to be a good defensive player at the NBA level as well as a ball-handler and playmaking guard.

Bronny played one season of college basketball at USC before declaring for the NBA Draft. He has appeared in six games for the Lakers so far and scored his first NBA career points during the Lakers’ loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers back on Oct. 30.