Sources: Bronny James to play first G League road game on Thursday

Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James will travel with the South Bay Lakers to make his G League road debut on Thursday against the Valley Suns in Tempe, Arizona, sources told ESPN.

The Lakers’ 55th overall pick has played in three G League games, all at home. James is averaging 8.7 points on 29.4% shooting, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks.

He is coming off his best performance with South Bay, scoring 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting with four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes in a win over the San Diego Clippers on Saturday.

James, 20, was recently sidelined for several weeks while dealing with a bone bruise in his left heel. The organization was cautious in James’ recovery, sources told ESPN on Wednesday, because the heel injury was affecting the same leg that required left knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus when he was in high school.

South Bay president and CEO Joey Buss told ESPN last month that James’ divided loyalties between the Lakers and their G League affiliate were not set in stone.

“That’s going to be fluid,” Buss told ESPN. “We’re going to do what’s best for their development. There will be a lot of things we’ll do for all of the assigned players, and decisions will be made based on where they are, the status of their injuries, how many bodies they need to practice. There are a lot of variables.” “So nothing unique for Bronny, he’s just in that system.”

The Lakers don’t play again until Friday on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves, so in theory James could play in Tempe on Thursday and be called up again to join Los Angeles on Friday in Minneapolis.

James’ father, LeBron, missed Wednesday’s practice for personal reasons, according to coach JJ Redick.