Bronny James, Shake Milton, Lonnie Walker IV

One of the bright spots for the Lakers at the Las Vegas Summer League was the noticeable improvement from second-year guard Bronny James.

According to Khobi Price of the Orange County Register, James looked significantly more confident and aggressive compared to his performance from a year ago.

In Summer League action, the 20-year-old averaged 14.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds. He showed the ability to get downhill and attack defenders, something that was missing from his early showings last year.

However, there’s still work to do. James shot just 29.6% from three-point range and remains inconsistent on the defensive end.

Still, the Lakers view his progress as encouraging. While expectations are tempered, his development in Vegas was seen as a meaningful step forward in what figures to be a closely watched rookie campaign.

Milton in Advanced Talks Overseas

Just days after being waived by the Lakers, veteran guard Shake Milton appears to be on the verge of heading overseas. According to multiple reports out of Europe, including Meridian Sport and BasketNews.com, Milton is in advanced negotiations with Serbian powerhouse KK Partizan Belgrade.

The potential deal is reportedly a three-year contract worth approximately $10 million and would include NBA out clauses — one through August 1 of this year, and additional exit windows in 2026 and 2027 through July 15. If finalized, this would mark the first overseas stint for Milton, who played college basketball at SMU.

A second-round pick in 2018, the 28-year-old Milton has logged 359 regular-season NBA games with six different teams. He spent his first five seasons with the 76ers before bouncing around over the past two years with stints in Minnesota, Detroit, New York, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles.

This past season, Milton averaged 5.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 14.7 minutes across 57 games with the Nets and Lakers, while shooting 45.3% from the field and 35.8% from three. The Lakers released him to help create room under the first tax apron in order to finalize the Marcus Smart signing, as his $3 million salary for 2025-26 was non-guaranteed.

Partizan competes in both the EuroLeague and the ABA League and is coming off an ABA League title this spring. The team already features several familiar names with NBA ties, including Jabari Parker, Frank Ntilikina, Sterling Brown, and Aleksej Pokusevski.

Walker Signs with Maccabi Tel Aviv

Free agent guard Lonnie Walker IV is also making the leap overseas, agreeing to a multi-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

While terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reports Walker will be among the highest-paid players in the EuroLeague.

Walker, 26, became an unrestricted free agent when the 76ers declined their $2.9 million team option last month. The Sixers’ cap situation played a role in the decision, despite Walker’s strong second-half performance. In 20 appearances for Philadelphia, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while providing much-needed scoring off the bench.

Prior to joining the Sixers in late February, Walker had brief stints with Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague and was waived by the Celtics before the start of the season. He previously played 322 NBA games with the Spurs, Lakers, and Nets.

Walker had reportedly received a two-year offer from Hapoel Tel Aviv and drew interest from EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid before committing to Maccabi.

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