ORLANDO, Fla. — Properly, the glass-one-quarter-full perspective on the Bronny James Present this weekend is to say it might have been worse. However it definitely might have been higher.
The NBA G League Winter Showcase got here to Orlando, Fla., this weekend, and with the Los Angeles Lakers’ choice to assign James for this occasion, he instantly turned the star attraction, with each video games nationally televised.
This was a 20-year-old rookie enjoying his third month {of professional} basketball, and I’ve definitely seen extra tragic performances from younger prospects studying the arduous means at this degree. However on a court docket largely full of gamers whose NBA careers might be measured in 10-day increments, James failed to face out and at instances struggled to maintain up.
He bought off to a scorching begin in his first recreation Thursday en path to a 16-point, five-assist night time however struggled badly in the second (six factors, seven assists, six turnovers) and was stricken by cringe ballhandling miscues in each. Single-game plus-minus is fairly unreliable, however James taking house a minus-13 in a recreation his group gained by 16 on Saturday conformed with the final eye check.
Based mostly on James’ different G League performances, these two video games weren’t outliers. James drew consideration earlier this month by scoring 30 factors in a G League recreation in opposition to the Valley Suns, however that was far and away his finest outing. In his different seven video games at this degree, he’s shot simply 24 of 76 with an alarming turnover charge.
No, we don’t have this degree of scrutiny for different late second-round spherical picks, lots of whom have struggled simply as badly or worse of their first two G League seasons (*cough* Maxwell Lewis *cough*). At the very least three gamers drafted forward of James have been demonstrably worse of their G League minutes this season, and a number of other others have failed to tell apart themselves as notably higher.
However in case you’re searching for one thing to get enthusiastic about, Lakers followers, I’m undecided I’ve a lot for you simply but.
Let’s begin with the positives. James confirmed some flashes of pick-and-roll viability in his on-ball reps, particularly when he might begin the transfer with a tough dribble left across the display screen. He was snug attending to a right-handed floater going that means and even handed about snaking it again to his proper hand to both get to the rim or power a rotation and hit the massive man.
In grab-and-goes and different transition conditions, his hit-ahead passes have been on level and brought on issues for opponents. James additionally confirmed his two-footed leaping capacity at instances, together with a powerful site visitors rebound Saturday and a flying swat in transition.
Sadly, that didn’t offset the opposite areas wherein he fell brief. Typically a participant able to contribute on the NBA degree will cook dinner G League defenses fairly simply, particularly an aspiring guard. James’ South Bay teammate Devonte’ Graham, for example, rolled in off his sofa and scored 24 on Saturday after going unsigned following his 2023-24 season in San Antonio.
For James, that didn’t occur. He struggled to manage his dribble at a number of factors, a pink flag for a small guard who’s listed at 6-foot-3. In Saturday’s second half, he dedicated the holy trinity of turnovers attempting to carry the ball up in opposition to stress, getting his dribble picked on one journey, failing to clear the backcourt in eight seconds on one other and wandering again into the backcourt on a 3rd. Asking him to play the purpose seems like an entire non-starter.
Within the half court docket, he might work with a display screen, however isolations have been a special story. James has no wiggle to his recreation and couldn’t shake defenders in one-on-one matchups after switches and hasn’t established himself as a professional 3-point menace both on or off the ball. He made two of his eight makes an attempt from 3 in Orlando and is 7-of-33 from distance in his G League season. Between that and his restricted capacity to get to the cup on his personal steam, his true capturing proportion of 45.4 heading into Saturday was alarmingly poor.
Of maybe equal concern is that James’ probably position on the NBA degree can be as an athletic power man, however his motor simply doesn’t appear to run that scorching and lower out at a number of completely different factors. James is an effective athlete with a robust body, however you don’t “really feel” him in the middle of a recreation as a result of his exercise degree is so low. Notably, there have been a number of moments when he lazed again in transition moderately than sprinting again to intervene with an opposing break; off the ball, he wasn’t practically as energetic or handsy as you’d hope for a small guard.
In what is maybe a associated story, fatigue gave the impression to be an actual concern for him in each video games, particularly after a couple of minutes on the court docket. It was solely two video games, however watching him right here, it certain appeared like he’d begin every stint on the court docket with two or three good minutes, after which his glitch charge would undergo the roof quickly after.
Finally, the takeaway from many right here to chronicle his efficiency was to go forward and get accustomed to our environment, as a result of we’ll most likely be doing the identical factor once more subsequent 12 months. The identical might be stated of lots of the gamers right here, particularly the late draft picks, however solely one in every of them is the son of a legendary celebrity.
(Picture of Bronny James: Scott Audette / NBAE through Getty Photographs)
