ORLANDO, Fla. – Well, the glass-a-quarter-full perspective on the Bronny James Show this weekend is to say it could have been worse. But it certainly could have been better.
The NBA G League Winter Showcase came to Orlando, Florida this weekend, and with the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to assign James to the event, he immediately became the star attraction, with both games being nationally televised.
This was a 20-year-old rookie in his third month of playing professional basketball, and I’ve certainly seen more tragic performances from young talents who learned the hard way at this level. But on a court largely filled with players whose NBA careers are measured in 10-day increments, James failed to stand out and at times struggled to keep up.
He got off to a hot start in his first game on Thursday en route to a 16-point, five-assist night, but struggled in the second (six points, seven assists, six turnovers) and was plagued by ball-handling missteps in both games . . Plus-minus in one game is pretty unreliable, but James taking home a minus-13 in a game his team won by 16 on Saturday passed the general eye test.
Based on James’ other performances in the G League, these two games were not outliers. James turned heads earlier this month by scoring 30 points in a G League game against the Valley Suns, but that was by far his best performance. In his other seven games at this level he scored just 24 out of 76 with an alarming turnover rate.
No, we don’t have this level of scrutiny for other late second-round picks, many of whom have had it just as bad or worse in their first two G League seasons (*cough* Maxwell Lewis *cough*). At least three players drafted ahead of James have been arguably worse in their G League minutes this season, and several others have failed to stand out as noticeably better.
But if you’re looking for something to get excited about, Lakers fans, I’m not sure I have much left for you.
Let’s start with the positives. James showed some flashes of pick-and-roll viability in his reps on the ball, especially when he was able to initiate the move with a hard dribble across the screen. He was comfortable reaching a right-handed floater going that way and was wise in returning to his right hand to either get to the rim or force a rotation and hit the big man.
In grab-and-gos and other transition situations, his pass-ahead passes were correct and caused problems for opponents. James also showed off his two-footed leaping ability at times, including an impressive traffic bounce on Saturday and a flying slap in transition.
Unfortunately, that didn’t make up for the other areas where he fell short. In general, a player ready to contribute at the NBA level will be able to defend G League defenses quite easily, especially an aspiring guard. James’ South Bay teammate, Devonte’ Graham, for example, rolled off his bench to score 24 points on Saturday after not signing a contract following his 2023-24 season in San Antonio.
That didn’t happen for James. He struggled to control his dribble at several points, a red flag for a small guard standing at 6-foot-4. In Saturday’s second half, he committed the holy trinity of turnovers by bringing the ball in against pressure, getting his dribble on one trip, failing to clear the backcourt within eight seconds on another and wandered back into the backcourt on the third play. Asking him to play the point feels like a complete non-starter.
He could work with a screen in half court, but isolations were a different story. James has no play in his game and has been unable to shake off defenders in one-on-one matchups after substitutions, and has not proven himself as a legitimate three-point threat either on or off the ball. He made two of his eight attempts from 3 in Orlando and is 7 of 33 from distance in his G League season. Between that and his limited ability to reach the Cup on his own, his true shooting percentage of 45.4 heading into Saturday was alarmingly low.
Perhaps just as concerning is that James’ likely role at the NBA level would be as a guy with athletic energy, but his engine just doesn’t seem to run as hot and stalls out at various points. James is a good athlete with a strong frame, but you don’t ‘feel’ him during a match because his activity level is so low. Notably, there were several moments where he lazed around in transition rather than sprinting back to hinder an opponent’s break; off the ball he wasn’t nearly as active or crafty as you’d hope for a small guard.
In what may be a related story, fatigue seemed to be a real problem for him in both games, especially after a few minutes on the field. It was only two games, but watching him here, it seemed like he would start every stint on the field with two or three good minutes, and shortly thereafter his glitch rate would skyrocket.
Ultimately, the conclusion of many here to record his performance was that we should move on and get familiar with our surroundings because we will probably do the same thing again next year. The same can be said for many of the players here, especially the late draft picks, but only one of them is the son of a legendary superstar.
(Photo of Bronny James: Scott Audette/NBAE via Getty Images)