ORLANDO, Fla. — Nicely, the glass-one-quarter-full perspective on the Bronny James Present this weekend is to say it might have been worse. Nevertheless 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 approach at this stage. However on a courtroom largely full of gamers whose NBA careers shall be measured in 10-day increments, James failed to face out and at instances struggled to maintain up.
He received off to a sizzling begin in his first recreation Thursday en path to a 16-point, five-assist evening however struggled badly in the second (six factors, seven assists, six turnovers) and was tormented by cringe ballhandling miscues in each. Single-game plus-minus is fairly unreliable, however James taking dwelling a minus-13 in a recreation his staff gained by 16 on Saturday conformed with the overall eye take a look at.
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 towards the Valley Suns, however that was far and away his finest outing. In his different seven video games at this stage, he’s shot simply 24 of 76 with an alarming turnover fee.
No, we don’t have this stage of scrutiny for different late second-round spherical picks, a lot of whom have struggled simply as badly or worse of their first two G League seasons (*cough* Maxwell Lewis *cough*). At the 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 differentiate themselves as notably higher.
However when you’re in search of one thing to get enthusiastic about, Lakers followers, I’m unsure 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. He was snug attending to a right-handed floater going that approach and even handed about snaking it again to his proper hand to both get to the rim or drive a rotation and hit the large man.
In grab-and-goes and different transition conditions, his hit-ahead passes have been on level and prompted issues for opponents. James additionally confirmed his two-footed leaping means at instances, together with a powerful visitors rebound Saturday and a flying swat in transition.
Sadly, that didn’t offset the opposite areas through which he fell brief. Typically a participant able to contribute on the NBA stage will prepare dinner G League defenses fairly simply, particularly an aspiring guard. James’ South Bay teammate Devonte’ Graham, as an 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 purple 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 convey the ball up towards strain, 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 looks like a whole non-starter.
Within the half courtroom, he might work with a display, however isolations have been a unique 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 risk 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 means to get to the cup on his personal steam, his true taking pictures share of 45.4 heading into Saturday was alarmingly poor.
Of maybe equal concern is that James’ probably function on the NBA stage can be as an athletic power man, however his motor simply doesn’t appear to run that sizzling and lower out at a number of totally different factors. James is an effective athlete with a powerful body, however you don’t “really feel” him in the middle of a recreation as a result of his exercise stage is so low. Notably, there have been a number of moments when he lazed again in transition fairly than sprinting again to intrude with an opposing break; off the ball, he wasn’t almost as energetic or handsy as you’ll hope for a small guard.
In what is maybe a associated story, fatigue appeared to be an actual concern for him in each video games, particularly after a couple of minutes on the courtroom. It was solely two video games, however watching him right here, it certain appeared like he’d begin every stint on the courtroom with two or three good minutes, after which his glitch fee would undergo the roof quickly after.
In the end, the takeaway from many right here to chronicle his efficiency was to go forward and get acquainted with our environment, as a result of we’ll in all probability be doing the identical factor once more subsequent 12 months. The identical might be mentioned of a whole lot of the gamers right here, particularly the late draft picks, however solely one among them is the son of a legendary celebrity.
(Photograph of Bronny James: Scott Audette / NBAE through Getty Photographs)