ORLANDO, Fla. — Well, the glass-one-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, Fla., this weekend, and with the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to assign James for this event, he immediately became the star attraction, with both games nationally televised.
This was a 20-year-old rookie playing his third month of professional basketball, and I’ve certainly seen more tragic performances from young prospects learning the hard way at this level. But on a court mostly filled with players whose NBA careers will be 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 Thursday en route to a 16-point, five-assist night but struggled badly in the second one (six points, seven assists, six turnovers) and was plagued by cringe ballhandling miscues in both. Single-game plus-minus is pretty unreliable, but James taking home a minus-13 in a game his team won by 16 on Saturday conformed with the general eye test.
Based on James’ other G League performances, these two games were not outliers. James drew attention earlier this month by scoring 30 points in a G League game against the Valley Suns, but that was far and away his best outing. In his other seven games at this level, he’s shot just 24 of 76 with an alarming turnover rate.
No, we don’t have this level of scrutiny for other late second-round round picks, many of whom have struggled just as badly or worse in their first two G League seasons (*cough* Maxwell Lewis *cough*). At least three players drafted ahead of James have been demonstrably worse in their G League minutes this season, and several others have failed to distinguish themselves as notably better.
But if you’re looking for something to get excited about, Lakers fans, I’m not sure I have much for you just yet.
Let’s start with the positives. James showed some flashes of pick-and-roll viability in his on-ball reps, especially when he could start the move with a hard dribble left around the screen. He was comfortable getting to a right-handed floater going that way and judicious about snaking it back to his right hand to either get to the rim or force a rotation and hit the big man.
In grab-and-goes and other transition situations, his hit-ahead passes were on point and caused problems for opponents. James also showed his two-footed leaping ability at times, including an impressive traffic rebound Saturday and a flying swat in transition.
Unfortunately, that didn’t offset the other areas in which he fell short. Generally a player ready to contribute at the NBA level will cook G League defenses pretty easily, especially an aspiring guard. James’ South Bay teammate Devonte’ Graham, for instance, rolled in off his couch and scored 24 on Saturday after going unsigned following his 2023-24 season in San Antonio.
For James, that did not happen. He struggled to control his dribble at several points, a red flag for a small guard who is listed at 6-foot-3. In Saturday’s second half, he committed the holy trinity of turnovers trying to bring the ball up against pressure, getting his dribble picked on one trip, failing to clear the backcourt in eight seconds on another and wandering back into the backcourt on a third. Asking him to play the point feels like a complete non-starter.
In the half court, he could work with a screen, but isolations were a different story. James has no wiggle to his game and couldn’t shake defenders in one-on-one matchups after switches and hasn’t established himself as a legitimate 3-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 get to the cup on his own steam, his true shooting percentage of 45.4 heading into Saturday was alarmingly poor.
Of perhaps equal concern is that James’ likely role at the NBA level would be as an athletic energy guy, but his motor just doesn’t seem to run that hot and cut out at several different points. James is a good athlete with a strong frame, but you don’t “feel” him in the course of a game because his activity level is so low. Notably, there were several moments when he lazed back in transition rather than sprinting back to interfere with an opposing break; off the ball, he wasn’t nearly as active or handsy as you would hope for a small guard.
In what is perhaps a related story, fatigue seemed to be a real issue for him in both games, especially after a few minutes on the court. It was only two games, but watching him here, it sure seemed like he’d start each stint on the court with two or three good minutes, and then his glitch rate would go through the roof soon after.
Ultimately, the takeaway from many here to chronicle his performance was to go ahead and get familiar with our surroundings, because we’ll probably be doing the same thing again next year. The same can be said of a lot 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)
