A head coach saying a 22-year-old has not played well in preseason is not, by itself, a story. The context is.
The Los Angeles Lakers used the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Bronny James. JJ Redick’s blunt review now sits on top of a roster that has almost nothing to show for the draft classes around it.
Redick spoke on Tuesday night, after a 101-89 preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas.
“I thought he had a really nice September and a good summer with us. I don’t think he’s played well in the four preseason games, but he’s had good practices.”
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The head coach pointed to who Bronny James has been sharing the floor with.
“Some of it’s just rhythm, some of it’s who he’s playing with. He’s played a lot of minutes, especially in the second half of games, with our two-way guys.”
11 points, 12 turnovers in four games
Across four preseason games, Bronny James has scored 11 points on 26.7% shooting from the field and 14.3% from three. Against the Warriors he logged 11 minutes without a point and four turnovers. On the preseason as a whole his assists, 13, are barely ahead of his turnovers, 12.
He is 22 and in his third NBA season.
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Nothing cheap to pair him with
The brutal context is what surrounds him. The Lakers have 16 guaranteed contracts and a draft board thinned by the trades for Luka Doncic and Walker Kessler, with their 2029 first-rounder owed to the Mavericks from the Doncic deal.
The 2024 pick that produced Bronny was the kind of swing, a late second-rounder on a famous name, that teams make from a position of surplus. The Lakers made it from a position of scarcity, and the ledger has not improved since.
First NBA season without LeBron
The second-round investment was partly a bet on father-son continuity. That bet dissolved in the summer. LeBron James left the Lakers after eight seasons and signed a two-year, $8m deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. The 2026-27 campaign is the first of Bronny James’s career without his father in the same locker room.
The core in Los Angeles is now Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler.
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The Lakers have one preseason game left before the regular season begins.
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