JJ Redick isn’t hiding the fact that Bronny James has struggled throughout the preseason, but the Los Angeles Lakers head coach isn’t sounding the alarm just yet.
Through four preseason appearances, James has shot just 4-of-15 from the field and 1-of-7 from three-point range, while recording 13 assists and 12 turnovers.
His struggles continued during Tuesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, where he finished scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting, committing four turnovers without registering an assist.
Despite the disappointing numbers, Redick believes there’s more to the story.
“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. Some of it’s just rhythm. Some of it’s who he’s playing with, right?” Redick told reporters following Tuesday’s loss. “He’s played a lot of minutes, especially in the second half of games, with our two-way guys and tonight we played with Rafael [Castro], who’s who’s been with us for three days. So some of it is like the group he’s with. I think that is not necessarily setting him up for success.”
James wasn’t the only Lakers guard who struggled against Golden State.
Jaden Hardy finished with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting, while Chris Mañon added five points but committed four turnovers. Los Angeles managed just 26 points in the second half.
Redick acknowledged that the team’s offensive struggles extended beyond James, emphasizing that the coaching staff also has a responsibility to put its younger players in better positions.
“We’ve talked to those guys. I mean, the reality is, again, if one of our three primary handlers are out, one of those guys…one of those guys is going to play,” Redick said. “It’s too taxing with full-court pressure for [Reaves] and [Luka] to just do that solely. We’ll keep trying to get better and those guys, their intent is there…Overall, it just was not a good offensive product in the second half and I’ll look at what I can do better with that too.”
With the regular season approaching, James still has work to do, but Redick’s comments suggest the Lakers are looking beyond his preseason numbers when evaluating his development.
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