Bronny James is off to a slow start in the NBA’s Summer League, but his new head coach is still confident he can become an impactful player for the Los Angeles Lakers.
JJ Redick, who was hired as the Lakers head coach this off-season, even compared the son of NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James to Canadian defensive specialist Luguentz Dort.
“(Dort’s) impact, you can’t get into your offence sometimes,” Redick said Tuesday on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “The shot clock winds down because of his ball pressure. … Bronny eventually will be that guy.”
Through Bronny’s first three Summer League games, he has failed to have much of an impact on the offensive end of the floor. James is shooting just 7-for-31 from the floor (23 per cent) and is averaging 4.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
He has shown flashes on the defensive end, which is also where Dort has excelled in his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Through his first four seasons in the league, Dort has developed a reputation as one of the league’s best on-ball defenders. He’s almost always tasked with guarding the other team’s most prolific guard, and he’s an important piece for an up-and-coming Thunder team that finished first in the Western Conference last season.
The native of Montreal has also made huge strides on the offensive end, as he averaged 10.9 points per game last season while shooting 43.8 per cent from the floor and 39.4 per cent from three.
Redick sees the same trajectory for Bronny, but admits the Lakers will be patient with him.
“He is a development player, that’s how we are looking at Bronny,” Redick said. “He’s certainly going to spend time with the Lakers. He will spend time as well in the G League. As we sort of build out our player-development program, he’s going to be an important part of that.”
Should Bronny make an appearance with the Lakers this season, he and LeBron would become the first father-son duo to play in the league at the same time.
