Jesus these videos are awful - how can anyone take them as evidence of anything. Right off the first play he's not doing anything to Ayton there - he's going for the offensive board. There is nothing wrong with this. Even in the screenshot you see Ayton is open for pull up 5 footer which eh is really good at. A few plays later he get mad for staying at the 3 point line and being wide open! Bronny may not make it as an NBA player but this is awful analysis.
So he had 3 TO's last night in 20 minutes forced into action against the "vaunted" Portland athletic wing defenders and such. AR had 8. He was a -2 in 20 minutes against NBA players with 3 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal and a block. Didn't score but only took 2 shots. https://www.nba.com/player/1642355/bronny-james
yeah, i already commented on the last one. i think slick is rightfully confused, because it's the same guy who thinks screaming profanity makes him correct in absolutely dog**** analysis (see, i can do it, too!). yeah...no. two things can be true--bronny probably isn't worth his roster spot AND he's also not a completely hopeless case as an nba player. his dad's paycut basically covered his salary, which was kind of painfully obvious and made me feel bad for the kid. and i get that others aren't getting the same opportunity he is. if i'm one of those guys, i'm annoyed for sure. but i'm not sure why fans are that riled up about it. worst case we wasted our 14th roster spot placating our declining franchise savior. feel like it's on the low end of stuff we've done (**cough**russ**cough**). might as well hope he can deliver on the gpII upside instead of wringing hands about it. i say this as i quietly hoped manon got his minutes last night, lol.
I think he is hopeless because he has never once demonstrated in the H.S or collegiate level that he was a good basketball player to begin with. What does hopeless mean? Because let's be honest, he's likely not getting another NBA contract after his current contract is over with. You and I both know that. Look, I'm rooting for the guy. I hope he does well and creates a niche specialty that is needed around the league. His trajectory and player comp was a Marcus Smart/Jrue Holiday-like player. So far, he's shown none of that. I do think the roster spot is an issue. I think a guy like Jordan Goodwin could step right in and give you 20 good minutes if needed. I think a guy like Bronny should right now, still be in college developing his game where he would get real minutes, real coaching (for his level of play) and competition that fits his level to where he can eventually develop into a better player. Instead, the NBA and LeBron rushed him into the NBA because it made for a great story to LeBron's legacy. In a way, it was selfish of LeBron to do that because I felt he wanted it more than Bronny really did. As it is right now, sorry, nothing about his game is attractive. And yes, I see 17 year old's in NYC who have that kind of athleticism... It's nothing to brag about. I'm in my late 20's and when I was in HS attending basketball games, players would do tomahawk dunks already... Come to NYC parks during the summer. You'll find organized pickup games from NYC local hoopers doing all kinds of stuff athletically. The litmus test is this: Would Bronny be in the league, known in HS, known in college, or even be remotely considered an NBA player if he wasn't the son of a top 3 GOAT of basketball? You and I know the answer is definitively, NO. He would never have been recruited even in the collegiate level.
I don't think high school stats are relevant, and we know he was injured in college and recovery from basically a heart attack. So let's compare Goodwin and Bronny in the only place we really can - G League. Goodwin at 23 and 26: 21/22 Season - 31 games - 32mins - 16/6/5 on 41/30/78% 24/25 Season - 14 games - 26 mins - 15/6/3 on 41/30/78% I picked a similar aged season and his recent season. Bronny at 20: 24/25 Season - 11 games - 34 mins - 22/5/5.5 on 44/38/82% I'm not saying Bronny was better in the G League, but he certainly wasn't worse. In the G League, he showed he can hit the three from the NBA line at a high clip. So far in the NBA he has shown he has the athleticism to stay in front of attackers and I don't see anyone picking on him. It's just offensively he is poor at the moment. Regardless - we're talking about our 15th man here - not sure why people hate on the kid so much. Maybe he isn't an NBA player, but also, maybe he could become one by 27, which is the year Goodwin finally broke through. Who are you (or we) to dump on his dreams.
Good post except I think it would have been much less open for come back with last 5 words changed, considering for comparison you went way past just one more year or two .... to also comparatively "his" prime with 6 more years of work on his game and body ..... to "with such c*** suredness". Which borders on claiming a crystal ball. If Bronny had also just dropped 2 for 2 with one the 3 against Portland, then that stat line I posted makes this kind of career capping, ignoring willingness to work and "heart", presumptuous and illogical. That's all it's going to take. Just the shots to start dropping in the NBA. He's getting to places and getting himself open just fine to hit them. I'd assume he might just even be able to go to his left by then.
There's nothing wrong with saying that, at least for now, Bronny is a G League player, not an NBA player. The world is full of players who are a step or two below the NBA level, but unfortunately for him, he's part of that world. His last name probably forces him to push for an NBA career, because perhaps, given the type of player he is, he could find a much better career in Europe than there. The fact is, he has too many offensive shortcomings to be in the NBA, and while he's decent on defense, he's still very undersized if you ask him to play a certain type of coverage.
There's guys his size contributing all over the league and have always been, and you're going to go 6 years out with your crystal ball too? Why, when you acknowledged right up front "at least for now"?
i think it's also worth flipping the script and asking if he'd get the level of scrutiny others get if his dad wasn't who he was. there's not 10-minute youtube screeds picking apart pedestrian plays by nico mannion or whatever. if bronny's name was darius lipschitz, we'd be talking about our hope for his development. and svtzr's g-league stats were a better choice, but i've argued before that plenty of guys who looked bad in college have been drafted based on potential. sometimes much higher in the draft--don't even get me started on some of the overseas prospects. as for the last roster spot, i don't think having jordan goodwin back wins us either game we've lost so far. as slick said, if you're playing your 14th guy meaningful minutes, you're probably already in big trouble. that's a developmental spot.
we are paying him too much to give up on him. If it was only Lebron's feelings we were worried about, we could just cut him lol. But he has zero trade value with that contract right now, but why isn't he in GLeague? Have they not started yet? he needs repetition to improve as a pro. Hard to do that on the bench.
His slot could be Ben Simmons, Fultz, Dinwiddie, Oladipo, Banton, Alec Burks, Dinwiddie, Cory Joseph, Micic, Keon Johnson, THT, Monte Morris etc Vets or youngish talents that haven't found a place yet but are ideal end of bench solutions when you are plagued with injuries and want to remain competitive. Just another playable body. Especially if you already have a lack of depth. Bronny is a 2-way, and that's already a reach Every win counts in the West and this is where this Bronny experiment hurts us. It's ok, I get why we did it and all, but just a reminder as we probably need to refresh Bron's memory from time to time when he's b****ing for lack of 'respect' by the franchise. He needs to be held accountable on this one and appreciate the favor we did him (that I think we 'owed' him too)
Yeah. Not seeing how we win either game with someone else subbed in for Bronnie. Don't think we'd look any better in the losses either as one was due to the team not having time to gel and the other was because we literally played with about half of our roster. Every game we win without LeBron and now Luka is really just the team playing above its head. I don't think the 14th or 15th guy in the rotation is that big of a deal and agree that its a developmental spot. I think most of the hypothetical guys we could have signed are still available for a reason and sound better than they can actually play at this point.
When we have 7 guys injured, the 14th and 15th guys are hugely important, as they are now the 7th and 8th guys getting 20 minutes. This is not unforeseeable, with the number of injury risks we have. However, I don't think the argument is whether we SHOULD keep Bronny vs having someone else in that slot. I don't think that's what people want. It's us dealing with the fact that he IS in that spot, due to LeBron, so regardless of if you like it or not, it's happening. So we might as well root him on and hope he develops. Plus, he went -2 while Nick Smith went -13. He's not even the one hurting us the most. It's injuries and the distribution of 2-way minutes.
I think the last few lines are pretty much exactly how I see it. Particularly that I thought other players were worse and the injuries are the problem here.
Because those undersized guys can shoot, pass, or play smart basketball... Jesus Christ, this isn't difficult. This isn't a Make-a-Wish foundation. This is the NBA. The highest level of basketball in the world. I don't care if you're the 15th roster spot or 5th. If you're on an NBA roster, you are technically an ELITE basketball player. And Bronny is far from being good at basketball in general. Those other 6'2 undersized guys. You know what they were doing their entire career? PROVING EVERYONE WRONG AT H.S. and COLLEGE. Bronny didn't do that. He just got into the positions he was in because of his dad's pull. When you haven't proven anything but are given your position, this is inevitably what happens. Those 6'2 guys knew they wouldn't ever make it into the NBA if they weren't LeBron James son so they fought and clawed for every opportunity... hence, making them a better player. Hence, why Bronny should still be in college or at the very least, playing G-League games right now instead of being in the NBA so he can actually prove himself and develop as a player.
Your opinion is the only one that counts discounting 6 years out even since YOU with your crystal ball say it will NEVER happen, and ignoring everything anyone else says to keep saying the same thing over and over. Yeah I get it, that it's not difficult for you. Props.
