Key takeaways from Bronny James’ 2024 NBA Draft Combine.

After lighting up NBA combine drills and impressing during athletic testing, Bronny James was an obvious draw for scouts during Tuesday’s scrimmages.

He finished with four points (2-of-8 shooting, 0-of-4 from three), four rebounds, two steals and three turnovers in 19 minutes, but there was still plenty to take away from the flashes, miscues and his overall mentality.

James will have one last chance to build up his stock on the floor on Wednesday in front of almost every NBA general manager and executive.

After that, it’s just workouts and interviews.Plays the Right Way…but to a Fault1 OF 5

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It took nearly the entire first half on Tuesday for Bronny James to even look at the rim.

On one hand, despite all the undeserved pressure, he doesn’t force plays for himself. Teammates have to enjoy playing with him. He looks up in transition and keeps the ball moving in the half court.

But on Tuesday, we saw him pass up opportunities to attack or pull up. He wound up committing a few turnovers due to his unselfishness. He tried too hard at times to try to get the ball to teammates.

No attempted or made field goals for most of the half seemingly added unnecessary pressure on James to start scoring. And that may have led to more thinking and thoughts when shooting—he missed all of his three-pointers the rest of the way.

It’s a good thing that James understands his limitations, or that he starts each game and possession without a personal agenda. But in an NBA combine scrimmage, where most players are looking to make personal statements, James’ mentality works against him.Good Shots in Rhythm That Just Didn’t Fall2 OF 5

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After an excellent showing during shooting drills on Monday, Bronny James missed all of his jump shots during his first scrimmage.

From a glass-half-full perspective, they were all good shots that came within the flow. He missed a corner three, mid-range step-back and a pair of pull-up threes.

There isn’t a point of nitpicking his jump-shot accuracy during one game in which he played just 19 minutes with teammates he’d never suited up next to. It’s more important to see that he was able to get clean looks in rhythm playing on and off the ball.

These were very makable looks that he created himself, whether it was by moving without the rock or picking the right times to step into space and fire. The narrative around his performance would have felt drastically different had he sunk one or two of shots he was drilling the day before.Impressive Touch3 OF 5

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Both of Bronny James’ field goals were converted off floaters. It was a good sign, considering he only hit two all season at USC.

On James’ first bucket, he lofted up a moon-ball before rim protection. You see players like Stephen Curry and Luka Dončić practicing these in warm-ups. James lacks some explosion off the dribble, so having a touch shot in the lane will be important for his ability to score at the next level.

His second bucket came on more of a traditional floater, on which he was also fouled. While the made field goal was what will show in the box score, the move he used to shake Cam Spencer was the real highlight.

Off-Ball Heavy Role

For some prospects, the downside of participating in scrimmages is that they can’t control their teammates or role. Ideally, Bronny James would have had more opportunities to handle the ball after he spent the year at USC playing off Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis.

James spent most of the game off the ball, waiting for opportunities instead of having much of a chance to create them himself.

It didn’t affect his decision-making; rather, it just resulted in a mostly quiet offensive game while he stood around or delivered short handoff passes to more aggressive scorers.

James clearly has a comfort level around the perimeter, as he didn’t cut often at USC or at all during his first scrimmage in Chicago. And assuming NBA coaches aren’t going to trust a young Bronny on the ball, at least early in his career, spot-up and off-screen shooting will need to become surefire strengths.On-Ball Flashes5 OF 5

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The highlight of Bronny James’ first scrimmage was the move he used to pick up his second field goal. He didn’t have many chances to handle the ball, but on one possession, he showed off some change of speed and wiggle to freeze Cam Spencer, gain a step and get into the lane for an and-1 floater.

Overall, he showed nice pace with his dribble. He’s never going to get to the free-throw line often. But he did demonstrate rhythm with his handles and footwork, getting to spots and separating into floaters, pull-ups or step-backs.

James was very efficient on his mere 19 ball-screen situations at USC, though it was mostly due to his ability to stop and pop, which still requires ball-handling command.

He’s never going to be labeled a point guard, but he continues to look useful enough on the ball with his ability to shoot off the dribble and make good decisions as a passer.

Source:https://bleacherreport.com