Bronny James was clearly the center of attention from scouts during Tuesday's scrimmage after performing well in NBA combine practices and performing well on athletic tests.
He finished with 4 points (2-of-8 shooting, 0-of-4 from 3-point range), four rebounds, two steals, and three turnovers in 19 minutes, but had flashes, mistakes, and overall There was still a lot to gain. Spirituality.
James will have one last chance to improve his stock on the floor Wednesday in front of nearly every NBA general manager and executive.
All that's left is practice and interviews.
It took Bronny James almost the entire first half Tuesday to see the rim.
On the other hand, despite the undue pressure, he does not force himself to play. His teammates have to enjoy playing with him. He looks up in transition and keeps the ball moving within half court.
But Tuesday saw him miss opportunities to attack and pull up. He ended up committing some turnovers because he was unselfish. He sometimes tried too hard to get the ball to his teammates.
There were no field goal attempts or successes for most of the first half, which seemed to put unnecessary pressure on James to start scoring. And that may have made him think even more while shooting — he missed all of his remaining 3-pointers.
It's a good thing that James knows his limitations or starts each game or possession without a personal agenda. But James' mentality works against him in NBA combine scrimmages, where most players try to make personal statements.
Bronny James, who had a great performance in Monday's target practice, missed all of his jump shots in the first scrimmage.
From a glass half-full perspective, all of the shots were good shots taken in the flow. He missed a corner 3, a midrange stepback, and two pull-up threes.
In one game, he played just 19 minutes with a teammate he'd never played next to, but there's no need to criticize the accuracy of his jump shot. It's more important that he was able to play with rhythm on and off the ball.
These were very attractive appearances that he himself created by moving without stones, stepping into space and choosing the right time to set fire. Had he sunk one or two of the shots he practiced the day before, the story surrounding his performance could have been much different.
Both of Bronny James' field goals were made from floaters. That was a good sign considering USC only had two hits all season.
On James' first bucket, he lofted a moon ball up in front of rim protection. You'll see players like Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic practicing these in warmups. James lacks explosiveness off the dribble, so making touch shots in the lane will be important to his ability to score at the next level.
His second bucket was a more traditional floater, but he was fouled there as well. Every successful field goal counts in the box score, but the move that rocked Cam Spencer was the real highlight.
For some prospects, the downside of participating in scrimmages is not having control over their teammates or roles. Ideally, Bronny James would have had more opportunities to handle the ball after playing with Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis for a year at USC.
James spent most of the game off the ball, waiting for his chance with few opportunities to create of his own.
It didn't affect his decision making. Rather, it mostly just resulted in a quiet offensive game while he stood around or passed short handoff passes to more offensive scorers.
James clearly has a comfort level around the perimeter, as he didn't cut often at USC and didn't make any cuts at all in his first scrimmage in Chicago. And assuming NBA coaches don't trust the young Bronny with the ball, spot-up and off-screen shooting will have to be solid strengths, at least early in his career.
The highlight of Bronny James' first scrimmage was the move he used to pick up his second field goal. He didn't have much of a chance to handle the ball, but on one possession he showed a change of speed and wiggle that froze Cam Spencer, got a step and got into the lane for an and-one floater.
Overall, he showed great pace off the dribble. He doesn't get to the free throw line often. But he showed rhythm with his handles and footwork, hitting spots and breaking into floaters, pull-ups or stepbacks.
James was very efficient at USC with only 19 ball screens, but that was largely due to his stop and pop ability, which still required ball-handling command.
He'll never be labeled as a point guard, but he continues to look useful on the ball with his dribble shooting and good decision making as a passer.
