Lakers News: JJ Redick Breaks Down Expectations for Bronny James

L.A.'s raw young rookie has had a rough offensive go of it during Summer League.

Jul 2, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick (right) and second-round draft pick Bronny James at a press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Although he's not coaching the Los Angeles Lakers' Summer League squad, new head coach JJ Redick was in attendance at the team's first Las Vegas matchup on Friday night, an eventual 99-80 loss to the Houston Rockets.

The former 15-year NBA journeyman spoke with his former ESPN colleagues, Doris Burke and Mark Jones, about his expectations for 6-foot-4 rookie combo forward Bronny James, who's had an inconsistent offensive showing through his three healthy games thus far in Summer League.

ESPN broadcast asks JJ Redick on what he sees and expects out of Bronny James pic.twitter.com/LLdT8gXEBU

— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) July 13, 2024

"I thought the last game of the Cali Classic, defensively he was terrific," Redick said of James. "He had eight or nine possessions where, whether it was his ball pressure or switching, just making plays defensively, that's been a real point of emphasis in all my conversations in the times I have been with the team on the practice floor. We want him pressuring the ball. I told him yesterday, 'If you get blown by, if you have ten fouls, that's on me. I want you on the ball.'"

"What I'd like to see is a lot of ball pressure," Redick said. "We were at the Canada-USA exhibition, [and] obviously I'm not comparing Bronny at 19 to Lu Dort, who's an All-NBA defender, but you watch that game, and Lu Dort or Jrue Holiday — there's eight or nine possessions a game where they just completely take the offense out of what they're trying to do because of their disruptiveness."

James, the son of 20-time L.A. All-Star forward LeBron James, logged just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting from the floor against the Rockets, but once again had some nice defensive moments.

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