12 Minutes in the NBA: The Lakers demote Bronny James

B ronny James has been assigned to the affiliated team in the G League, the Coachella Valley Lakers . The 22-year-old, 1.88-meter point guard had barely been used by coach JJ Redick, and the franchise has decided that he should switch competitions in search of playing time so he can continue developing his game.

So far this season, Bronny had appeared in five Lakers games, spending a total of 12:23 minutes on the court . In that time, his numbers had been very poor: four points and no rebounds or assists . The worst figure was his plus-minus, which indicates a team's result while a player is on the court. With him, despite how little he has played, the Lakers have been outscored by 27 .

Recently, Bronny and the rest of the Lakers' bench players were criticized by Redick after blowing a big lead to the Raptors in one minute when the game was already decided. "I won't make that mistake again. I'll leave the guys on the court. You have to play until the final second, and if the bench players aren't ready to play, then I simply won't put them in," the coach said .

Good numbers in the G League

Bronny had already been sent to the G League in the previous two seasons , when he was with his father on the Lakers. The competition seems to suit his skill set better, since he has indeed delivered good performances there. In the 25 games he has played over those two seasons, the point guard has averaged 18.4 points on 49.6% shooting from the field, 4.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds .

Alongside the option of sending James to the G League, the Lakers were considering including him in some move that would allow them to strengthen the roster. For the time being, they have only demoted him.