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Bronny James’s playmaking is the actual subplot worth tracking in LA — Luka’s shot will be fine
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 114-110 Thursday to move to 2-1 in the preseason, and the conversation will center on Luka Dončić’s shooting slump — but that’s the wrong place to look. The Bronny James playmaking Lakers storyline is quietly becoming the most consequential development of this early stretch, and it deserves a cleaner read than it’s getting.
Luka’s Efficiency Concern Is Real but Overstated
Dončić led all scorers with 23 points despite connecting on just 6 of 16 field-goal attempts. Across two preseason games he’s sitting at 11-of-28 from the floor — not pretty. But the reason to pump the brakes on the panic: he went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line Thursday night. That’s the Dončić baseline. Even when his jumper is cold, he manufactures points through contact and IQ. A logo three to beat the shot clock that somehow fell in is a useful reminder that his bad games come with highlights nobody else on the floor could produce. October shooting numbers from a guy recalibrating to a new roster are noise.
Bronny James Playmaking Lakers Rotation Into Relevance
Here’s what actually matters: Bronny James posted 6 assists and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench, finishing with 4 points on 1-of-3 shooting. Per Bleacher Report, he’s averaging 4.3 assists per game through three preseason outings. The shooting — 30.8 percent on the preseason — remains a legitimate worry, and the sample against Sacramento was thin enough (three attempts) to reserve judgment. But the passing? That’s substantive. Six dimes in 22 minutes from a guard who was largely invisible as a creator last season signals something real is developing under head coach JJ Redick.
The context that matters here: LeBron James is no longer on the roster. That departure punches a massive hole in Los Angeles’s playmaking infrastructure. Dončić and Austin Reaves will carry the primary load, but neither can be on the floor every minute — and the drop-off to the next option has historically been steep. If Bronny can legitimately operate as a backup point guard and keep possessions moving when the stars rest, Redick suddenly has a rotation piece he can trust rather than hide.
The Second-Order Effect Nobody Is Talking About: Bronny as the Emergency Valve
Think about what a credible Bronny James actually unlocks for this roster beyond the obvious. Every contending team hunts for mismatches against opposing bench units — the two-minute stretches where a star’s backup runs into trouble and the other team goes on a quick 8-2 run. If Bronny can hold serve as a passer and defender in those windows, it reduces the pressure on Dončić to log massive minutes early in the season. Load management has become a real variable for stars of Luka’s usage rate. A backup guard who can genuinely run an offense — even a simple one — is the difference between a coach feeling comfortable sitting a starter at the end of the third quarter and feeling forced to leave him in. The Bronny James playmaking Lakers equation has downstream effects on Luka’s health and availability across an 82-game season. That’s not a minor footnote.
Los Angeles returns to action October 13 against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas. Watch whether Bronny’s assist numbers hold up against a defense built to exploit young point guards — that’s the real test.
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