With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Marcus Smart all out injured, it's hard to remain positive when talking about the Los Angeles Lakers' guard rotation. That is, unless your name is Bronny James. The overwhelming amount of injuries in LA's backcourt have opened the door for him to get more run down the stretch.
The development path for Bronny hasn't always been smooth, but over his last several games, he's shown significant improvement from where he was just a season ago. His development down the stretch is crucial, as aside from Luke Kennard, the Lakers are extremely thin at the guard spot.
The opportunity is all there for Bronny—it's just a matter of whether he can keep up. As of now, he is keeping up, and if he can continue on the pace he's on, the Lakers will be much stronger this postseason, regardless of their health.
Bronny now faces the biggest opportunity of his career
For a while, it looked like Bronny was going to make a name in LA off being an off-guard next to Luka that didn't have to handle the ball much and was mainly focused on getting stops. The Lakers' recent injury luck has completely changed his development path.
Now, the Lakers need him to be way more involved, which could be daunting for a young player. It's also important to note that Bronny is still a second-round pick. Even if his dad is who he is, it doesn't mean he should be looked at in a different light than any other second-round pick.
Outside of Smart, there shouldn't be any debate that Bronny is the Lakers' best defensive guard, and that skill alone has leapfrogged him over Kobe Bufkin and Nick Smith Jr. in the rotation.
What comes next is getting more comfortable handling the rock, initiating LA's offense, running pick-and-rolls, etc. To this point, he's already shown not just the willingness to learn how to do these things but also the elite basketball IQ needed to do them.
Although Bronny's jump shot still leaves a lot to be desired, that part of his game isn't going to get better overnight. What can improve in a short amount of time, though, is his lead guard skills.
With the Lakers' guard rotation depleted, Bronny has a great chance to get real reps as a lead initiator and really accelerate his development. This is the biggest test of his young career and will really show if he can be someone JJ Redick calls on moving forward.