The Lakers signed Nick Smith Jr. before the season started as a depth piece in the backcourt. With Luka Doncic and LeBron James out, Smith has been called on recently (30 minutes in the past two games) to provide backup point guard minutes to Austin Reaves. He's played more minutes than Bronny James, who fans figured would be in the mix after the injuries to the stars. Instead, Bronny is still fighting for minutes and not doing much when he's given them, evidenced by his 0 total points. It's been a rough go for the second-year guard.
The most obvious reason Smith Jr. is gaining JJ Redick's confidence while Bronny may be losing it is Smith Jr.'s ability to handle the ball and run the offense smoothly. His game has limitations, to be sure, and neither of his two games with the Lakers has been perfect (he's 3-11 from the field).
But the former Charlotte Hornets first-round draft pick looks far more comfortable than Bronny does with the ball in his hands, and he was at least a league-average shooter during his time with the Hornets, connecting on about 37 percent of his 3-pointers. Bronny's defensive upside may be greater — but at this point, Redick can't rely on Bronny on the other end, and the Lakers end up playing 4-on-5 most of the time. Smith Jr. keeps the offense moving, while Bronny still struggles with creating any space on offense or making the simple passes.
We know Bronny was never going to be an offensive engine for the Lakers, and it's not fair to expect that from him; but the disparity is drastic right now between Smith Jr. with the ball in his hands and Bronny with the ball in his.
Bronny James has big hurdles to earning regular minutes for Lakers
Signing Marcus Smart this offseason excited a lot of folks because, in Smart, they saw the best outcome for Bronny — a defensive-minded, 3-point shooting, connective passing guard. And there have been a few flashes of solid defense in Bronny's limited minutes, but his complete lack of offensive repertoire has kept him stationed on the bench more often than not.
JJ Redick letting Nick Smith Jr. get minutes the past two games has made it clear what he values in a backup guard, and it's unfortunately not any of the things that Bronny currently possesses. A reliable shot, a handle good enough to keep an offense in motion, and the ability to traverse defenses without being set up by a teammate. Bronny, if all goes right, can still be a defensive-minded guard off the bench. But that's a very tough archetype to develop into when it's the only possible lane for success.
Until something drastically shifts for Bronny, it will likely be Nick Smith Jr. whose minutes continue to increase in JJ Redick's rotation. When Luka and LeBron come back, maybe none of this matters! But it's a good temperature check for where Bronny stands in the minds of the Lakers, and it appears to be the outskirts of the roster.