Bronny James has played 70 minutes in four preseason games, scored 11 points and turned the ball over 12 times. If you are looking for a reason to cut him, that is the reason. I still think the Lakers should keep him as the 15th man, because the other ballhandlers fighting for those minutes have not been better.
The Lakers have 16 players on standard contracts and room for 15, per Yahoo Sports. Jake Fischer posted this week that the Clippers waiving Cam Christie leaves the Lakers among the back-of-roster situations NBA personnel are monitoring before Oct. 19, and that he has heard the Bucks, Lakers and Grizzlies are all exploring trades. Someone has to go unless a trade reduces the count. The preseason box scores say it should not be Bronny.
What the four games say
Here is every preseason game, from the ESPN box scores:
| Date | Opponent | Min | Pts | FG | Ast | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 5 | at Sacramento (W 127-103) | 16 | 3 | 1-5 | 2 | 1 |
| Oct. 6 | at Golden State (L 98-124) | 21 | 4 | 2-5 | 5 | 3 |
| Oct. 8 | Sacramento (W 114-110) | 22 | 4 | 1-3 | 6 | 4 |
| Oct. 13 | Golden State (L 89-101) | 11 | 0 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 70 | 11 | 4-15 | 13 | 12 |
That is 13 assists against 12 turnovers, and he made 1 of 7 threes. He had 11 of the turnovers in the last three games. The Oct. 13 game against Golden State was the worst: 11 minutes, no points, four turnovers and a minus-18, the worst plus-minus on the Lakers’ box score. That is not fine.
I wrote about the bigger version of this in the Reaves and Doncic turnover piece: Bronny, Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy turned it over too much as a group, and the starters were not the only problem.
The competition is not better
Redick’s quote after the Oct. 8 win, per Yahoo Sports, named three players, not one. “If one of Luka or Collin is not in the lineup, then one of Bronny James or Jaden or Chris is going to play because we need another ballhandler,” he said, and added, “Those guys are going to have lots of opportunities.” Chris is Chris Mañon.
So set the three side by side over the same four games, from the ESPN box scores:
| Player | Min | Pts | Ast | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronny James | 70 | 11 | 13 | 12 |
| Jaden Hardy | 57 | 37 | 6 | 12 |
| Chris Mañon | 56 | 26 | 2 | 8 |
Hardy scores, and he has the same 12 turnovers as Bronny in 13 fewer minutes. Mañon has two assists in 56 minutes. Neither of them has played well enough to make Bronny’s turnovers look like the deciding factor. If the question is who handles the ball when Doncic or Sexton sits, Bronny has the most assists of the three and the same turnovers as Hardy.
The Oct. 13 loss is a fair example. Bronny’s four turnovers in 11 minutes were matched by Mañon’s four in 16, and Hardy had three in 15, per the ESPN box score. The whole second unit was sloppy against Golden State, and Mañon’s minus-16 sat next to Bronny’s minus-18. Cutting Bronny over that game misreads it.
I will give Hardy and Mañon their points: they are scorers, and Bronny is not. That is a different job from the one Redick described, which is bringing the ball up.
Why 70 minutes is not a verdict
Seventy minutes is a game and a half of real basketball. Last season Bronny played 375 minutes over 42 games, per Basketball Reference, and had 51 assists and 25 turnovers. That is a better than two-to-one ratio. His turnover rate was 17.5% and his assist rate 18.1%, per Basketball Reference, which is nothing special and nowhere near this.
Twelve turnovers in 70 minutes is about 6.2 per 36 minutes. Last season’s 25 in 375 is about 2.4. Four preseason games are not a larger sample than a season.
He also shot well last season for the role. He made 22 of 57 threes (38.6%) and had a .517 true shooting percentage, per Basketball Reference. The year before, in 2024-25, he made 28.1% on 32 attempts. His two-year mark is 34.8% on 89 attempts. The preseason 1-of-7 is seven shots.
What the roster spot is worth
Basketball Reference lists Bronny’s 2026-27 salary at $2,296,271 and his 2027-28 salary at $2,486,995, on the four-year, $7.9 million contract he signed on July 2, 2024. The cost is the roster spot, which goes to the player who plays when things go wrong.
The Lakers’ backcourt is Doncic, Austin Reaves, Sexton, Grimes and Hardy, and I argued in my case for Sexton leading the bench that the second unit has no settled ballhandler. Redick’s own description is that one of Doncic or Sexton missing a game sends minutes to Bronny, Hardy or Mañon. With 16 players for 15 spots, the Lakers can cut any of them, and Bronny is the one with the best assist numbers of the three this preseason.
If the Lakers move a player in a trade and get to 15 that way, nobody has to be waived, and that would be the cleaner fix.
What I would watch
Keep him as the 15th man, let him fill the minutes Redick said were coming, and judge him on regular-season games, not four preseason ones.
- The Denver game on Friday. One more look at Bronny with a real rotation around him. A clean 15 minutes with three assists and one turnover ends the argument for me.
- Whether the Lakers trade someone. If a trade drops them to 15, the decision is made for him.
- The opener on Oct. 21 against Golden State. If Doncic or Sexton sits, Redick has said who plays. Count how the ball gets across half court.
I would find a way to cut the 16th man before cutting a ballhandler the Lakers already have. Keep Bronny, and let him earn a minute.