The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing Bronny James by default of late.
A team without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves due to injury doesn’t have a ton of options, after all.
But in reality, Bronny has handled his increased playing time pretty well.
And it’s worth remembering: The Lakers made Bronny the 55th-overall pick in 2024. There aren’t exactly a ton of successful players drafted in that spot.
For a No. 55 pick, Bronny is doing well. Over his last nine games, Bronny is averaging 5.0 points, 1.0 assist and 0.8 steals per game.
He has games in that recent stretch of 4-for-8 (2-for 4 3FG) shooting and 4-for-7 (2-for-4 3FG) shooting.
He has two different games there with 10 points, another two with two steals, one with three assists.
Bronny isn’t seeing huge minutes, but he’s doing what he can.
It brought us down a rabbit hole to realizing that the Golden State Warriors also have a former 55th-overall pick contributing, Gui Santos, from the 2022 draft.
Santos is actually on quite the run. In his last five games, he has one game with 27 points, another with 25 points, a third with 10 rebounds and a fourth with six assists and two steals.
For a shorthanded Warriors team, the Brazilian forward has really seized his opportunity.
The last two seasons, he seemed like he had the skillset to be a role player. Now, he seems like he could be a long-term starter.
And when you think about it, Santos is a couple years further into his development than Bronny. Maybe he can be the path Bronny follows toward potentially finding an NBA starting role before his career is over.
Bronny didn’t even get a normal season of college basketball as he dealt with heart issues, which made his development even more halted.
Guys picked in that spot of the draft rarely make it. Bronny is doing his best to buck the trend, and Santos is some solid inspiration.
