Why Bronny James isn't playing more for Lakers in playoffs vs. Thunder

Why Bronny James isn’t playing more for Lakers in playoffs vs. Thunder originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Lakers are still shorthanded against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Luka Doncic remains out with injury, but that’s not helping Bronny James‘ playing time.

LeBron‘s son got some ample run late in the regular season, but that hasn’t translated to the playoffs, particularly after Austin Reaves‘ return.

Don’t expect that to change too much soon.

Bronny got just three minutes in the Game 1 loss to OKC, and there isn’t a great reason for head coach JJ Redick to up that total too much.

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Why isn’t Bronny James playing more?

The reality is that when the Lakers are mostly healthy, Bronny isn’t a key part of the rotation.

He played a lot late in the regular season when both Doncic and Reaves were out.

When even one of them is back, though, that removes a lot of opportunity from the guard rotation.

The Lakers currently have four healthy guards ahead of Bronny in the rotation:

Yes, LaRavia can play the small forward spot, too, and so can Smart, but in shortened playoff rotations it’s hard to do the math and get Bronny a lot of minutes.

Besides, he isn’t a super impactful scorer or playmaker. If Bronny isn’t doing positive things defensively, he isn’t a particularly key player to have on the floor.

With Jarred Vanderbilt sustaining a finger injury, Bronny may get a chance to play a bit more.

But as long as Reaves is playing, Bronny’s play time most likely won’t be too high.

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