Bronny James Stats Tonight: Lakers' $7.8M rookie barely escapes scoreless outing in massive preseason loss

$7.8 million rookie Bronny James made his preseason debut for the LA Lakers on Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had a solid defensive display but struggled to get going offensively. Bronny nearly returned scoreless. However, he avoided that with an excellent left-handed finish at the rim in the last minute.

Here are his stats for tonight's game:

Bronny James struggles in preseason debut but impresses with defensive display

After not getting any minutes in the first quarter, JJ Redick introduced LeBron James' son, Bronny James, in the second quarter as the Lakers trailed 39-23. Bronny had a solid defensive display upon his entrance as he got a successful chase-down block on veteran guard Nickeil Walker-Alexander.

He soon got his second block on fellow rookie Rob Dillingham, which led to a fastbreak 3-pointer from Rui Hachimura, assisted by Bronny. Similar to Summer League, the Lakers' 55th pick again struggled to impact the game with his scoring. He went scoreless in six minutes of first-half action, missing all of his three attempts. Bronny James' rotation pattern remained similar in the second half as he didn't get minutes in the third but played the entire fourth quarter. As good as he looked defensively, Bronny again struggled with his shotmaking. He went 1-of-3 from the floor in the second half, barely escaping a scoreless outing after making a layup in the last minute of the game. B

ronny showed promise on defense, nonetheless. He had a game-high three blocks. He also caused problems for the opposing team's ball-handlers as the point-of-attack defender. Bronny's impact on that end didn't entirely reflect on the box score, but it still struck out.

JJ Redick was also impressed with Bronny James' defensive contribution despite his lack of size, which made him a standout presence on that end of the floor. Redick assured the developmental program would help Bronny on offense as time goes by.

Nevertheless, the early signs are promising for the 19-year-old, who can carve out a role for himself in the long run. Bronny showed he has just enough to hang with the best of them, and with steady improvements, he can take the next step in due time.