JJ Redick wants Bronny James to study Cason Wallace. Image via: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Bronny James got a reading list from JJ Redick before the Lakers even opened camp for 2026-27. The assignment is a tape of Cason Wallace, an Oklahoma City guard who built a starting role out of defense, spacing and doing what’s asked. James, entering year three, needs the same thing, a way onto the floor with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves already handling the ball.Wallace was the tenth pick in the 2023 draft. He wanted more shots and more control of the offense. Instead he leaned into a smaller role for Oklahoma City, and it turned him into a champion.
JJ Redick tells Bronny James to study Cason Wallace
JJ Redick reveals what Bronny James needs to do. Image via: Getty Images
JJ Redick’s ask lines up with what he told James a year ago, when he pointed him toward TJ McConnell and Davion Mitchell as models. Both of those guards get real touches running their own offense, which is a luxury James won’t have behind Doncic and Reaves. Wallace is the more honest comparison. The 22-year-old guard just made second-team All-Defense while averaging 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals in 26.6 minutes a night. He had six 20-point games and six with at least six assists, proof he can do more when a night calls for it.James is already saying the right things. “I’ll be off-ball when it is needed,” he told ESPN LA this summer, adding that he’s spent the offseason sharpening his shot and his ability to set up others. This is the mindset Redick is banking on. Los Angeles signed Collin Sexton to run the bench unit, and Doncic and Reaves will carry the first unit’s shot creation. There isn’t room for James to freelance. There is room for him to guard, space and finish.
Bronny James needs Wallace’s shot discipline and defense
Cason Wallace. Image via: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The numbers show why Redick keeps circling back to Wallace. Last season Wallace took 275 of his 288 three-point attempts with a defender at least four feet away, firing 3.7 of those looks a game without ever forcing the issue. James took over five threes a night across 20 G League appearances, but defenses will keep sagging off him until he proves he can make teams pay for it consistently.The gap is even more obvious in the defense. Wallace measured a 6-foot-8.5 wingspan at the 2024 draft combine, 1.3 inches longer than James’s, and he uses it to pressure the ball full court and jump passing lanes. James has produced 0.5 defensive win shares and negative 0.5 offensive win shares through two seasons, numbers that need to move before he earns a bigger role. Redick has already shown he wants the same defensive habits from James that he once pointed to in McConnell and Mitchell. Wallace is simply the clearest example wearing the right jersey.The clock on this experiment isn’t open-ended. Los Angeles holds a $2.4 million team option on James for 2027-28, and he hits unrestricted free agency the summer after. Wallace’s path shows exactly what buying in can turn into. Whether James takes the same route starts with how seriously he studies the tape Redick just handed him.