The Los Angeles Lakers will have their work cut out for them in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, where they will face Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. However, Los Angeles will start the series without the services of its two star guards, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, who are dealing with injuries suffered late in the regular season.

There is a chance that Doncic returns later in the series, but Reaves, who is dealing with a bad oblique, isn’t expected back until at least the second round, should the Lakers make it out of the first round.

Many have wondered if the injuries will mean an expanded role for point guard Bronny James, the son of Lakers star LeBron James.

On Wednesday, head coach JJ Redick confirmed that not only will the team indeed take an “all hands on deck approach, but that the staff had a lot of trust in what the younger James can bring to the table.

“We’re gonna have to have all hands on deck… I think Bronny’s improved a lot. I think, we trust him. The shooting piece I’m a believer in because of how well he shot it the last two years in the G league. I know there was a stretch recently where he didn’t shoot it well… he’s improved a ton defensively in terms of his body positioning both on and off ball. We want him to continue to evolve as a disruptive defender as well.”

Untouchable?

Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley recently joked that sports media are wary of criticizing Bronny, for fear that doing so will lead to an on-court confrontation from his father, like what happened last season with Stephen A. Smith.

“I’ll tell you what, we can’t say nothing bad about Bronny,” Barkley said. “We don’t want Bron walking up on us on center court.”

If Bronny shows the improvement that his head coach is talking about, there may not be much to criticize.