For three games, the Arizona Wildcats were living an odd existence.
Bryce James was starting, for whatever reason, while playing very few minutes. LeBron’s son hadn’t played a second last year as he redshirted, and he wasn’t making an obvious case to keep starting, but in a 2-1 Arizona opening to the season, Bryce was out there to begin each game.
That changed on Friday night.
Arizona beat Auburn 80-69, but the most notable aspect of what happened was where Bryce James wasn’t — in the starting lineup.
Why Arizona Benched Bryce James
Arizona evidently decided that it made more sense to go with a different starting lineup, and the Wildcats then shortened the rotation so that Bryce didn’t see a single minute.
Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd did speak about the decision after the Auburn game.
“Bryce and I had a great conversation,” Lloyd said. “I wish I would have got him in the game. It just got tight there and we got the lead, it’s just one of those things when you get the lead playing a certain way, sometimes it’s hard to thrust a guy into that moment when he hasn’t been on the court much.”
Bryce had played 12 minutes per game and averaged 2.7 points through the first three games. He has made a bit of a defensive impact, but his offensive ability is limited.
While it wasn’t ever totally spelled out why Bryce was starting, it seems reasonable on paper that he isn’t anymore.
Bryce James Future
Now that Bryce has been removed from the starting lineup — and in this case given exactly 0 minutes in a game — the questions will start.
Will he transfer?
Arizona made clear last year that the developmental plan for Bryce was to redshirt him for a year, so it wasn’t a shock that he remained with the Wildcats for this season to see what it could look like for him after a year of growth behind the scenes.
But if Arizona doesn’t feel comfortable playing Bryce for a single minute against a high-major opponent, it’s hard to see where he goes from here.
Lloyd likely will truly get Bryce into some future games in spots that he didn’t find against Auburn, but there’s a clear line of demarcation that has been set at Arizona, and it appears Bryce is on the less useful side of it.
His future is still to be determined, but the questions will start as this season goes along if Bryce continues to spend quality time on the bench.
Arizona Finally Makes Blatant Decision With LeBron’s Son Bryce James