Second-round pick Adou Thiero is out with an injury, but Bronny James and Dalton Knecht are back for a second year of Las Vegas Summer League. Their teammates include a number of players who have quite a bit of experience for a Summer Leaguer, perhaps in order to give the Lakers sophomores their best chance to succeed.

Thursday in the Dallas Mavericks’ 87-85 win, the Lakers started Darius Bazley, a 25-year-old forward with six years of NBA experience, alongside Cole Swider, a 26-year-old playing his fourth season of Summer League and guard D.J. Steward, who first played Summer League in 2021. Swider scored 22 points and sank six three-pointers Thursday night.

Summer League can be a mixed bag for young players, as teams don’t have much time to practice together and coaches adjust rotations on the fly. Even the referees are trying for bigger and better jobs. But players returning to Summer League for a second season, especially when they were drafted, should thrive.

That wasn’t the case for James on Thursday, as he scored eight points. Knecht scored 15 points in 26 minutes, but didn’t exactly dominate the way the Lakers would hope a 24-year-old first-round pick might.

L.A. has 25-year-olds Trey Jemison and Christian Koloko, both two-way players last season, playing center, and 26-year-old Sir’Jabari Rice at guard. Perhaps the Lakers are primarily evaluating players to take their two-way deals or stock the roster of their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. But the presence of so much big and experienced players should be taking pressure off Knecht and James, and both aren’t delivering.

In earlier games at the California Classic, both James and Knecht shot under 40 percent. There’s another possibility, however.

James averaged 12 minutes at the Classic and played 21 minutes Thursday. With reports that the Lakers have soured on the elder LeBron James, perhaps the organization isn’t as focused on giving Bronny James developmental opportunities and playing time. The team included Knecht in an aborted trade for Mark Williams before the deadline.

If the Lakers aren’t committed to either second-year player long-term, maybe they really are focused more on the G League than the NBA team in Vegas. That’s bad news for Knecht and James, but great news for Swider.