Getty Alex Caruso of the Los Angeles Lakers drives against Bruce Brown.
With a much thinner Summer League roster compared to years past, the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking to bring on board nearly an entire roster of players to help fill it out. 46th overall pick Talen Horton-Tucker should be expected to compete alongside returning players Jemerrio Jones, Isaac Bonga, and Moritz Wagner – assuming they don’t get traded.
Outside of that, the Lakers have a completely blank slate to fill in how they see fit. Given their pressing needs at multiple positions, they’ve done just that since the draft ended.
Lakers Starting To Build NBA Summer League Roster
LA Lakers are starting to fill out their summer league roster with guards. Joe Young (Oregon) who averaged 36 ppg in China this past season, will be joined by Dakota Mathias (Purdue), who played in Spain.
Aside from targeting the pair of experienced guards for a spot on the Summer League team, the Lakers made a number of signings in the wake of the draft. Jordan Caroline, Aric Holman, and Devontae Cacok are all signed to Exhibit 10 deals while shooting guard Zach Norvell Jr. was signed to a two-way contract.
Caroline, Holman, and Cacok look to be interesting big men – though all come with warts. Caroline was a great defender and rebounder in college but is extremely undersized for the NBA while Holman is an athletic stretch big who struggles to maintain a passable level of consistency. Cacok is also a bit undersized but projects to be more of an offensive threat compared with the defense and rebounding that Caroline brings to the table.
Caroline’s Gonzaga teammate, Zach Norvell Jr., was solid at a lot of things but doesn’t stand out in any one aspect. A decent three-point shooter in college, the Lakers are hoping his shot from deep translates over to the NBA as they are desperate for shooting help. However, as his two-way contract indicates, he looks to be the type of player that needs some time adjusting to the increased speed and physicality of the NBA.
As for the more experienced players they brought in, Mathias was an excellent three-point shooter in college and shot 37% from behind the arc while playing in Spain last year. Standing 6’4″, he has decent combo guard size and could be an interesting weapon.
Meanwhile, Joe Young is a score-first point guard. The man affectionately known as “Joey Buckets” tore up China during his time overseas and is looking to try and make another NBA roster after cutting ties with Indiana in 2018. Young’s experience should help him stand out in Summer League and it will be interesting to see if he might end up cracking the actual roster.