Just as it appeared that the Los Angeles Lakers would keep Cameron Carr on a G League stint as he recovers from an oblique injury, the team decided on a whole new direction. Carr was dropped from the Lakers to the team’s Coachella Valley affiliate on Monday evening, in what was an apparent ramp-up from the persistent injury to his oblique muscle that has been holding him back from his NBA debut thus far. Lakers fans saw Carr score 19 points in 23 minutes three weeks ago in the preseason, and are more than a little curious about how he might add to this team’s bench.
First, he has got to get healthy. Perhaps the one day in the inland desert east of LA got him there. Whatever it was, the Lakers brought Carr back to the team about 24 hours after announcing they’d sent Carr down.
From Benjamin Royer of the Orange County Register on Tuesday: “The Los Angeles Lakers say they have recalled guard Cameron Carr from the Coachella Valley Lakers.”
Lakers See Cameron Carr’s ‘Extraordinary Talent’
The Lakers are 3-0 heading into Tuesday’s game, so they have not yet required the potential offense spike that Carr could bring. But the team, after landing Carr–who was a projected lottery guy–with the 24th pick vowed to get Carr on the floor sooner rather than later.
As GM Rob Pelinka said after bringing Carr to the Lakers: “I mean, extraordinary talent. The basketball tools are easy to see. Showcased them at Baylor in a big way. We did a deep dive into him as a person, and we’re really satisfied with the character and what came out in terms of the work ethic. … (We were) able to get some really good information about the human being.
“That’s such a big part of the equation. And I think what we’ve seen here with Cam is that he’s an extraordinary athlete and an incredible shooter, but he’s also a very curious and inquisitive learner.”
That’s promising. But what would be more promising is getting Carr on the court.
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