Lakers Summer League Impressions #3

*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*

Wow, now that felt like an NBA regular season game. The Kings-Lakers game was billed as the rubber match between Lonzo Ball and De'Aaron Fox. Even though it didn't happen, most of the crowd in Las Vegas got their money's worth in a fantastic finish. The Lakers managed to hold on to get their first Summer League win, outlasting the Kings 92-95. As usual like the previous posts, three headlines and a conclusion. Let's get to it.

No Ball? No Ingram? No Kuzma? No Hart? No Problem!

Lonzo Ball's groin injury deflated a lot of people in anticipation of another Ball-Fox matchup. Ingram's shut down for the rest of Summer League. Kuzma and Hart are out. This should be a cakewalk for De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and the Kings right? The injuries to all four players gives opportunity for the rest of the Summer League squad to compete and convince Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka, and Luke Walton that they deserve a shot to compete for a roster spot at training camp. Alex Caruso and Vander Blue picked up the slack. David Nwaba was solid again. Thomas Bryant had a bounce back game. Travis Wear made solid contributions. The Kings had that great run in the 4th quarter behind Buddy Hield, but I liked that these players kept their heads in the game and made key stops and key plays to seal the victory.

"You're Going to Training Camp!" - Alex Caruso, Vander Blue (Again)

Vander Blue is a regular invitee in the Lakers training camp, so I won't talk much about him. But, there's no denying he had a spectacular game, leading the Lakers with 21 points off the bench. He outgunned Buddy Hield during those last seconds of the 4th quarter. Alex Caruso though stepped up big, starting in Lonzo Ball's place. He recorded a near double-double of 18 points and 9 assists, shot four 3-pointers, and chipped 4 steals. Caruso made a key defensive play in that fourth quarter to swing a little bit of the momentum back to the Lakers. I'm seeing a lot "Caruso > Ball" comments on social media. Calm down people. He had a good game tonight no question, but Ball is the Lakers' long-term future. That's like the equivalent of saying Matt McGloin is better than Derek Carr because McGloin put up better numbers in preseason play. I'm sure my Raiders-Lakers brethren will understand that reference. But overall, Caruso played great tonight and unequivocally deserves a shot at training camp. At least he solves the backup PG uncertainty for now (sign Ennis or Rondo already Magic).

Nwaba Shines Again

David Nwaba's stats for tonight: 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks. His non-stop defense and energy and athleticism on offense is just infectious. The one thing that I'm disappointed about is that we haven't seen Nwaba's improved jump shot so far in this Summer League. We've heard reports about how he's improving his jumper in the offseason, but he couldn't showcase enough of that. But being an energy guy and a defensive specialist are the reasons why the Lakers are keeping him a little longer. He's earned his roster spot after a great sample size in the final games of last season.

Conclusion

I'm really impressed that this team did not back out from a challenge when all four of the Lakers' 1st rounders sat out. They knew that this was a make or break for them to capitalize on the opportunity to make the roster by Training Camp. The game got ugly late. They blew the big lead, but they found a way to hold it together and win. That's a hidden intangible that scouts and GMs are also evaluating during Summer League. Do these players have poise to pull it together when the going gets rough? The Lakers Summer League squad certainly passed that test tonight.

Well, I'd love to continue these posts, but like Magic Johnson calling off Brandon Ingram's Summer League season in the first game, I'm calling this off too. I've seen enough as I'm laughing while typing this post. But, if I continue this in next season, I'll probably consider going all the way to all five games. It's time to get ready for football season with the Raiders next month followed by the Lakers actual season in two months. Stay tuned for those main courses. I'll see you guys later.