LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers play basketball in just two days when they travel to Sacramento for their first preseason game on Monday. While the team has been hard at work through the first week of training camp, some of the two-way guys are starting to make an impression, most notably Chris Mañon.
“Particularly the first two days, I thought both [Arthur Kaluma and AK Okereke] were (a) really physical part of that wing group,” Redick said after practice on Saturday. “Chris on Thursday and Chris again
today in live play — he’s gotten some exposure with the purple team because we wanted to have scoring balance on both sides — he’s been fantastic the last two days in live play and scrimmages.”
Redick added that he views Kaluma and Okereke as 3-and-D wings within the structure of the Lakers system and Mañon as a guard-wing hybrid.
“There’s a little bit of redundancy with our two-ways this year, which we view as a really good thing because, if we can develop Adou [Thiero] and develop Cam [Carr] and develop these guys into functional rotation NBA players over the next 12 to 24 months, it changes our ceiling,” Redick said.
More practice, more defined roles
The Lakers have five preseason games this season, which is down from six last year. While Redick doesn’t like a shortened preseason, he admits having one less game this year gives the team more time to practice and go into the regular season with a better pace.
“I want to say we had six real practices in preseason last year. This year we’ll have at least 12,” Redick said. “Generally, we could get a more productive preseason and training camp … we can actually space things out a little bit more, get these guys more live play, really take our time with teaching.”
On that note, more time gives the coaching staff and players more opportunity to define roles. It’s an interesting situation for someone like Bronny James, who, despite entering just his third season, is the third-longest tenured Laker on the team behind Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt. James is balancing fighting for a rotation spot while also stepping into a role where he’s viewed as a leader to many of the fresh faces in the locker room.
“Crazy, right? AR keeps calling me a vet. I’m like, ‘I guess,’” James said. “I come in every day trying to get better and better myself as a point guard. Just taking those steps and encouraging my guys and getting them in the right spot.”
Matisse Thybulle has been the source of much of the praise coming out of training camp for his defensive ability. He, too, is in the competition for the fifth starting spot as one of the team’s best point-of-attack defenders.
Before Los Angeles, he’s traveled around the league playing in varying roles either in the starting lineup or on the bench, but he’s maintained that, regardless of where he’s slotted, he’ll impact winning.
“I leave those decisions up to the coaches,” Thybulle said Saturday on whether he believes he should start. “For me, if my teammates are happy with how I’m playing, if the coaches are happy with how I’m playing, that’s a good sign to me that I’m doing a good job. But if that means I’m coming off the bench, if that means I’m starting, I trust that the coaches know how to use me best to create the most impact and go with that.”
Kessler from deep
Towards the end of practice on Saturday, we were able to see Walker Kessler work on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and pick-and-roll/pick-and-pop drills. From what I saw — and brace yourselves, Lakers fans — his jump shot doesn’t look bad at all.
Kessler upped his 3-point attempts per game from 0.3 in his first three seasons to 1.6 in the five games he played last year before missing the rest of the year with a shoulder injury. He’s noted multiple times this offseason that spacing the floor has been a focus in his game.
Coming in as one of the best archetypes to play alongside Luka Dončić, an ability to space the floor only elevates Los Angeles’ offense.
Other Notes:
- JJ Redick still hasn’t revealed the availability of any player going into Monday’s preseason game. He says they are “still working stuff.”
- Bronny is still weighing 215-220 pounds, but attributes his slimmer frame to a better diet and more running.
- Thybulle says Cameron Carr has been really eager to learn and receptive to the coaches. He said that he thinks Carr can really improve as reps increase.
