As training camp and the 2026-27 NBA season slowly approach, it is time to start taking a look at what each member of the Los Angeles Lakers should be working on this summer and how each of them can help the team be as successful as it can be.
Therefore, LeBron Wire is outlining three goals for each Lakers player this coming season. We start with AK Okereke, a forward who played at Cornell University and Vanderbilt University and was signed by L.A. to a two-way contract as an undrafted rookie.
Improve from 3-point range
To play the forward or wing position in the NBA, one has to be, at the very least, a satisfactory 3-point shooter. Okereke has shown some signs of being just that.
During his three years at Cornell University, he struggled from the outside. But last season
with the Commodores, he shot 40% from downtown while attempting nearly three treys a game. He continued on that trajectory during the main NBA summer league in Las Vegas last month by making 38.6% of his 3-point attempts in his five games there.
The Lakers need reliable perimeter shooters around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, and Okereke could make a decent living in the NBA by being that type of player.
Defend at a high level
Another thing the Lakers need, even more than outside shooting, is perimeter defense. At 6-foot-7 and roughly 245 pounds, he could help in that category.
Scouting reports have called him a versatile defender who is mobile, can move around screens and stays engaged when his man doesn't have the basketball. During the Las Vegas summer league, he averaged 0.4 steals and 0.6 blocks in 16.6 minutes a game.
Work hard and appreciate every moment
Okereke had to get to this point the hard way. He didn't get any scholarship offers from any Division I school to play basketball, but thanks to his high grade point average and SAT scores in high school, he got into Cornell University purely based on academics, the way most non-athletes do.
He was a walk-on for their basketball team, and after making the roster, he worked hard and started to earn more playing time. He shouldn't treat his two-way contract with the Lakers as a destination, but rather as the next step to something bigger and better for himself.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player goals for 2026-27 season: AK Okereke
