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. Here, we take a look at Chris Mañon, a guard who came to the Lakers last season as an undrafted rookie and is currently on a two-way contract.
Improve as a 3-point shooter
Mañon is known as a tenacious defender who will get in the face of opposing ball-handlers and sacrifice his body for loose balls. But for him to get any playing time in the NBA, he will have to improve on the other end of the floor, and that starts with his 3-point shooting.
To this point, Mañon has struggled in that department. Last season, while in the G League, he made just 31.5% of his 3-point attempts in the tip-off tournament and regular season combined. In his nine games with the big league Lakers, he missed all three of his 3-point tries.
He also didn't show any improvement in the main Las Vegas summer league last month, as he shot 30% from that distance.
Provide some value in one other offensive category
Mañon likely won't transform his 3-point shooting right away. Therefore, he will have to provide help on the offensive end some other way.
He can do this in a number of different categories. He can cut to the basket, work the baseline, get open off screens or look to get out in transition on every single opportunity.
In a July 16 summer league game versus the Chicago Bulls, Mañon made five of seven shot attempts and scored a team-high 16 points in a 105-82 win. Before that, on July 6 in the final game of the California Classic, he logged 24 points on 7-of-10 field-goal shooting and even made two of his three treys.
Those two games should serve as a model for how Mañon should try to contribute offensively, as should a former Laker who was once also a summer league hopeful and two-way player.
Mañon should model his game after Alex Caruso
Caruso, a player who is still beloved by Lakers fans even though he left the team five years ago, once started out as a summer league player for the franchise in 2017. He did so well that he earned a two-way contract that summer, and the rest was history.
He has made a living in the NBA by being active without the ball, consistently moving into the open spots on the floor and hitting enough open 3-pointers, not to mention by being an absolute pest on defense.
Mañon is already something of a pest on defense. What he does on the offensive end will determine how far he goes in the NBA.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player goals for 2026-27 season: Chris Mañon
