Welcome back to the Lakers newsletter, where we’ve reached the “statement” portion of the summer.
After a busy wave of free agency, the Lakers made many of their offseason moves official this week: Jaden Hardy, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton and Kevon Looney are in; Austin Reaves is back; Deandre Ayton is out to Washington.
The onslaught of announcements, photo ops and new social media graphics bring us one step closer to our opening day roster. With the veteran pieces in place, we’ll take a look at how the young players are shaping up.
Summer league showtime
Adou Thiero hurt his right wrist on a hard fall during the Lakers’ second summer league game this month. The bigger injury risk might be slamming his hand too hard on a dunk.
In his second season and his first summer league, Thiero wants to break into the rotation for the new-look Lakers. The high-flying forward’s progression after an injury-plagued rookie season is one of the key stories of the Lakers’ summer league.
Thiero did not make the strongest summer impression. During the first game at the California Classic in San Francisco, the 22-year-old looked like he was playing in fast-forward. Not in a good way.
Going three-for-10 from the field with nine points and multiple out-of-control drives to the rim, Thiero did not look like the returning NBA player on the Lakers’ summer league roster. He missed the team’s last game in San Francisco because he took a hard fall in the prior game.
Two months after he last played in a competitive game, Thiero said he was just so eager to play in the California Classic that he needed to “take it back a couple of notches and slow my game down.”
Thiero slowed down and soared higher in Las Vegas, where he had 20 points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and no turnovers in the Lakers’ Las Vegas summer league opener. The tape on his right wrist didn’t hold him back from slamming dunk after dunk after (windmill) dunk against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Gotta put on a show,” Thiero said on the Amazon Prime broadcast of his windmill dunk. “Lakeshow for a reason.”
Thiero, who is still working on improving his three-point shot, could add an athletic, energetic boost to the Lakers offense. With Walker Kessler filling the much-needed lob-catching center role, the Lakers have potential to be one of the league’s best offenses. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are just that good.
It’s on the defensive end that young players, including Thiero and rookie Cameron Carr, will need to prove their value. The Lakers, who added Ziaire Williams on a one-year deal Monday in their 15th roster spot, are looking for more defense on the wing.
Thiero said he has had conversations with the Lakers coaching staff about growing into an aggressive point-of-attack defender. His instructions are to “cause havoc,” he said. Thiero has delivered with a team-high nine steals during four summer league appearances.
Cameron Carr shoots over Lachlan Olbrich of the Golden State Warriors during a summer league game.
(Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Carr has four blocks, including several on jump shots. With a 38-inch vertical and an 8-foot-8 standing reach, Carr used his length and athleticism to lead Baylor with 45 blocks last season.
But as he makes the transition to the NBA level, Carr said there’s still a lot for him to learn. The 184-pound guard plans to make the weight room his second home. He can get deflections but gets beat on drives. Catching up on the court starts with catching up to the speed of the game mentally.
“[In the NBA] they kind of rely on being smarter up top, and so it’s just trying to be ahead of everybody, trying to be ahead of the play, and be in the same space they’re in. We all flow as one,” Carr told reporters in Las Vegas. “I feel like right now, I’m a little bit behind because I’m a little bit younger. I mean, this is my first time practicing, this is the first time playing with them, so it was a little bit just trying to catch up.”
On offense, Carr is already showing important skills that could earn him a rotation spot. His jumper is pure and smooth. He went 11 for 32 from three-point range in his first four summer league appearances, averaging 17 points. He missed the second game in Las Vegas because of a minor thumb injury. At 6-foot-5 with a high, consistent release, Carr had Stan Van Gundy gushing about his shooting on the Amazon Prime broadcast in Las Vegas.
While eyes are fixated on the two most recent draft picks, the Lakers’ leading summer league scorer is unheralded Arthur Kaluma.
The South Bay Lakers forward had a standout 34-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks and is averaging 20 points in four summer league appearances. In Vegas, he’s shooting 76.2% from the field and 59% overall this summer.
Kaluma averaged 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds for the South Bay Lakers last season. The 6-7 forward is a versatile scorer who can stretch the floor with his three-point shot. He shot 37% from three-point range in the G League last season and made six of 10 threes against the Mavericks in his summer league statement.
The 24-year-old, like many of his summer league teammates, is battling for his NBA dreams. Each team is allowed up to three two-way players at a time, and the Lakers have already announced their maximum allotment. Guard Chris Mañon, who finished second in G League defensive player of the year voting last season, re-signed, and rookies Peter Suder and AK Okereke got their first professional contracts.
But that doesn’t mean all three are locked in for the season. Last year, the Lakers waived Christian Koloko five months after re-signing the center to a two-way deal to add Drew Timme in his spot.
“The G can get grimy, you know what I’m saying?” Kaluma said to reporters in Las Vegas. “It’s a time where everybody is trying to fight for a position and there is a certain hunger that you have to have in order to be successful in the G. And I feel like that drive that I had my first year in it pushed me into this summer to really get better and work on my game and come here and have the opportunity to perform.”
These summer league games don’t officially count. For many in the league, the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas is more about off-court schmoozing than the on-court product.
But with players trying to make a name for themselves and fighting for their jobs, don’t tell anyone these games don’t matter.
“In these summer league settings, there’s 29 other teams that are looking and watching these games,” Lakers summer league coach Ty Abbott said, “and this is opportunities for all of them. So there’s no room to not take a game seriously. Every possession matters, every rep, every drill, every practice.”
Poll results
Last week, we asked if you would like to see the Lakers retire LeBron James’ jersey. Here are the results:
Yes: 32
No: 54
Programming update
Summer league is winding down and I’ll be on vacation this week so the Lakers newsletter will rest for at least one week. Thus no new poll question for now. But if you like the polls — or have poll questions you want to ask your fellow newsletter subscribers — email me your thoughts at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com.
Favorite thing I ate this week
The bánh cuốn đặc biệt plate at Bánh Cuốn Lưu Luyến in Garden Grove.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
My Instagram algorithm has been feeding me unrelenting videos of Vietnamese food and this is the rare instance in which I’m not mad at social media platforms tracking my movements. At least they’re delivering something I want.
After being subjected to dozens of videos of people making Vietnamese steamed rice rolls (bánh cuốn), I decided to hunt some down for myself at Bánh Cuốn Lưu Luyến in Garden Grove. The bánh cuốn đặc biệt — a combination plate with plain steamed rice sheets, sheets stuffed with ground pork and mushroom and pieces filled with shrimp — satisfied my internet FOMO cravings. Every plate is complete with an egg roll, tofu, ham, mung beach shrimp cake and vegetables. I think even my mom would approve of this restaurant.
In case you missed it
Life after LeBron: Austin Reaves embracing new role on new-look Lakers roster
Lakers sign Ziaire Williams to one-year, $3-million deal to bolster their depth
Lakers land their backup center in veteran Kevon Looney
Until next time…
As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!