The Lakers’ first night in Las Vegas comes with a little extra bite. They open Summer League on Friday against the Thunder, the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs in May, and the setting at the Thomas & Mack Center will feature a roster that looks almost nothing like the one that finished that series.
The bigger storyline, though, is more immediate: both of the Lakers’ top summer names are set to go. Coach Ty Abbott said first-round pick Cameron Carr and second-year forward Adou Thiero are on track to play Friday after both practiced Thursday.
Carr had been limited in the final game of the California Classic because of a toe issue, but he downplayed it once the team got to Las Vegas.
“It just looked a little weird,” Carr said of the toe.
Abbott said Thiero, who has been dealing with a wrist issue, is also expected to play. The only question now is how much run either player gets over the full Vegas schedule.
The Lakers have four games lined up, and teams often start trimming back their best summer performers once they’ve seen enough. For Carr, Friday could end up being one of his longest auditions before training camp.
That matters because Carr already made a strong case in the California Classic. The No. 24 pick out of Baylor opened with 19 points against Golden State, then followed that with 26 in a double-overtime win over Miami before the toe problem affected his third game. His teammates have taken notice, too.
“I feel like we haven’t really seen his full athletic ability yet,” second-year guard Chris Manon said Thursday. “He’s special.
Special for sure. … Once his body fills out…he’ll be a problem.”
Carr’s draft profile backs up the buzz. At Baylor, he averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 49.4 percent and leading the team in blocks. The NBA.com profile projects him as a 3-and-D wing with room to grow into more as his frame and handle develop.
There’s also a Lakers-friendly footnote in his background: Carr’s father, Chris Sr., played six seasons in the NBA and finished second in the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest to an 18-year-old Kobe Bryant.
Thiero’s path is different, but the opportunity is just as real. He missed Summer League last year while recovering from a knee injury, so this is effectively his first true summer showcase. He’s also the only player in Vegas who was on the Lakers’ roster last season with any realistic path to this year’s rotation.
Asked Thursday about the fact that all five starters from the Lakers’ playoff opener in April are now gone, Thiero kept it simple.
“It’s going to be different but that’s not what I’m really focused on right now,” Thiero said. “This is the team I’m with right now, so I’m focused on getting better, getting better with this group of guys.”
He also said he came out too fast in the California Classic, admitting he was “eager to play” in the first two games and needed to slow himself down. That kind of self-check matters here. The Lakers don’t need Thiero to dominate this month; they need him to look like someone who belongs in an NBA rotation, especially with the roster above him so wide open.
The context around these games makes that even clearer. LeBron James left in free agency.
Rui Hachimura signed across the hall with the Clippers. Deandre Ayton was traded to Washington.
The rebuilt group around Luka Doncic - Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kevon Looney - came together almost entirely in the last nine days, and the front office is still looking for a starting wing.
That leaves real minutes available at the exact spots Carr and Thiero play. It doesn’t guarantee either one a role when October arrives, but it does turn these four games into more than a summer formality. The Lakers have even treated the trip like a serious evaluation, taking over a Las Vegas ballroom for practices and testing out a new court design.
Friday’s opponent only sharpens the spotlight. The Thunder just ended the Lakers’ season two months ago, and their summer roster is packed with the kind of young, athletic depth Oklahoma City seems to churn out constantly. For a Lakers team trying to figure out which of its own young players can help, that’s as good a measuring stick as any.
The Lakers and Thunder tip off Friday, July 10 at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m.
PT) on Prime Video. After that, the Lakers play Dallas on Saturday night, the Clippers on Tuesday, July 14, and the Bulls on Thursday, July 16, with playoff or consolation games still possible after that.
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