The Lakers may have found a clean answer to a problem they’ve been trying to solve, and they did it by turning the No. 25 pick into Cameron Carr.
Los Angeles entered the 2026 NBA Draft with the 25th selection in the first round, then sent it to the New York Knicks in exchange for No. 24. That move set up the Lakers to grab Carr, a 6-foot-5 rookie guard who, if things unfold the way the team hopes, could supply the kind of production they’ve been missing from Dalton Knecht.
The deal didn’t stay a simple swap for long. By the end of the draft, it had grown into a four-team trade that also included the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns.
Carr has already started making noise in Summer League, and on Tuesday he made sure the Lakers heard exactly where his mindset is headed into his first NBA season.
“Man, at the end of the day I start from ground zero,” Carr told the New York Post's Khobi Price. “I’m a rookie, so I got to come and prove everything: What I can be or what I can do.
So first thing I’m gonna do is just try to be the best, most consistent dude I can defensively and not bring as many lapses. And when they rely on me, step up in those areas, especially defensively.”
That attitude has matched the early production. In the California Classic, Carr flashed the off-the-dribble creation, pace, shooting touch, and all-around defense that made him such an intriguing pick in the first place.
He opened with 19 points, two rebounds, one assist, and one block against the Golden State Warriors, shooting 46.6% from the field and 45.4% from three. He then followed that with a 26-point, eight-rebound, one-assist performance against the Miami Heat, while hitting 43.7% of his shots overall and 44.4% from deep.
Carr’s final California Classic game was quieter. Against the San Antonio Spurs, he finished with five points, one rebound, one assist, one steal, and one block while shooting 28.5% from the field and 0% from three.
Even with that dip, the overall showing was enough to turn heads, and he’ll get another chance to build on it in the Las Vegas Summer League. The third-team All-Big 12 contributor also sounds like a player who understands exactly what the Lakers want from him: steady defense, fewer mistakes, and a willingness to step up when called on.
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