The Los Angeles Lakers continue to bring in a number of prospects ahead of the 2018 NBA Draft. One of the more intriguing names who worked out with the team on Wednesday was West Virginia point guard Jevon Carter.
Carter is coming off an impressive senior season with the Mountaineers in which he averaged 17.3 points, 6.6 assists and 3.0 steals on the way to being a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection as well as being named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.
With those accolades, it’s obvious Carter’s calling card is defense and he would agree with that. “Definitely. I take a lot of pride in defending. I want to go out there and guard the best player, stop them, and make him guard me on the offensive end,” he said.
Defense is undoubtedly something the Lakers are always looking for as that is a major pillar for the culture established under head coach Luke Walton. The need for a backup point guard was also made apparent as the team struggled mightily whenever Lonzo Ball missed games.
Carter could come in and help with both of those and the fact that he is a four-year player would seem to indicate that he could play a role immediately.
The Lakers haven’t shied away from upperclassmen as Kyle Kuzma was a three-year player at Utah while Josh Hart played four at Villanova and Carter admitted that it does help some with confidence that the Lakers could potentially draft him.
“I guess you can say that,” he said. “They like four-year guys, they take players that they think can help them.”
Carter is currently the 44th ranked prospect on ESPN’s Top-100 list and is a very possible selection with either of the Lakers picks (25th and 47th). Of course with older prospects, there are always more questions, but those can be answered within these group workouts.
Carter however, isn’t looking to prove anything, but just show the Lakers brass what he can do. “I just want to go out there and have another opportunity to show what I do,” he said.
“It’s not about going out there and trying to prove and show things that I don’t do or that I’ve been working on. It’s about going out there and showing what I do and that I do it well.”
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