The 2024 NBA Draft has come and gone which means the start of Summer League is just around the corner for the Los Angeles Lakers.
As is usually the case, the Lakers will begin the summer up north in the annual California Classic before heading to the desert for the Las Vegas Summer League. L.A.’s first game will be on Saturday at the Chase Center.
As far as whole will be playing, there will be some familiar faces for the Lakers. Their 2024 draft picks Dalton Knecht and Bronny James will be good to go, and the same can be said for their two-way signings Armel Traore and Blake Hinson.
Last year’s second round draft pick Maxwell Lewis and two-way player Colin Castleton, who is a restricted free agent, will also be playing:
#Lakers announced their Summer League roster: pic.twitter.com/ZCdW7hUAB4
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) July 2, 2024
The one notable absence from this roster is last year’s first round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino, who had back surgery in March. While it would have been nice to see Hood-Schifino playing and continuing to develop his game, he obviously has not been cleared yet so will watch from the sidelines.
Given all of the youth on this roster, it will be up to Lewis and Castleton to serve as the team’s leaders. They played in Summer League last year so have been through this experience before, which should be a valuable resource to all of the rookies.
Castleton, in particular, is excited to lead this team after previously expressing an interest in playing for the Lakers in Summer League.
Dane Johnson will coach Lakers in Summer League
As far as who will be coaching this Lakers team during Summer League, it won’t be new head coach JJ Redick. He revealed that South Bay Lakers head coach Dane Johnson will coach the squad as Redick continues to focus on building his staff and the team’s roster.
“So Dane Johnson will be coaching the California Classic and Summer League,” Redick said. “I will be heavily involved in practices. I will also be involved in some capacity during the games, during film and all of that.
“We talk about development, it’s an incredible opportunity for Dane and his staff to develop further. For me, I have to sort of prioritize a bunch of different things right now, including building out a staff, but for both of these guys we expect them to play in both the California Classic and in Las Vegas.”
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