What to Watch for at Los Angeles Lakers' 2014 Training Camp
Training camp for the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2014-15 season began Tuesday, September 30. There will be plenty to watch for in the days ahead.
Many of the players have already gotten a jump-start, working out at the team’s El Segundo training facilities over the summer on the court and in the weight room
New Lakers coach Byron Scott has also been preparing for the new season on a daily basis, getting acclimated with his assistants Paul Pressey, Jim Eyen and Mark Madsen. Other staff members include Clay Moser (assistant coach/head advance NBA scout), Larry Lewis (assistant coach/director of player development), Thomas Scott (assistant coach/player development) and longtime head trainer Gary Vitti.
There is a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. Players have to learn Scott’s system, which will combine elements of the Princeton and triangle offenses, and there will also be a heavy focus on defense.
The Lakers also recently signed two new players: guards Wayne Ellington and Ronnie Price. Additional camp invites include Keith Appling, Jabari Brown, Roscoe Smith and Jeremy Tyler.
The Return of Kobe Bryant
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All eyes will be on Kobe Bryant, the Lakers’ reigning superstar, as he makes his long-awaited return.
Bryant played just six games last season after fracturing his knee. That injury came on the heels of a long rehabilitation from the torn Achilles tendon that he suffered toward the end of the 2012-13 regular season.
Speaking about his longtime franchise centerpiece, general manager Mitch Kupchak said on Friday, per Lakers.com, “I’ve been going to watch him work out down in Orange County, and he’s been up here several times. He looks really good, says he feels great. No ill effects on either injury.”
The Lakers will need not only a healthy Bryant but an effective one as well if they’re to have any chance of making the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference.
The five-time NBA champion knows all eyes are on him and described a mixture of emotions heading into training camp, per Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com:
"It's a mixture of things. It's a mixture of excitement, it's a mixture of a little nervousness, it's a mixture of rage. It's a mixture of a lot of things. I'm trying to see if I can prove to myself that I can be myself. All those words and the doubts add fuel to that.
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The all-time Lakers scoring leader will start the season with 31,700 points and will look to pass Michael Jordan at 32,292 to assume third place on the all-time NBA points list.
But he has to stay healthy in order to do that.
Steve Nash’s Health and Expectations
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Like fellow veteran star Bryant, the health of Steve Nash will be closely scrutinized during training camp and beyond.
The nerve root complications that arose from a fractured leg and degenerative back condition are uncertain at best. Nash has been working out all summer, but a wrong move or unexpected body contact could send things spiraling the wrong way all over again.
Kupchak is hopeful about Nash’s health headed into the season but is tempering his expectations, per Lakers.com:
"Steve Nash says he feels the best he’s felt in a long time. He’s been working out, playing every day. He’s been in the facility here. Obviously, with Steve, he felt good last year, also, prior to the season but couldn’t really put it together and play back-to-backs and get through the season. So I think we’re a little bit more apprehensive with Steve, naturally, because of what we went through last year and his age.
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All eyes will be on Nash’s physical condition and how he moves—can he still be an effective point guard in the NBA? And going a step further, can he bear a passing resemblance to the player who won two MVP titles?
Putting the expectations game aside, Nash, the uncommonly gifted assists man with eyes seemingly in the back of his head, would like to go out on his own terms. That means playing, not sitting and watching.
Wesley Johnson’s Improved Game
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After a season in which he sometimes showed improvement and other times seemed to disappear into the woodwork with the Lakers, Wesley Johnson was once again a free agent this summer.
He also found himself with a familiar workout partner. Johnson first met Bryant during predraft workouts in 2010 and has been mentored by him ever since.
This summer, however, it was Bryant who was looking for extra work and conditioning after rehabbing his fractured knee.
Per Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, Johnson revealed during media day how working with Bryant over the summer was actually to his own benefit:
"Right after Easter, he hit me up, 'Are you ready to work?' He said, 'I'll be in the gym at 7 a.m.,' and I said I'll be there. The whole summer was pretty much repetition. From April to July, it was a big improvement. We ramped it up every month. We cleaned up a lot of my offensive game, no wasted motion. It slowed the game down a lot for me.
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Johnson was signed to another one-year minimum contract and could very well be the team’s starting small forward when the regular season begins.
A lot will depend on how he looks during training camp. If Johnson can finally live up to at least some of the promise that caused him to be the No. 4 draft pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves, credit will be due to Bryant for his tutelage.
Jordan Clarkson’s Learning Curve
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Typically, a player drafted in the middle of the second round would not be counted on for much production during his rookie season.
Jordan Clarkson, however, has never seen himself as a second-rounder, telling Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News this summer, “I have a chip on my shoulder from the draft. I feel like I was one of the better point guards in the draft, maybe the best.”
A 6’5” guard with great agility, ball-handling skills and blinding speed, Clarkson opened a lot of eyes during the Lakers’ Summer League appearances in Las Vegas, where he was the team’s scoring leader.
As Mike Bresnahan for the Los Angeles Times wrote right before training camp began:
"Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson will both come off the bench to start the season, but some within the Lakers' organization actually think Clarkson, the second-round pick, will have a bigger impact of the rookies. The 46th overall selection had a great off-season and impressed Lakers coaches at the Las Vegas summer league. One team insider thinks Clarkson could push for the starting job at point guard later in the season.
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Starting over both Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin? That’s a tall order.
Clarkson will also have to learn the intricacies of Scott’s offense, which involves a lot of moving without the ball. For a guard who’s so comfortable driving to the basket, that will take time.
Jeremy Lin's Evolution
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Three years after a brief meteoric rise with the New York Knicks, “Linsanity” references still frame conversations about a young point guard trying to carve out an identity of his own choosing.
The Lakers acquired Jeremy Lin from the Houston Rockets this summer, but the question of whether he’ll start or come off the bench behind Steve Nash has yet to be answered. As Lakers general manager Kupchak said recently, per Lakers.com:
"Don’t know how it’s going to shake out. I read an article today where I guess Jeremy and Steve spent some time together. I know they’ve been in the building together, working out and scrimmaging. There was reference to Jeremy learning to play the position better or a little more knowledgeable by playing with or underneath Steve, which you would expect.
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To Lin’s credit, he is doing and saying all the right things, trying to simply fit in with his fourth NBA team in five seasons.
On media day, as reported by Shahan Ahmed for NBC Los Angeles, the 26-year-old point guard again tried to express why the past should be left behind:
"Linsanity is more like a one-off thing. It’s a short duration of time. I’m really looking to build a legacy, a long term thing, in terms of who I am as a person or who I am as a player. It’s kind of irritating to always be referred to as something of the past or some short time of the past.
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The expectations game won’t go away, however. Lin is back in a major media market again, and a simple catchword will continue to dog him. Regardless, training camp and the preseason should give us an idea of what to expect apart from unrealistic hype.
The Rebirth of Carlos Boozer?
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The knock on Carlos Boozer in recent years is that the power forward is aging, fading and can’t be counted on in crunch-time situations.
In fact, Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau continued to let Boozer start last season but turned over second and fourth-quarter minutes to Taj Gibson.
This summer, the Bulls decided to use their amnesty waiver on Boozer, and the Lakers put in a winning bid of $3.25 million, securing the services of the former All-Star for one season.
At this point, it would seem as if Boozer has the edge on rookie Julius Randle for a starting role. When asked on media day whether he would provide a mentorship role to the 19-year-old, Boozer said all the politically correct things, per a Lakers Nation video: “Super-talented kid, got a bright future ahead of him. And, looking forward to teaching him the ropes in the NBA, especially as a big man. He’s gonna be successful for a long time.”
The simple truth is that Randle will be going for the older player’s starting role.
Boozer will have to rededicate himself in Los Angeles if he’s to have any success in Byron Scott’s defense-first system.
The old patterns of easy stat-stuffing baskets and cherry-picked rebounds will have to give way an enforcer mentality. And if Boozer isn’t ready for a full commitment, Randle will be happy to take over.
Julius Randle’s Developing Game
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Julius Randle may be the Lakers’ prized No. 7 draft pick, but the rookie won’t have anything handed to him on a silver platter.
As Cory Hansford for Lakers Nation wrote Monday, "Many expect Randle to come in and have a large role on the team immediately, but at Lakers Media Day, Byron Scott reiterated that Randle still has to earn his spot in the rotation: ‘He still has to come in and earn his minutes. He has to earn that respect from the veteran guys.’”
One of those veteran guys is Boozer, a longtime starter in the league who probably has the edge on the starting power forward position.
Randle declared for the draft as a freshman at the University of Kentucky, and despite his talent and willingness to play hard, physical basketball, he’s still a teenager.
When asked whether Randle will significantly impact the team's play this year, Kupchak said, per Lakers.com: "Remains to be seen. Julius is still 19 years old. You wouldn’t know that by looking at him, ‘cause he’s really a well-developed, big, strong, athletic kid. You would think that at 19 years old that (impact) would be down the road. But he’s still 19 years old."
As camp begins, the young rookie with a propensity for playing hard in the paint will begin to compete with Boozer, a player whose best days may be behind as he heads into his 13th NBA season.
It will be a classic battle of new versus old for ownership of a starting position. Much will depend on Randle’s development.
Xavier Henry’s Rehab Timetable
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Xavier Henry enters his fifth NBA training camp with a career characterized by great potential and too many injuries. He has yet to play more than 50 games in a single season, including this most recent one in which he averaged a career-high 10 points in just 43 games.
In June, Henry expressed confidence to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he would be healthy in time for the Lakers’ upcoming training camp—if they were to re-sign him, that is.
Speaking about the left wrist and right knee surgeries that he had in April, the 23-year-old swingman said, “It’s been a long time, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I feel good. I’m heading in the right direction. I feel all right.”
The Lakers did indeed sign Henry to another one-year deal at the minimum salary. Unfortunately, camp is here, and Henry is still not ready.
Updating the situation just a few days before camp, Medina wrote:
"The season has not even started, and the Lakers already have injuries to monitor. Lakers forward Xavier Henry will not be ready to practice once training camp starts on Tuesday, according to the team, because he has not fully rehabbed his right knee after having surgery on it in mid-April. The Lakers say Henry’s left wrist has fully healed since having surgery on it during the same time period.
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Though the Lakers do not have a current timetable on when Henry could practice, he is currently limited to running on a weight-bearing treadmill.
Will Henry be able to participate in scrimmages before the preseason begins? Will he even be ready in time for the beginning of the regular season?
Integrating Byron Scott’s System
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New Lakers coach Byron Scott has been preparing for the season ever since being hired in late July.
However, nothing takes the place of official team practices.
As he pointed out on media day, per Arash Markazi for ESPNLosAngeles.com, the process is about to begin:
"I still don't have a lot of answers, to be honest with you. There are still a lot of things I have to find out with the guys we had. That starts tomorrow. I'm just as anxious to find out where we are as a basketball team. I'm sure those guys are just as anxious to get started.
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As Scott told Mark Medina for the Los Angeles Daily News in early September, the very first step is establishing a winning mindset:
"I’m going to walk into our locker room the first day of our meeting and say, ‘I want to win a championship.’ I don’t want us thinking it’s fine if we just make the playoffs or think we have no shot at making the playoffs. I don’t believe that. I want our guys to have the same mindset as I do.
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Championship aspirations will also come with grueling work, as Medina writes:
"Scott will then add plenty of drills catered to the Lakers’ conditioning and defense, something so intense Scott will place four trash cans in each corner of the court. Said Scott: 'I don’t want guys throwing up on my floor.'
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That said, elder statesmen Bryant and Nash will not be expected to participate in two-a-day practices. Everyone will be expected to buy into Scott’s defense-first mentality, however, something that was sorely lacking during the past two seasons under former coach Mike D’Antoni.
Another big difference will be on the offensive end, with Scott implementing elements of the Princeton and triangle systems. There will be a lot of teaching moments, and ultimately, certain answers will become evident: who will get substantial playing time and who won’t.
It all begins with training camp.
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