Praise has been heaped in bundles to countless Lakers win throughout the first days of training camp. A new name was added to the mix on Monday and is one Lakers fans will likely be excited to hear about.<\/p>\n
While head coach JJ Redick admitted he\u2019s still young and going through the struggles any rookie would, Cameron Carr also was on the receiving end of some of that acclaim on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cCam, we see a player in Cam,\u201d Redick said. \u201cWe\u2019re really excited about him. You can also see through three days that he\u2019s a rookie. There were times where we kind of had to stop a drill or, at one point a minute into the second scrimmage, I had to call timeout and bring him over and just teach him a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe picks up things quick so very confident that he\u2019ll have opportunities this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carr will certainly have an uphill battle to playing time. Given the little we have to go on right now, it seems that a number of wings are excelling early in training camp. It will come down to impressing in the moments Carr will have during preseason games.<\/p>\n
But even if that doesn\u2019t happen in the exhibition slate, it\u2019s a long season and, as Redick noted, opportunities will come.<\/p>\n
Redick has alluded a couple of times during training camp that a couple of players were limited. On Thursday, he was asked a bit more about it and provided very little more insight.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody did something,\u201d Redick said of practice. \u201cAgain, we\u2019ve had to modify a couple guys. We had an extended scrimmage today and cleaned up some things offensively for the first time since, really, last Wednesday when we were doing our small group work. We\u2019ll continue to have an emphasis on that over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday before we go to [Sacramento].\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if those unspecified injuries would keep players out of games, Redick said that was to be determined but that it was nothing they were worried about long term.<\/p>\n
Ziaire Williams hasn\u2019t been in the NBA long, but this training camp has left an impression. After years of training camps on teams without a focus on winning, joining a Lakers side focused on winning has been a change of pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little different, for sure,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThis is a winning culture, a winning culture, a winning team, a team that has high standards, so it\u2019s a little different. Guys have been more experienced, more in the league so it\u2019s a little less teaching and more just concepts and schemes versus Brooklyn, it was eight rookies or however many we had\u2026so it was a lot more teaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut training camp here has been great. I\u2019m comfortable. Guys have helped me work my way in and I just feel like I belong. I\u2019m happy where I\u2019m at and we just got to keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multiple players have said this training camp has been great. For basically every team outside of the Kings, vibes at this point in the season probably are good. Another theme that has gone hand-in-hand with that, though, has been the competitiveness during camp<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a very physical, competitive, intense training camp,\u201d Jake LaRavia said. \u201cI think it\u2019s been the best one that I\u2019ve been a part of since I\u2019ve been in the league and this third day just really put a stamp on what we\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Redick spoke about Dalton Knecht, who he said has \u201cbeen a pro\u201d during training camp. He credited his offseason work and said he was hungry to earn a rotation spot.Add LaRavia to the list of people who have singled out Adou Thiero this summer<\/a>. He said the second-year player had been \u201creally good,\u201d praise he also gave Williams.Speaking of LaRavia, Redick talked about his conversations with him this summer, saying they spoke a lot in the first six weeks of the offseason, both about shooting and the \u201cmental side of things.<\/a>\u201d To that point, Redick said LaRavia is in not just a good place physically this traning camp, but mentally as well.<\/p>\n You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude<\/a> or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n