{"id":728288,"date":"2026-06-27T01:25:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T01:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728288\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T01:25:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T01:25:18","slug":"cameron-carr-on-lakers-trade-for-him-at-draft-it-didnt-feel-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728288\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameron Carr on Lakers’ trade for him at draft: ‘It didn’t feel real’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NBA mock drafts projected Cameron Carr<\/a> getting selected somewhere between 15 and 20 in the first round on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Ending up with the Lakers<\/a> later in the draft, however, was more than Carr could have asked for.<\/p>\n

The Lakers acquired his draft rights<\/a> from the New York Knicks, who took the 6-foot-5 Baylor guard with the 24th pick, in a multiple-team deal in which L.A. sent the draft rights to Spanish guard Sergio De Larrea, who was taken 25th, and cash considerations to New York.<\/p>\n

As he sat for his introductory news conference Friday, dressed in all black, Carr shared what his thoughts were when he found out he would be playing for the Lakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to the Lakers! It was more of an exciting thing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt felt surreal. It didn\u2019t feel real for the first couple minutes when I found out. It was trying to get my head around, \u2018Man, I\u2019m about to walk across the stage and be an NBA player.\u2019 I\u2019ve dreamed of this my whole life, especially since I was a kid. So it took a second. Still trying to get my head wrapped around it, but nothing but excitement and happiness. I feel more motivated to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob Pelinka, the Lakers\u2019 president of basketball operations, met Carr at the facility on Friday but didn\u2019t speak with the media during the news conference.<\/p>\n

It meant Pelinka couldn\u2019t be asked about Austin Reaves agreeing to re-sign with the Lakers on a four-year, $185-million deal, or about how conversations are going with free agent LeBron James.<\/p>\n

But NBA rules prohibit team officials from commenting on anything during the free agency moratorium, which won\u2019t be lifted until July 6.<\/p>\n

So, this day was all about the 21-year-old Carr and how impressed he was being in the Lakers\u2019 building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalking in the building, first thing you notice is the rich tradition of the people that have been here before you,\u201d Carr said. \u201cIt\u2019s a moment of happiness. As a kid, you always dreamed of walking across that stage and accomplishing everything you wanted to. Man, it just felt good to walk in the gym and look at the people that came before me. Now I\u2019m in their shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carr was viewed by NBA scouts as athletic with his 42\u00bd-inch vertical leap and as having a good jump shot.<\/p>\n

During his sophomore season at Baylor, Carr averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 blocks in 34 games. He shot 49.4% from the field, 37.4% from three-point range and 80.1% from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n

But Carr quickly talked about how playing defense will be his calling card with the Lakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cStepping into an organization with people with the same type of mindset and abilities, it only makes my job easier,\u201d Carr said. \u201cI\u2019ve just got to cut and dunk the ball for them, and run in transition. But first things first is establishing a defensive consistency and showing I can be dominant or a plus on the defensive end as someone they would like to guard the best player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carr always had his dad, Chris Carr, to lean on during his journey as a basketball player. Having him as a mentor was so beneficial because his father spent six seasons in the NBA. His most famous moment came in 1997, when he became the runner-up to Kobe Bryant in the slam dunk contest.<\/p>\n

Now father and son have something else in common: making the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be better than him,\u201d Carr said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been behind, so I want to show he\u2019s put a lot of work in me becoming a better man. So I feel the only way I can credit him and show I\u2019m thankful for him is by putting in the work and using it every single day. He was a heck of a player, so it\u2019s some big footsteps I\u2019ve got to follow and a long journey. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good motivation. My \u2018why\u2019 is just to be better and show people I\u2019m better than a lot of people that are put in front of me. I feel like that\u2019s the chip on my shoulder, or the fire under my feet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA mock drafts projected Cameron Carr getting selected somewhere between 15 and 20 in the first round on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[13842,238614,27759,8305,8329,88688,2813,6306,6135,51406,313113,355,164198,3590,49169,113701,99],"class_list":["post-728288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-basketball-player","tag-cameron-carr","tag-carr","tag-draft","tag-father","tag-first-thing","tag-happiness","tag-lakers","tag-man","tag-moment","tag-multiple-team-deal","tag-nba","tag-nba-player","tag-people","tag-rob-pelinka","tag-sophomore-season","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}