Leading up to the 2026 NBA Draft, there was a lot of speculation regarding what the Los Angeles Lakers would do with the 25th pick. Ultimately, L.A. decided on trading up to No. 24 with the New York Knicks to select Baylor guard Cameron Carr.
Carr was mocked to go before Los Angeles’ selection but wound up sliding a bit and the Lakers pounced on the opportunity to draft him. Now becoming teammates with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, he is excited to learn from them.
“First things first is learn,” Carr said during his introductory press conference. “That’s a heck of an organization to walk into. Especially with the level of guys I’m getting to play with and just be around every day. Just be a sponge as much as possible and soak up all the information they give. Man, just learn. You don’t get to wake up and be teammates with them every single day, so just wake up and learn every single day. Take it step by step.”
Heading into the draft, Carr’s athleticism was notable and L.A. desperately needs more athletes on their roster. He looks forward to using his cutting ability to make Doncic, Reaves and potentially LeBron James’ job easier when defenses focus on them.
“And LeBron James,” the rookie said. “Man, anytime I can make their job easy and cut, I’m going to do that. That makes their job easy. I think the chemistry that we build over time, it will only get stronger. Hopefully I can make their job easy of just throw it by the basket, and I go dunk it for them.”
Playing with another sensational athlete in Adou Thiero, it should be a fun Summer League for Carr as he looks to show the coaching staff what he is capable of. Summer League will serve as their first opportunity to make an impression and specifically for Carr to show which of his skills can transfer to the NBA level.
It is great to see a rookie already visualizing his role and realizing what he needs to do to be successful on a Lakers team with two on-ball players. Despite being a primary scorer at Baylor, Carr knows he needs to be effective off-ball to get minutes.
Cameron Carr expresses excitement at Lakers introductory press conference
When a player gets drafted, it is a moment they will never forget and that becomes enhanced when they are drafted by the Lakers. After getting a few days to marinate in all the emotions, Carr expressed excitement at his introductory press conference.
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