Many were surprised to see Cameron Carr drop down to the 24th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but the Los Angeles Lakers made sure he didn’t fall any further, trading up one spot to select him. Carr checks a lot of boxes of what the Lakers need as he is an excellent athlete with long arms who can shoot and score at a high level.
Carr certainly turned some heads at the California Classic and not just of fans, but also his own teammates. Chris Mañon, who re-signed with the Lakers on another two-way contract, believes Carr has yet to show off his full athletic ability.
“I said it in one of my other interviews, he’s just super long and I feel like we haven’t really seen his full athletic ability yet,” Mañon told Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “Yeah, he’s special for sure. He can definitely shoot over guys and score like I said before. And I think once his body fills out, just put a little weight, he’ll be a problem for sure.”
The lack of weight and physical strength was one of the biggest knocks on Carr coming into the draft. He weighed in at just 184 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine and will undoubtedly need to get stronger in order to deal with the physicality of the NBA, but he knows that as well and is already hard at work.
At 6’5 and with a 7’1 wingspan, Carr has the ideal physical profile for a wing at this level. He also tested extremely well athletically with one of the best verticals and lane agility drill scores at the combine. His 3-point shot looked excellent at the California Classic and he has already spoken about working to be an excellent defender in order to crack the rotation as a rookie.
Defense is something Mañon can help the rookie with as he made the G League All-Defense team last season and is a menace on that end of the court. But Carr already has a fan within the organization in Mañon and at this rate is sure to gain many more.
Cameron Carr didn’t realize LeBron James wasn’t returning to Lakers
Carr has been locked in since being drafted by the Lakers and focused on having an excellent Summer League. In fact, the rookie was so locked in that he didn’t even realize when news dropped that LeBron James would not be returning to the team next season.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
