Much of the focus following the Los Angeles Lakers’ first Summer League win over the Atlanta Hawks went towards Bronny James who had easily his best performance. But it was two-way big man Colin Castleton who led the way in this contest.
Castleton shot 8-of-9 from the field and finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the 87-86 win, showing off the well-rounded skillset that makes him such an intriguing prospect. But as far as Castleton is concerned, what matters most was getting the victory.
“It just felt good to win, honestly,” Castleton said after the game. “I don’t care about what I did, just being 0-5 was a little rough. Being able just to bounce back and come out and play hard, that’s what Coach Dane (Johnson) told us to do. I feel like I helped carry the end on both sides of the floor so it was a big win for us.”
Summer League is a place where players are trying to catch on with a team so often times they are focused on individual statistics as opposed to team success. But Castleton feels that isn’t the case with this Lakers squad.
“Good just to win. That’s the goal,” Castleton added. “Everybody wants to win, everybody is super competitive. A couple games we just let slip up, we had good quarters but we just didn’t win the games. So it felt good just to finish it out, everybody played hard. We shared the ball a lot, everybody got a lot of good shots so that was the biggest thing.”
The Lakers have had good runs, but had been unable to put everything together in previous contests. But against the Hawks they were able to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter. It was even more impressive as the Lakers were without Dalton Knecht, who has been their best player this summer.
And now that the Lakers have finally got a win under their belts, the big man hopes they can build on it for the remainder of the summer.
“Yeah, last couple games I wasn’t doing as well on the defensive end communicating and helping out my teammates,” Castleton noted. “I feel like this game was a good stepping stone just to be able to build off that. We got two more games guaranteed, so just play as hard as I can, that’s the minimum. And then just whatever else happens, happens.”
Castleton is obviously a skilled big man with an intriguing skillset, hence why the Lakers have kept him around on another two-way contract. This mindset also stands out as he continues to develop and is always putting the team first above all else, even in Summer League.
Lakers’ two-way Colin Castleton worked on 3-point shot during offseason
In this contest, Colin Castleton didn’t take a single 3-point shot, which is a bit of a surprise as his deep jumper has been the primary focus of his offseason work.
“Yeah, every day. That’s the focal point this summer, that’s the No. 1 thing,” Castleton said in an interview with Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane and Sean Davis. “I feel like I’ve gotten more shots up than I have my whole life, to be honest. Just every single day, working on my shot in the gym with multiple coaches and some of the guys in the front office helping me as well.”
Even if he isn’t getting a bunch of them up in the Summer League games, the Lakers coaching staff is still seeing the work he is putting in all summer which is promising.
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