When the Los Angeles Lakers drafted center Thomas Bryant out of Indiana in the second round this year there was not much known about him other than that he is big, can protect the rim, and shoot the ball a bit.
What Lakers fans didn’t know at first but became immediately evident in the Las Vegas Summer League is that Bryant has a ton of energy in him.
Bryant channels that energy in very positive ways, consistently hustling up and down the court, and even uses that energy when he’s not in the game to cheer on his teammates.
Lakers head coach Luke Walton commented on that energy after Thursday’s practice, saying that he has been impressed with Bryant, who has been flying around all of training camp, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winter:
Luke Walton said Thomas Bryant has been 'flying around' all camp. Kuzma told me Bryant played well in their scrimmage. https://t.co/6njnj8DQxL
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) September 28, 2017
The scrimmage that fellow rookie Kyle Kuzma was referring to was Wednesday night when Bryant teamed up with Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Vander Blue and Corey Brewer to go 3-0 against their teammates.
While there is not a clear path to minutes for Bryant this season with Brook Lopez, Andrew Bogut and Ivica Zubac all ahead of him on the depth chart, Bryant will be able to split his time between the Lakers and their G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, to continue developing.
Additionally, every team needs a high-energy guy off the bench that could come in and impact the game on both sides of the ball in short spurts, and Bryant could fill that role perfectly for the Lakers so he can still bring some value even if he isn’t starting or getting consistent rotation minutes.