Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers finished the year with only 21 wins and only hope to hold onto their lottery pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Fortunately, along with securing the second overall pick to draft D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers did see some promising young players emerge that weren’t expected to.
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Jordan Clarkson received most of the praise for his emergence as a potential star in the making, but he wasn’t the only rookie to make a name himself last season. Tarik Black is also a player on the squad that turned some heads and as a result seems to have a future in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Black spoke to the media following another NBA Summer League practice and said the following about his comfort level, via Lakers Twitter:
.@TarikBlack25: "This season I feel so much more comfortable. It's huge how much one year can do." pic.twitter.com/z87x82yk69
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 7, 2015
Black went on to say he intends to prove he’s improved his game heading into his second season in the NBA, via Lakers:
.@TarikBlack25: "I'm going to keep playing my game, and show that I keep getting better."
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 7, 2015
With Black making an impression last season, the undrafted rookie has the opportunity to play a major role on this squad moving forward. Black will help fill the void left by Ed Davis and Jordan Hill while sharing time with Brandon Bass, Julius Randle, Roy Hibbert and Robert Sacre in the frontcourt.
In 38 games with the Lakers last season, Black averaged 7.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 58.9 percent from the floor. Black will be a solid contributor for Los Angeles if able to get the minutes next season.
Black has the ability to play forward as well as center, but may end up being Hibbert’s primary backup while Bass and Randle take the bulk of the minutes at the four spot. Of course, all of this hinges on whether the trades and free agent signings actually come to fruition and the team doesn’t bring in any other frontcourt players into the equation.
[divide]Watch A Snippet Of Day 2 Of Lakers Summer League Practice