The Los Angeles Lakers announced their roster for the upcoming California Classic in San Francisco and NBA 2K23 Summer League in Las Vegas.
The roster features the Lakers’ lone 2022 draft pick Michigan State’s Max Christie, whom they selected at No. 35 overall. It also includes their two-way contract players in Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. and Syracuse’s Cole Swider.
Other notables who made the roster include Mason Jones, Jay Huff, and Mac McClung, who spent time both with the South Bay Lakers and with the parent team on two-way deals. McClung signed an Exhibition 10 deal last summer to play with the club before eventually finding his way to South Bay.
Parris Bass and Nate Pierre-Louis are also South Bay Laker personnel who will provide some much-needed depth. Javante McCoy, Vitto Brown, and Fabian White Jr. reportedly signed Exhibition 10 deals while R.J. Cole and Shareef O’Neal signed with the team to play during Summer League.
Lakers officially announce their Summer League roster: pic.twitter.com/ZA7wJwzUaV
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) June 28, 2022
Austin Reaves, a standout in last year’s Summer League, is notably not listed. Reaves is arguably too good to play in Summer League and has nothing left to prove, though this could also simply be a matter of his contact as the Lakers have not officially picked up the team option on his deal for the 2022-23 season.
Los Angeles held its first practice today at the UCLA Health Training Center and will eventually hit the road to play against the Miami Heat on July 2 in the California Classic. They then will play the Golden State Warriors on July 3 with a finale coming on July 5 against the Sacramento Kings.
Their first game in Las Vegas is set for July 8 against the Phoenix Suns.
The theme of the roster is shooting and size, a clear indication that the organization is committed to new head coach Darvin Ham’s vision for how he wants to play and it will be fun to see how they fare once the games kick off next week.
LeBron James says Austin Reaves has ‘something very special’
Reaves was a revelation for a struggling Lakers team during the 2021-22 season as the undrafted rookie went from unknown to pivotal rotation piece. The combo guard’s ability to make winning plays endeared himself to the fans and his teammates, most notably LeBron James who said that he has something very special going on.
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