Friday night, the Lakers play their first Las Vegas Summer League game of 2016 when the team will kick things off at 7:30 PST against Buddy Hield and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Los Angeles will be coached by Jesse Mermuys, having a roster headlined by D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram. Luke Walton will have a heavy influence on the team in practice, but it is Mermuys who is running the Summer League show.
In an interview for Lakers.com, Mermuys lent some information about what to expect in the coming days in Las Vegas. Strictly talking about basketball, especially since the team’s two best players aren’t old enough to fully take in what Vegas has to offer.
When asked about how similar the Summer League offense will be to the Lakers’ actual offense, Mermuys said that the framework will be there, but fans can expect it to be slower than the regular season offense. Mermuys stressed that it was important for the team to be patient in order to get things right. While we will not get the full show in Las Vegas, the basic principles of the offense will be on display at the Thomas and Mack Center.
Mermuys also mentioned the team’s time at Summer League is not about the wins, but about the team getting a sense of what the want to accomplish. He did add that it would be nice to bring home a Las Vegas Summer League championship, but the main thing Mermuys wants the young guys to bring back is a foundation for training camp.
The Lakers take the (Summer League) court tomorrow night, and from the looks of things, it seems like they are prepared to play some exciting basketball. Led by Russell and Ingram, the Lakers should do some damage some of the other teams in Las Vegas. We can expect Los Angeles to do fairly well in these games, which is an unfamiliar feeling given the past three seasons.
