The Los Angeles Lakers beat the LA Clippers 99-85 in Summer League play Tuesday night in Las Vegas, running their record to 3-0 behind a game-high 23 points from rookie Cameron Carr. Carr was one of five Lakers in double figures, and the game stopped being competitive shortly after it started.
The teams traded the lead four times in the opening six minutes before Los Angeles went ahead 10-9 and never trailed again. The Lakers took a 54-38 edge into halftime, then won the third quarter 29-22 to put the game out of reach. Chris Mañon posted a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double, Adou Thiero added 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Arthur Kaluma and AK Okereke gave the bench 15 and 11.
This is the first July of the post-LeBron era in Los Angeles, and the month’s real work happened above this roster’s pay grade — the front office rebuilt the rotation around Luka Doncic with Walker Kessler, Kevon Looney and Austin Reaves’ new max deal. But the last two or three roster spots and the two-way contracts get decided by games like these, and an unbeaten Vegas run is making those calls harder in a useful way. Carr’s 23 led everyone on the floor Tuesday, Mañon rebounded like a big from the guard spot, and Thiero filled the stat sheet in the win.
None of Tuesday’s names belong on a redraft board — Los Angeles’ fantasy value this season concentrates in Doncic and Reaves, whose usage only grows with LeBron James gone. Carr and Thiero are deep-dynasty watchlist adds, with Carr the likelier of the two to see real minutes if he keeps forcing the roster question through the end of the week in Vegas.
