Tag: South Bay Lakers

Mac McClung, Chaundee Brown lead South Bay Lakers to win vs. G League Ignite

Mac McClung and Chaundee Brown had influential performances in the South Bay Lakers’ opener in the G League.

The South Bay Lakers kicked off the 2021-22 G League season with a win over the G League Ignite, 112-105.

South Bay trailed by 14 after the first quarter but climbed back into the game to earn a win. A 27-11 advantage in the final period was the difference for the Lakers.

Mac McClung and Chaundee Brown were at the heart of the win for the Lakers. McClung posted a game-high 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting to go with nine assists and six rebounds in 37 minutes. Brown added 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting along with 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal in 40 minutes.

McClung and Brown were two training camp signings for the Los Angeles Lakers over the summer as undrafted rookies; however, neither made the official roster.

South Bay next plays on Nov. 17 against the Ignite again.

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Full South Bay Lakers G League 2021-22 roster tracker

The South Bay Lakers of the G League announced its 2021-22 training camp roster. See who is on the team.

The start of the 2021-22 NBA season also signals the G League is beginning soon.

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ G League affiliate is the South Bay Lakers, which plays its home games at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, California.

South Bay’s schedule doesn’t start until Nov. 5, but the team, head coached by recently promoted Miles Simon, announced the training camp roster for the new season.

South Bay is where the two-way players on the Lakers’ full 17-man roster spend the majority of their time, so Sekou Doumbouya and Jay Huff are two of the prominent names.

Here’s the full roster tracker for the 14 players:

South Bay Lakers announce Miles Simon as new head coach

The South Bay Lakers of the G League have a new head coach for the upcoming season.

The South Bay Lakers of the G League officially announced Miles Simon as the new head coach of the team.

This news had been in the works since mid-August when talks between the two sides were reported. It came after Coby Karl, former head coach of South Bay and son of former NBA coach George Karl, was reportedly not returning for the upcoming season.

Simon has been an assistant with the Lakers since 2017 and played a role for the Summer League teams in 2017 and 2018 when L.A. made the championship game both years

“I couldn’t be happier to continue my career with the Lakers organization as South Bay’s head coach. It is an honor to lead such a successful franchise and I look forward to working with our team both on and off the court,” Simon said in the release. “South Bay has a strong track record of developing NBA talent and I can’t wait to build upon our history as one of the top teams in the NBA G League. After winning the NBA world championship in 2020 with the Lakers, I expect to bring that pedigree to South Bay as well. I want to thank Jeanie, Rob, Kurt, Frank, Joey and Nick for the opportunity and I can’t wait to get to work.”

Simon will play a crucial part in developing two-way players Austin Reaves and Joel Ayayi. Mac McClung and Chaundee Brown could be members of the team as well.

In the 2019-20 season, South Bay posted a 19-25 record, which was second-to-last place in the Pacific Division, before COVID-19 canceled the remainder of the campaign. South Bay did not participate in the 2020-21 G League bubble.

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Report: Lakers in talks to make Miles Simon head coach of South Bay Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers could make Miles Simon the head coach of the South Bay Lakers G League squad.

The Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff has dealt with several changes this offseason.

The changes started with former assistant Jason Kidd departing to the Dallas Mavericks to become their next head coach, and he took Greg St. Jean with him for an improved role.

Los Angeles hired former head coach David Fizdale to fill Kidd’s vacant spot. Fizdale had multiple years of work alongside LeBron James when the two were with the Miami Heat.

Assistant coach Lionel Hollins didn’t renew his contract with L.A.; Hollins reportedly wasn’t fond of the communication from the front office. Los Angeles promoted Mike Penberthy to an end-of-the-bench role in response.

But the moves go beyond the main Lakers team. Coby Karl reportedly is not returning to coach the South Bay Lakers of the G League, but L.A. could have a replacement lined up, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN:

Simon has been an assistant with the Lakers since 2017, and, if given the head coaching gig for South Bay, he’d still have a spot on Frank Vogel’s staff with the main Lakers’ team.

The Lakers announced Vogel received a contract extension as well, which is likely why Simon will play a role with both squads.

Simon played collegiate basketball at Arizona and was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 1997. He also coached at Arizona as an assistant from 2005 to 2008.

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Report: South Bay Lakers head coach Coby Karl won’t return next season

The South Bay Lakers of the G League will need a new head coach for next season.

The Los Angeles Lakers have undergone shakeups with the coaching staff this offseason, and it appears the South Bay Lakers are following suit.

The G League was also cut short last season when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and though there was a small bubble for a limited number of teams to participate in, the Lakers weren’t involved.

The NBA is planning to bring back the G League in its usual format next season, which means teams will have to prepare full rosters and a coaching staff for the new campaign.

For South Bay, the team is expecting turnover, starting with Coby Karl, according to Harrison Faigen of SB Nation:

Karl, son of prominent NBA coach George Karl, has coached the Lakers’ G League team since 2016.

In the 2019-20 season, the Lakers posted a 19-25 record, fourth in the Pacific Division, before the pandemic cancelled the season.

South Bay also finished last in the Pacific Division in 2018-19, but in the season prior, the Lakers went to the conference finals before losing.

Karl was also involved in helping multiple players receive call-ups with the L.A. Lakers, including guard Alex Caruso.

Now, Nick Mazzella, general manager of South Bay since 2014-15, and the Lakers need to find a replacement.

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Lakers Restart Refresh: Talen Horton-Tucker, from G League to big time

In the lead up to the NBA Restart, LeBron Wire will be giving everyone a refresh on who is on the Lakers and where they were before.

With the NBA Restart on the horizon, we are going to take stock of who is on the Los Angeles Lakers, what they did, or didn’t do this season, and what to look for as the Lakers look to march towards their 17th championship banner in the most unprecedented circumstances in NBA history. 

Talen Horton-Tucker

Conventional wisdom and NBA history are against Horton-Tucker being any type of an impact player for the Lakers in the playoffs, but these are unprecedented circumstances. And Horton-Tucker may find himself in the big time, whether due to injury or illness. Luckily the Lakers have spent time developing him in the G League.

While I can’t admit to watching G League games in realtime, I watched some of Horton-Tucker’s film in the G and found a couple of encouraging things if the Lakers need to rely on him unexpectedly.

While the South Bay Lakers have allowed Horton-Tucker to work on his off-the-dribble game. He wasn’t that great at it, truth be told and the South Bay Lakers usually had other point guards run the show. However, what Horton-Tucker did excel at in the G was making shots on the catch-and-shoot.

According to Synergy Sports, Horton-Tucker was in the 68th percentile in the G League in catch-and-shoot situations. Defense in the G League certainly isn’t NBA caliber, but this mark and consistency is a good sign for the type of things he would be asked to do on the Lakers, fitting in around other guards who will have the ball in their hands.

Horton-Tucker is also big for his size, with a long wingspan and a big chest to body bigger players, but he didn’t show that to be very useful in the G League. Synergy rated him out as a “poor” defender in the G League and his film shows that he struggles with the finer points of team defense, closing out to shooters and general help. In isolation situation, he will probably be okay, but this type of struggle in team defense isn’t going to be acceptable on a LeBron team, unless it’s an absolute emergency.

Horton-Tucker shouldn’t be expected to play, but if he does, his consistent 3-point shooting in the G League and his size could help him survive. We also have to realize that Horton-Tucker will have had nearly an entire offseason’s worth of time to work on his game, which could work in favor of his development and to the benefit of the Lakers. However, the Lakers are likely hoping they won’t have to find out if he can survive in a high-pressure situation, at least not this season.

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Report: Warriors will sign new players to 10-day contracts

Both Zach Norvell Jr. and Jeremy Pargo will not be signed to another 10-day contract with the Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors have some roster spots open since some recent moves at the trade deadline, and as the last part of the season rolls around, they’ll need some players to fill their roster in the short term.

According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, the Warriors did not sign Zach Norvell Jr. or Jeremy Pargo to another 10-day contract. Per Slater, the Warriors will sign new players to 10-day contracts.

A rookie, Norvell played in three games for Golden State. He scored 3.3 points a game and shot 37.5% from the 3-point line on 2.7 attempts.

Before playing with the Warriors, Norvell was playing in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers’ G League affiliate. Norvell has played in 29 games with the South Bay Lakers, and he’s scored 15.2 points per game in 29.7 minutes.

Before playing with the Warriors, Pargo, 33, was playing overseas. He hadn’t played in the NBA since the 2012-13 season, when he spent time with the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Pargo played in three games with the Warriors and scored 8.3 points per game in 14.7 minutes. Pargo also shot well from deep, hitting at a 42.9% clip on 2.3 attempts.

The Warriors headed into the All-Star break with the NBA’s worst record at 12-43. They will play the Houston Rockets at Chase Center on Thursday.

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Lakers have a lot of reasons to be excited about rookie Devontae Cacok

The Los Angeles Lakers recently cut rookie Zach Norvell to make room for 23-year-old big man Devontae Cacok, who signed a two-way contract.

The Los Angeles Lakers recently cut rookie Zach Norvell to make room for 23-year-old big man Devontae Cacok, who signed a two-way contract.

Cacok, who played four seasons for the UNC Wilmington Seahawks in college, was an undrafted free agent that impressed in the NBA summer league. He averaged 20.2 points and 14.3 rebounds per 36 minutes when combining his play in the Sacramento and Las Vegas summer leagues.

He joins Kostas Antetokounmpo as the second two-way player for the Lakers. ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that Cacok will have 32 days of service available for Los Angeles during the 2019-20 season.

His first day of NBA eligibility is a road game against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night. Considering that Lakers superstar Anthony Davis was limping and is listed as questionable with a sore ankle, it is possible Cacok may get some frontcourt minutes with JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.

While shorter than other players at his position, Cacok has been an excellent rebounder for the South Bay Lakers. His rebound percentage (24.4 percent) currently ranks second-best among all qualified players in the G League.

He had 19 points and 15 rebounds against the Northern Arizona Suns when they played on December 13. Despite only starting two games, he has had a double-double in 12 of his first 14 appearances.

Cacok’s rebounding has always been one of his strengths, as he led all NCAA players with a whopping 13.5 rebounds per game as a junior. Last season as a senior, his defensive rebound percentage (33.4 percent) was No. 1 overall among all college players.

But on the offensive side of the ball, Cacok has long been a reliable source of offense. As a sophomore, he had the best field goal percentage (80.0 percent) in the NCAA. The big man was 167-of-196 (85.2 percent) on attempts at the rim during that 2016-17 season. (He also won his conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award during that campaign).

More recently, Cacok was 15-for-18 (83.3 percent) as the roll man in pick-and-roll during summer league, per Synergy. He was the most efficient player on high pick-and-rolls among all players who had at least 10 possessions.

He is currently 19-for-23 (82.6 percent) on these opportunities for the South Bay Lakers.

While his height may indicate he should play more as a wing than as a power forward or center in the NBA, getting some run at the next level will provide a more accurate indication of his upside as a pro.

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Lakers sign Devontae Cacok to two-way deal, waive Zach Norvell Jr.

The Los Angeles Lakers called up one of their players from their G League squad, replacing one of their other two-way players.

The Los Angeles Lakers made a roster move earlier this week and no, likely won’t affect their season-long outlook. However, it’s still interesting to see what the Lakers believe they need at this point in the season when it looks like they have everything under control with a 22-3 record.

The Lakers announced on Wednesday that they signed G League forward Devontae Cacok to a two-way contract after the forward recorded 10 double-doubles in 12 G League games. In a related move, the Lakers waived guard Zach Norvell Jr., according to The Athletic/Stadium’s Shams Charania.

However, the double-doubles stat only tells part of the story of Cacok’s impact in the G League. His current rebound percentage of 24.9% would be the highest in the history of the G League, according to Dakota Schmidt of the G League blog Ridiculous Upside.

With LeBron James running the show offensively, Rajon Rondo shooting the ball well from the 3-point line and Alex Caruso providing quality play on both ends, perhaps the Lakers made the decision they don’t need more players who are score-first oriented like Norvell. While Norvell had some big scoring performances in the preseason, Cacok’s efficiency and rebounding in the G League has been undeniably better.

Cacok was in training camp with the Lakers and joined the team on their trip to China after signing an Exhibit 10 contract with them in the summer.