Lakers: 5 Things to Watch at Summer League 2016

4. Last Year’s Final Cut

If you ask most people who were keeping up with the Lakers in the preseason last year and watching the final roster cuts, the consensus would likely be that Jabari Brown was the final cut made from the Lakers roster in favor of bringing back veteran small forward Metta World Peace. Brown subsequently spent most of the last year playing in the D-League while World Peace was a warm body with little upside on a 17-win team.

Now it’s looking like Metta won’t return in any kind of playing capacity and the Lakers still have one spot left to fill on a 15-man roster given what their current contract situation looks like. And considering how close Brown was to making the roster last season, you have to believe that a strong showing at Summer League would go a long way to putting him in the good graces of the coaching staff and thus the front office.

Brown will likely be prominently featured alongside Russell in the backcourt when the Lakers put out their featured lineup, which should be quite interesting to see how he performs as the pseudo-Jordan Clarkson in the Summer League system of the Lakers. Regardless of role, though, watch his performance as it could determine his future with the roster.

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