2. Jesse Mermuys
Jesse Mermuys was one of the first reported hires to add to Luke Walton‘s coaching staff as an assistant for the 2016-17 season with the Lakers. In Vegas, Mermuys will get the chance to show why that was the case and to give everyone a look as to what he and Walton will have in store for the Lakers moving forward.
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Mermuys is a guy with Arizona Wildcats ties, which would obviously be a big reason as to why he had ties to Walton in the first place. However, Mermuys has also proven that he’s quite adept as a basketball coach throughout his career in that field. He’s served as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors before being the head coach of the Raptors D-League affiliate most recently. It’s that latest gig, though, that makes him so interesting for the Lakers and as the head coach at Summer League.
One of the things that the Raptors have been lauded for in recent seasons has been their development of projects. The progression of someone like Bruno Caboclo definitely comes to mind. A big part of that has been the way that they’ve used their D-League team and, in turn, Mermuys to coach those players up and work on areas of weakness. As such, we’ll get to see that in action to a certain degree in Vegas while also getting to see the outline of Walton’s system being run.
Next: No. 1 Ingram and Russell