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Los Angeles Lakers: Summer league standouts earning regular season minutes

By Donny McHenry

EL SEGUNDO, CA - JUNE 26: Magic Johnson, the Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations, stands with the team's 2018 NBA draft picks Moritz Wagner #15 and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk #19 during an introductory press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center on June 26, 2018 in El Segundo, California. TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
EL SEGUNDO, CA - JUNE 26: Magic Johnson, the Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations, stands with the team's 2018 NBA draft picks Moritz Wagner #15 and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk #19 during an introductory press conference at the UCLA Health Training Center on June 26, 2018 in El Segundo, California. TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers: Moritz Wagner has strong summer league debut
Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images /

Where does Moritz Wagner fit in on the Lakers?

Moritz Wagner joins fellow recent first-round picks Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and Kyle Kuzma on the young Lakers roster. Those four players have seemingly solidified their spots on the team, and it’ll be interesting to see if Wagner can do the same.

Since Brook Lopez won’t be coming back and JaVale McGee and Ivica Zubac leave a lot to be desired, Wagner could get some time at the center position. He’d theoretically be a great stretch-5 as he shot 39.5 percent from the 3-point line during his junior year at Michigan.

He also shows all-around versatility on the offensive end, but it’s the defensive end where he leaves a lot to be desired. He doesn’t have the quickest feet and might struggle in the switching defense that Luke Walton and the rest of the NBA like to use.

He probably wouldn’t get much time at the 4 position as Kyle Kuzma and LeBron James will take up most of the minutes there. LeBron might even get minutes at the center position, which would further complicate Wagner’s ability to get on the court.

I do think Wagner will earn more minutes than Svi, but I doubt either of the two rookies will come near Hart’s minutes per game at the end of the season. That’s fine because if Wagner produces well off the bench and Svi makes a couple threes in his probable short amount of minutes, then Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson still scored big at the draft (again).

Next: Grading The Lakers Free Agency Thus Far and Potential Moves

Continue to keep tabs on the NBA Summer League. The Lakers will try to repeat off of their championship last year — but even more importantly — we can continue to scout Hart, Svi, and Wagner.

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