Kentavious Caldwell-Pope recently talked about the improvement of Los Angeles Lakers guard, Josh Hart.
With their third pick in the first round in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers selected Josh Hart from Villanova.
In college, Hart was a winner as a National Champion with the Wildcats, and was also a very good player as an individual. Hart was the Big East Player of the Year, but as a four-year college player, his draft stock might have been hurt a tad.
While Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma received most of the attention last season, Hart played very well too. As a solid two-way player, Hart provided the Lakers with some nice versatility on the court, and with his size was able to guard multiple positions.
As he heads into his second season, Hart’s teammate, Kenatvious Caldwell-Pope, recently praised him for his improvement. Here’s what he had to Mike Bresnahan with text via Harrison Faigen of SilverScreenAndRoll.com.
"”Josh has gotten better from last year, I can tell. He’s been working a lot, so we’re out here having fun with him,” Caldwell-Pope said."
Unlike Lonzo and Kuzma, Hart played for the Lakers as a second-year player in the Las Vegas Summer League. As a player heading into his second season, Hart was expected to be one of the best players in the tournament, and he certainly was.
Even though the Lakers fell short against the Portland Trail Blazers in the title game, Hart was still named the tournament MVP, and deservingly so. While Hart was mostly a three-and-D player as a rookie, he showed an ability to do much more in Las Vegas, and he dominated similarly to what we saw from Brandon Ingram in his one game as a second-year guy in the 2017 Summer League.
Since the Lakers have a lot of talent, Hart will have to work hard to give himself a concrete role on the team. However, he is clearly an improving player that is part of the talented young core of the Lakers. If the Summer League was any indication, Hart should be poised for a solid second season in the NBA.