1. General questions for Luke Walton about training camp
Once Media Day is over on Monday, the team will turn their sights towards what they’ve been looking forward to all summer, the start of training camp. It’ll start on September 25th and will be the first time that the whole roster has been together.
Some, if not most of the newcomers have spent most of their time in the Lakers facilities getting ready for camp. LeBron, however, has been busy being possibly the busiest athlete in sports, while players like Svi Mykhailiuk and Ivica Zubac have been playing for their home countries in international play. Either way, they’ll all be there for camp and it’ll be Luke Walton’s first opportunity to experiment with lineups and see where everyone is at conditioning and skill wise.
All indications show that Walton and the coaching staff are going to let the players loose in 5-on-5 scrimmaging to see who wants to really play the most during the season and start. Walton and Pelinka have emphasized all summer that the only player with a guaranteed starting spot is – yes, you guessed it – LeBron James.
That means former 2nd overall picks Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram in addition to the 12-million-dollar-man Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, among others, will be fighting for starting spots once training camp kicks off. Those scrimmages should be very heated, and it’ll be interesting to see from Media Day whether or not Walton still has that stance regarding the scrimmages.
It’ll also be interesting to find out what else he has planned for camp; whether he will be emphasizing working on offensive schemes, 3-point shooting, or his patented emphasis on defense.
Walton may just keep all of his training camp plans under wraps and deflect any media questions regarding his plans, but it’ll be something to keep an eye on to see if he gives us a little glimpse.