Lessons from the Lakers summer league win over the Heat
By Ronald Agers
Scotty Pippen Jr. will be a steal for the Los Angeles Lakers because he should have been drafted!
It was a surprise to some that Scotty Pippen Jr. went through two rounds of the NBA Draft without his name being called. But it is plain to see why that wasn’t the case.
- He’s small in stature (NBA analysts have to look for something!) at 6’3 185.
- Even though he played well at Vanderbilt and put up stats, most were looking down on the team for not being good.
- It’s amazing that NBA teams shy away from college Juniors and Seniors these days! Everyone wants the teenagers…
The Lakers were wise to sign Pippen Jr. to a two-way contract. The time at South Bay will do him good. He has a good jump shot and will carve his way into the NBA kind of the way Seth Curry did early in his career before sticking. Is he going to shoot as well as Seth? No. Everyone knows that family shoots better than most. Even his nephews and nieces are probably hitting 15-footers at Steph’s house.
Scotty did not shoot well from the perimeter going only 2-8 from the field (1-5 from beyond the arc!), but he got to the free-throw line knocking down 7-8 to finish with 12 points. What’s even better, he did not allow his jumper to dictate his overall game. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a blocked shot.
His efforts on both ends were evident and effective in the second half especially when the Lakers started pouring it on…
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1543360378503151616
However, Scotty is going to have to catch up with the speed of the game when it comes to defending on the perimeter. He had issues in the first half collecting fouls instead of moving his feet. It wasn’t for the lack of effort because he did not die on screens, something that the Lakers are notorious for doing. His time in the summer league figuring out how to play screens along with South Bay coaching will do him good.
Well, Lake Show Life covered one Hall of Famer’s son in Pippen Jr, let’s check out the other second-generation player that is well known to Lakers Nation! Press the purple bar and read on!