2 studs and 1 dud from Lakers preseason loss to Suns in Vegas

Dud: Cole Swider

Cole Swider is fighting for the final roster spot on the Los Angeles Lakers in the preseason. Los Angeles entered the preseason with 14 players signed to the roster and Swider was one of the favorites to potentially snag that 15th roster spot if he put together a strong preseason.

The undrafted rookie had a lot of potential as a shooter coming into the league as he shot over 40% from three with Syracuse last season. Swider continued that strong play into the NBA Summer League as he was one of the best shooters in all of Las Vegas.

That earned Swider a two-way contract with the Lakers that will get him some playing time with the team during the year naturally. However, with a strong enough preseason, Swider could earn that final roster spot via a standard NBA contract.

Swider had a bump in the road on Wednesday as he did not continue his hot shooting in his return to Las Vegas. The rookie forward played 23 minutes in this game and went just 1-7 from the field and 0-5 from three.

While he still put in work on the glass and played decent defense, Swider is going to make the roster because of his three-point shooting, not anything else. And if his three-point shooting is not translating then he is fighting an uphill battle.

Granted, Swider looked just fine in the first preseason game, so fans can be optimistic that this was just one bad game for the rookie.