For the first three days of practice for the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s been mostly veterans, Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, that have made the most headlines. But one of the most interesting young player on the Lakers is waiting in the wings before he gets a shot to run with the Lakers star players.
According to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, Caruso has been a consistent presence on the second unit while Rondo and Bradley have gotten more looks as the first team point guard.
However, there are plenty of indicators that suggest LeBron and Caruso should play together at least some. James and Caruso worked well together in only 10 games last season. They registered a +9.6 net-rating in their time together according to NBA.com and they both helped each other score, adding a lot of evidence to head coach Frank Vogel’s statement that LeBron “likes playing with guys like Caruso.” In addition to the juicy net-rating, nobody assisted on more of Caruso’s baskets last year than LeBron (10), while Caruso helped LeBron on 9 of his made field goals, so just a little less than one assist to LeBron per game.
Meanwhile, the Lakers weren’t a very efficient team when LeBron shared the court with Rajon Rondo in the regular season last year. However, Rondo’s basketball IQ and improved 3-point shooting over the last couple of years have evidently given Frank Vogel hope that he can turn that around. Also, given that NBA coaches often trust in veterans, it shouldn’t be a shock that Bradley got an earlier look with the Lakers first team.
