How Cameron Carr plans to ‘work wonders’ during Lakers rookie season

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How Cameron Carr plans to ‘work wonders’ during Lakers rookie season

David Yapkowitz, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sun, Jul 19, 2026 ·

4 min read

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LAS VEGAS – The Los Angeles Lakers ' incredible Summer League run came to an end on Saturday following their 92-88 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the semifinal match. But regardless of the final outcome, the Lakers' brass has to be thrilled with what they saw from rookie guard Cameron Carr throughout the duration of Summer League.

Cameron Carr played in both the California Classic and the main event at Las Vegas Summer League, and he continued to show why the Lakers felt like they got a steal when he slipped to them in the NBA Draft. A projected late-lottery talent, the Lakers moved up to No. 24 via trade with the New York Knicks to grab Carr when he was still available.

Aside from his play on the court, one of the most noticeable aspects of Carr's game was his leadership. He was vocal on the court and on the bench, already establishing himself as a leading voice amongst the Lakers' summer squad. And that bodes well for his rookie season as head coach JJ Redick stresses leadership in some way from each of his players regardless of stature.

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"Don't lose my voice. I do a good job communicating to people and trying to help them, and they help me in the same way," Carr mentioned to ClutchPoints after the Lakers' final summer league game. "If I can be vocal and know what I know of the game, and same thing, we all just communicate in a healthy manner, it's gonna work wonders for everybody."

Carr finished his first go-round with NBA Summer League not shooting the ball particularly well , he was only 5-of-14 from the field and 1-of-8 from 3-point range against the Warriors, but his confidence and not allowing that to let him get too down on himself was something that stood out to Lakers summer league coach Ty Abbott.

"You want him to be confident and you want to make sure that he knows that you trust him. He's the one that's out there playing so it's like you got to give him some leeway with that. And he's been great for us," Abbott said after the loss to the Warriors. "He kind of came over and apologized and I told him, 'just keep being you, but just have some patience. Maybe move the ball a little bit, let a closeout happen.'"

One of the things Carr has been able to do despite his shooting in the Lakers' final summer game, was utilize screens and get his shot off. Multiple times the Lakers would run pin down actions for Carr allowing him to get into the middle while a teammate would hit him with a pass. He'd take maybe a single dribble and then rise up for the midrange jumper.

That's a welcome skill-set for the Lakers if that can translate to the regular season. Carr was able to use his athleticism to rise up over the defense and get his shot off rather clean. He knows that part of his game is a work in progress, but the early returns are promising.

"I got to keep working on it. Got to keep working on it. I probably didn't do the best today at showing that ability, but I got to keep working on it," Carr said. "Get back to the lab and grow and become a better player and just keep learning."

In that regard, Carr has stressed throughout the summer that he's not a perfect player amid his standout play. The biggest thing for him was just getting used to the style of the NBA game. Being able to read the way defenses play him and adapt to that.

"Just catching up and getting used to the pace of the game," Carr said. "And having my body just adjust to the physicality and the different level of basketball."

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