Los Angeles Lakers: G League update through 8 games

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images /
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The Los Angeles Lakers’ G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, have started the season 7-1 and currently sit at the top of their division. Let’s take a look at how young Lakers are doing.

The Los Angeles Lakers G League basketball team was founded in 2006 with the original name being the Los Angeles D-Fenders. The establishment of this team made the Lakers the first NBA team to have full ownership of their minor league team, and the league has since expanded to 26 teams each affiliated directly with an NBA team.

When the NBA minor league system rebranded as the G League, the Los Angeles D-Fenders were abolished and the team made the switch to be called the South Bay Lakers. This created more cohesive branding for the franchise and also coincided with the team’s move into the brand new UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, where the South Bay Lakers play their home games.

The nature of the Lakers roster is already incredibly young, so the developmental league allows Luke Walton and the rest of the Lakers coaching staff to evaluate their young players against lesser competition as they continue to develop their games.

The Lakers are unique in that they already have so much young talent already playing at the NBA level, so they can utilize their G League team to identify players young or old that can help the team in a role player position. With the addition of the two-way contract this season, the Lakers selected guards Alex Caruso and Vander Blue to serve as the team’s designated two-way players.

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As a team, the South Bay Lakers have dominated the competition on the offensive end. They are second in the league in scoring average and third in assists, which shows they are sharing the ball. Through eight games, the team is shooting a blistering 52.3 percent from the field to lead the league, and this has certainly contributed to its 7-1 start.

It’s clear that the team is playing well as a unit, but the Lakers have been getting excellent individual efforts from their talented two-way players Caruso and Blue. Blue is averaging 24.3 points in his three games with the team while Caruso is one of three South Bay Lakers averaging five or more assists per game.

Another standout performer has been the Lakers’ second round pick out of Indiana, Thomas Bryant. The 6’11” center has brought the energy in six games for the team averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 rebounds a night. Perhaps the most impressive stat in Bryant’s start is that he’s shooting 40 percent on 3-pointers while attempting five per game.

The bottom line is that the South Bay Lakers have been arguably just as exciting to watch as their Staples Center counterparts. The team plays a similar style of basketball as the NBA club, making the transition seamless for players that are fortunate enough to get the call-up to the Lakers.

Next: 2017-18 Week 6 NBA Power Rankings

The team is chasing its first ever G League championship this season and looks primed for a dominant run. The South Bay Lakers take on the Iowa Wolves on Monday night and all games can be watched on Facebook live.