LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers assigned rookie guard Cameron Carr to their G League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Lakers, on Monday, Oct. 26, and then recalled him quickly ahead of the team’s next game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Prior to the Lakers’ game against the Blazers, head coach JJ Redick explained what Cameron Carr was able to do during his brief G League assignment, while talking about the necessary steps before he can make his return from injury.

“Still working through that. He was able to do a full practice today. Five games in seven nights, we’re not going to be able to practice this week. We want to be cognizant of his ramp up and what he needed to do to be back in our lineup. So today was a good step for him,” Redick said during his pregame press conference. “We needed him to be able to get through a full practice. That’s probably a very important step. Obviously he was able to do some level of conditioning because it was an upper body injury, but we want to make sure he’s able to take hits and be able to be in shape.”

Carr was able to play in two of the Lakers’ five preseason games, at a little over 17 minutes per game. He averaged 12.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point line and 100 percent from the free-throw line.

His strong preseason performance was on the heels of a standout NBA Summer League where he made it clear that he was a steal for the Lakers in the late first-round of the NBA Draft. He played a total of seven games between the California Classic and Las Vegas, averaging 17.4 points.

Article Continues Below

The No. 24 overall pick, the Lakers were able to acquire the former Baylor standout in a draft night trade with the New York Knicks to move up one spot. When Carr does return from his injury, it’s likely that he still sees plenty of live reps playing with Coachella Valley.

Before the beginning of training camp, both Redick and general manager Rob Pelinka spoke glowingly of Carr, and it’s clear the Lakers are heavily invested in his development. They will certainly take a bigger picture approach to managing his development this season.