LOS ANGELES – When the Los Angeles Lakers selected Cameron Carr with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the general consensus was they had gotten a steal. The Lakers new rookie was projected to go higher in the first round but ended up slipping as the team moved up via draft night trade with the New York Knicks.
Cameron Carr was coming off an impressive NBA Summer League stint with the Lakers, but the rookie guard has yet to make his season debut as a suffered an oblique injury during preseason. With the regular season underway, the Lakers made the decision to assign Carr to their G League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Lakers, presumably for conditioning and rehab. The 2026-27 G League season officially begins on Nov. 6.
In the days since the injury, Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that Carr has started to ramp up his recovery and was going to be considered day-to-day. When Carr does return to the court, he likely will continue to see playing time with Coachella Valley via assignment. Back during Lakers’ Media Day, Carr expressed his desire to do whatever the team needs from him
“Just carving out my role as being a consistent defensive guy. Someone that they can lean on to do the hard work and do all the hard-making plays,” Carr said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win. Whatever that role is, whatever that identity they need me to have, I’ll fit in.”
Carr appeared in two preseason games for the Lakers, averaging 12.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 2.0 steals. He shot 47.1 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from the 3-point line and 100 percent from the free-throw line.
While his early preseason performance was certainly what the Lakers expected when they drafted him, for head coach JJ Redick, it was an incident during summer league in which Carr really endeared himself to his new coach.
Article Continues Below“Cam had a small little injury, and so he flew back to LA to get an MRI, and then flew back to Vegas. And he he’d already played like five summer games, he didn’t have to play in that game. He wrapped whatever was going on and hooped that night. Played great,” Redick said back during a preseason press conference on Sept. 24. “That’s rare, it really is in today’s NBA. I don’t care if you’re a rookie or a 10-year guy, that’s just rare.
“The guy want’s to compete … where he was on our board was not 24. He was much higher. So we feel very fortunate that we were able to get Cam.”
Carr was already ruled out for the Lakers’ game on Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, and it likely will be the same thing on the second night of a back-to-back against the LA Clippers. The Lakers will certainly take a bigger picture approach to Carr’s injury rehab this season.