LOS ANGELES – Since JJ Redick took the helm as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team has used their two-way contract players quite often. In year one, Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison received plenty of minutes amid the Anthony Davis trade, while Jordan Goodwin had his deal converted to standard contract. Last year, Drew Timme and Nick Smith Jr. contributed to wins while Smith had his contract converted. This year, one player looking to potentially get minutes for the Lakers is Chris Mañon.

The second-year guard is back on a two-way contract, and during his rookie season, Redick mentioned that he has the tools to become an elite defensive player in the NBA. Chris Mañon didn’t see much playing time last year with the Lakers, and he’s beginning this season getting reps in the G League with the rebranded Coachella Valley Lakers.

While Mañon has always been more of a shooting guard, one thing the Lakers’ coaching staff had asked of him during training camp and the preseason was to play more point guard. It’s been an adjustment for him, but it’s challenge he’s willing to meet head on.

“It’s a whole new role. You got to get your team organized, get them into plays, keep them in the right spots. You got to help them out all while handling pressure, people trying to take the ball from you,” Mañon said during Coachella Valley Media Day on Nov. 2. “It’s super fun for me. I love learning new things and being able to be versatile, so it’s been super fun.”

Across the last two seasons, Mañon has appeared in a total of 11 games for the Lakers. The G League is where he’s been able to get live reps and he started this season off with a bang. In Coachella Valley’s opening night win against the Salt Lake City Stars, he finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Last year, he appeared in 46 games with the then South Bay Lakers, at a little over 26 minutes per game. He averaged 11.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 51.2 percent from the field. While he has the most experience out of the Lakers’ three two-way contract players, it’s a good bet he’ll see most of his game reps with Coachella Valley.

And if that’s the case, Mañon is on board with being able to continue sharpening his skills to stick in the NBA.

“That’s what it is, you get to develop your skills and learn and grow with a different group of guys,” Mañon said. “Hopefully Coach [Alex] Cerda lets me continue to grow and I’m super excited to play.”

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The Lakers’ G League team is coming off a historic season having finished atop the Western Conference standings with a 26-10 record. That included a franchise record 12-game win streak, and Mañon being named to the G League All-Defensive Team while being the runner-up in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Amid a coaching change with Zach Guthrie being promoted to Redick’s staff and Alex Cerda taking the helm, Coachella Valley still stands to be a good team, especially if they get help from the Lakers as they did for Friday’s win with Bronny James and Cameron Carr.

“Obviously we made a pretty deep run last year in the G League playoffs,” Mañon said. “I think … we’re one of the premier teams in the G League. We’re going to compete every day, play as hard as we can. We got some high-flyers on the team, we got some people that can score, people that can handle. We got a little bit of everything on this team.”