FanPost

NBA Rookies Ladder: Ebanks @ #1 and Caracter @ #3

Day Two at Vegas, and it looks like the Lakers' two draft picks are impressing people.

(Also, seeing George Karl made me happy. Glad to see him healthy and on the sidelines coaching.)

Check out the NBA Rookies Ladder page that also has a couple video features on Devin Ebanks here.

The NBA Rookies Ladder placed Devin Ebanks as their #1 rookie for his play yesterday:

Ebanks grabs the top spot after his second straight game topping 20 points. In his debut, the No. 43 pick had 21, then followed it up with 24 on Saturday. "It's just a tremendous opportunity for me," Ebanks said. "Coming from a great program like West Virginia, I'm used to winning, so I just hope to continue that."
-- July 10, 9:08 p.m. PT

It's eerily similar how much he resembles Trevor Ariza. With time, once he's improved defensively and he makes the roster, he really does have, with his skill sets and potential, the blueprint to succeed in the Lakers' system. And he's wearing #3!

Derrick Caracter moved up the ladder to the #3 spot.

Caracter had his second straight double-double in Vegas with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the Lakers' 92-74 loss to the Nuggets on Saturday. "Nobody can stop him in the block," said teammate Devin Ebanks.
--July 10, 7:30 p.m. PT

First, I'm liking that our two draft picks have already established a pretty decent chemistry on-court. Some nice plays between the two. And praising each other is a good thing. Hearing Ebanks talk about how they've played on teams before during high school so they both know each other's game is a definite plus. If they both make the team (and I really do hope so since both look a lot like first round picks - steals by Mitch!), they'll most likely develop a good friendship off-court and could push each other and motivate themselves to succeed in the triangle.

Both need work defensively, but then again, all rookies most likely need this, so it'll be good to see them get invites at training camp and hopefully make it onto the roster, and get some advice and training with the Lakers coaches.

Still can't get over how much Ebanks looks like TA. With time, I think he has the potential to be as good or even better than TA (as almost blasphemous as that is to say). He just needs to work on his defense and rebounding! With his height and wingspan, pulling down one to two rebounds is not going to cut it.

All in all, looking forward to their next game against the Kings. Demarcus Cousins vs. Derrick Caracter, I want to see how Caracter matches and holds up against Cousins. A victory would be nice only because I remember was it Cousins that said something stupid about the Lakers on Twitter. [Ed. note: Cousins tweeted that Bynum didn't deserve to touch the Lakers' championship trophy.]

Is it too early to say the Lakers had a good draft day (or some steals here?). It seems to be the general consensus in the media. But then again, I think people might be excited due to how much Ebanks is reminding them of TA. Are there genuine reasons to be excited about their play? Compared to our past summer league invites, how are the doing? I remember lots of people were high on Tony Gaffney - how does Ebanks compare (since they seem more comparable in terms of height and build)?

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And a last trivia note: our draft pick from two years ago, Joe Crawford, is now playing on the Orlando Magic's summer league team and seems to be playing pretty well for them.