Byron Scott excited for fresh start with Lakers and young core at training camp

The Los Angeles Lakers head off to Hawaii in under a week to begin training camp, so the lead-up media rounds have begun. Head coach Byron Scott stopped by for an interview with Colin Cowherd on FS1 and gave his thoughts leading up to a fresh start with the team.

"I'm excited about going to training camp next week, seeing what Julius Randle can do, and how he's developed," Scott said of expectations for his young core. "Jordan Clarkson was obviously a diamond in the rough last year, seeing if he's going to continue to grow and get better. And like you said, we've got a 19-year-old in D'Angelo Russell at the point guard, we want to see how he develops."

The trio of players represents the future of the organization Scott expressed a clear understanding of where the team is heading. "My future is Randle, Russell and Clarkson right now. Those three guys. We know that they're going to be here for a number of years," Byron said of the Lakers' talented youth. "We do know these young guys that we have are obviously the future of Los Angeles."

The entire group has been working on their games all summer, and the Lakers' head athletic trainer gave an informative update if you're interested in catching up on their progress. Training camp is going to be competitive as a roster featuring several new players settles in, and the basketball operations team is loading up on players that will battle for the final slots on the roster.

"We have some competition at a lot of positions," Scott said of the new batch of Lakers he'll be working with. The biggest question mark in the starting lineup heading into training camp might be at power forward, a position Scott's previously mentioned Brandon Bass could handle over Julius to start the season. There's plenty of intrigue with a brand new team, and Scott's just as curious as everyone is about how it will all come together.

The Lakers will try to turn around a franchise-worst 21-61 record that landed them the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. There's even less of a safety net heading into next summer, with the Lakers' 2016 first-round pick having only top-three protection and belonging to the Philadelphia 76ers. A team with a recently-cleared Kobe Bryant, a handful of proven veterans, and a trio of young guards serve as reason for excitement heading into the season.

"I don't know where our ceiling is yet. I'll get a pretty good indication when we start training camp," Scott said. "I'm very excited about this year."

Quotes transcribed via FS1 Go