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The first day of training camp is in the books for the Lakers and, still surprisingly, there is little drama or big storylines for the Lakers as things remained relatively normal. The biggest question about the team remains who will be the fifth starter with Jarred Vanderbilt taking those duties for at least some of practice in day one.
Austin Reaves was not technically among those starters on Tuesday, though that’s only a precaution as the Lakers are looking to slowly bring him back into the fold after his work with Team USA this summer.
Austin Reaves is easing into training camp after his long summer with Team USA. He was on the sidelines for Tuesday’s scrimmage, allowing a unique perspective (for him).
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 3, 2023
He captured it with one observation…
“We’ve got everything we need to be good,” he said.
Outside of that, everyone else for the Lakers was healthy and available on the day.
“Phenomenal spirit”
Coaches are full of cliches and Darvin Ham isn’t an exception to that. He used some of that cliche coach talk to describe Tuesday’s practice.
“The overall spirit in the building is phenomenal,” Darvin Ham said. Sounds like he was happy with the first day. Said today was about creating skeleton and eventually, they’ll put “meat on those bones.”
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 3, 2023
Ham wouldn’t single a player out in terms as to who was a standout on the day, but he did have plenty of nice things to say about a couple of players and the team as a whole.
Who looked good at the Lakers’ first practice?
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 3, 2023
“Everyone,” Coach Darvin Ham said.
“‘Bron is still sharp as ever,” he added. “AD moving well, covered ground, being a stalwart on defense. D-Lo played well today.”
Ham liked the “tenacity” during a scrimmage as well.
Jalen Hood-Schifino stands out
The Lakers’ first round pick has gone under the radar this offseason but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday. Both Reaves and D’Angelo Russell singled out Jalen Hood-Schifino as a standout on the day.
Both D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves shouted out rookie guard Jalen Hood-Schifino as having a strong Day 1 of training camp
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 3, 2023
JHS is going to have quite a lot of work to earn playing time this season with the guard position being one of the deepest spots on the roster. But opportunities will present themselves and even more of them could if he continues standing out in practice.
Christian Wood’s first practice
The Lakers didn’t have any marquee signings but they did have some notable additions. Christian Wood is near the top of that list, joining the team on a minimum signing late in the offseason.
With a host of potential on this specific roster, Wood is going to be one of the players with eyes on him during the presason and into the regular season.
On Tuesday, he spoke about his first day on the court with the team and being matched up against Anthony Davis.
Christian Wood said his first Lakers practice was “great,” noting how competitive it was. He said he went up against Anthony Davis for most of the practice today, though he expects some alignments with them playing together will come.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 3, 2023
Ham spoke about Wood’s work on the day, complimenting his work on the defensive end of the floor.
Christian Wood was very active defensively today at practice, especially with communication, Darvin Ham said.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 3, 2023
“He wants to be elite defensively,” Ham said, calling Wood one of the main voices at practice. “Truly, truly, extremely engaged on the defensive part.”
If there’s going to be an area that Wood’s playing time is going to be determined, it’ll be defensively. He has all the offensive skills and that comes natural to him but how much he can stay on the floor on the other end will dictate how many minutes he can stay on the floor.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
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