Scout Sense Game of the Night: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns
Lakers
Kyle Kuzma: Coming into the preseason with a chip on his shoulder Kuzma continued to build on his strong preseason play. Playing a team high 32 minutes Kuzma looked great with and without the Lakers stars on the court. In addition to knocking down his open looks created by the attention both James and Davis demand Kuzma impressed with his ability to knock down tough jumpers on the move. If he is able to carry this play over to the regular season, he is going to be a pleasant contributor to the Laker’s scoring load.
Marc Gasol: It’s pretty apparent Father Time is knocking on Gasol’s doorstep, but he remains a refreshing new piece to the Lakers nucleus. He certainly gives them a nice new offensive look with his ever so famous touches at the top of the key further encouraging the Lakers to move, cut, and screen off the ball which is a great counter to the rest of their offensive sets.
Quinn Cook: With Caruso sitting this game out, Cook was provided an opportunity to further prove he will be a wonderful insurance piece off Vogel’s bench this season. Tonight he was the spark the Lakers desperately needed to survive and leave victorious with the bulk of the Lakers offense sitting out the entire second half. Never hurts to have a hard working, always ready guard like Quinn able to check in for action when needed.
Talen Horten-Tucker: This young man continued on his tear adding another strong night of preseason play to his resume. It’s still unclear how much run he will be given in the regular season but he is certainly putting up a huge argument that he deserve some steady time. Evaluating his game and taking into considerations his size I find it extremely difficult to find a player comparison for him. The one guy that continues to come to mind when watching him play is John Salmons. He obviously is a shorter, yet stronger version of Salmons but he certainly looks to be a valuable developing player within the Lakers organization. Extremely fun watching him gain confidence out there on the floor.
Dennis Schroder: Last year’s 6th man of the year candidate arrived in LA with the desire to start. While he’s fully capable of being a full time starter, I still find him being a better fit as a valuable member of their second unit with Montrezl Harrell rather allowing Caruso to start in the backcourt with the first unit. It will be interesting to see what Vogel elects to do with him long term.
Suns
Jae Crowder: With Oubre’s departure via trade, it cannot be stressed enough how important Crowder will be to the Suns success this season. His game widely differs from Oubre, but I totally feel he is the perfect replacement that can keep the Suns from missing Oubre’s presence/impact. Tonight he came out the gates extremely hot shooting ball from deep, but even when the shots aren’t falling his contributions off the ball and on the defensive end of the floor are invaluable. He will be a fan favorite in Phoenix in no time.
DeAndre Ayton: It’s time to give this young man the credit he deserves. I truly hope NBA world can put the Luka Doncic stuff behind them and start appreciating the growth and talent Ayton continues to showcase. He was outstanding tonight on both ends of the floor. Ayton was extremely efficient in his 25 minutes going 8–10 from the floor with a healthy mix of the baskets coming from midrange and in the paint after establishing strong low post position on the Lakers opposing bigs. If the Suns are to take the next step in advancing to the playoffs Ayton is going to play a large part in that.
Jalen Smith: As one of the critics of this draft pick, I still walked away from this game impressed with Smith’s potential. He has a lot to learn on both ends of the floor and I’m not sure how ready he is to really contribute in his first year but I loved his aggressive/fearless approach. He is not shy to take what the defense gives him when provided touches, has very good mobility, and flashes really good sequences of solid footwork on his moves. It’s clear he’s fortunate to be surrounded by a group of vets that will embrace mentoring him and he could be a guy who shows strong growth as the season progresses.
Damian Jones: When Jones was added to the Suns roster I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or how he’d fit into the mix. The answer remains unclear what kind of role he might have, but I do like him as an off the bench option. He is non-threat outside of the paint, but his athleticism is a nice threat around the rim on hard rolls and dump offs. At the very least he can provide the Ayton a quick breathier and offer up a few fouls on the inside while banging for rebounds.
Mikal Bridges: Despite LeBron coasting through most of this preseason game, his tough defensive assignment was great experience for the 3rd year wing who will be largely counted on to provide tough defense throughout the season. With Cam Johnson out for this game, Bridges was also forced to provide some outside shooting. He got off to a rough start from the field with the Lakers defense settling on allowing him the open looks on their defensive rotation but as the game headed into the second half he was able to find his groove. It’s imperative that Bridges continues to expand his three point shooting from the corner 3 to the wing. With the ball movement and defensive focus both Paul/Book will attract he is going to be counted on to knock down a hefty amount of looks from the wing area.
Side Note: I highly doubt Jonathan Motley ends up making the final roster. But if he does he is a significant downgrade from Cheick Diallo.
