The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be thrilled about losing Dwight Howard to the Houston Rockets despite the fact that he is an elite player and that attitude should say all that needs to be said about the center's time in LA and now the team is moving on, starting up summer league play this week.
The Lakers have a number of issues to deal with over the summer and after adding free agent Chris Kaman as well as center Robert Sacre, they will look for some other areas where they can add depth before finalizing their roster. Lakers assistant coach Dan D'Antoni will be the head coach of the summer league team and the roster will have 18 players, including Robert Sacre and rookie forward Ryan Kelly, although he likely won't be playing due to the foot injury he had in college.
Sacre will be back with the team for the second straight year after being taken with the final pick of the second round in 2012 and while he barely played last season, he could have a much bigger role this time around. Last year he averaged 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.3 minutes and he also played for the Lakers' D-League affiliate L.A. D-Fenders, averaging 11.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 32.6 minutes and depending on how things go over the summer, he could get regular time in the rotation now that Howard is gone.
The Lakers will be adding more players as training camp approaches and some options to add on are Chris Douglas-Roberts and guard Josh Selby, who both may get potential invites to camp. Douglas-Roberts almost made the team last season and played in some preseason games and there is a good chance he will make the roster. Selby has also shown some skills in the past while winning the co-MVP of last season's summer league with Damiam Lillard and he comes in having career averages of 2.2 points and 0.9 assists per game in 38 games with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Some of the other players include Lazar Hayward, guard Lester Hudson, forward Marcus Landry and forward Jordan Williams as well as guard Souleyman Diabate, forward Elias Harris, center Travis Hyman, forward Ian Hummer, guard Michael Snaer and forward Mitchell Watt. The team also will have some local college players on the roster, including guard D.J. Seeley, forward Drew Viney and forward Renaldo Woolridge.