Lakers Summer League Roster

As a friendly reminder to those that haven't been following this series, I won't be discussing Derrick Caracter or Devin Ebanks.  They were drafted and you should probably be able to learn everything you need to know about them over at Silver Screen and Roll.

I'm going to list the players by position first, and then how likely I think it is that they'll appear on any NBA roster next season.

Bigs

Rob Kurz, PF, Notre Dame - First off, if you remember him during his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors, he's better than you remember.

I would spend a large amount of time breaking his game down, but it's always easier to link what I've written in the past - so here's what I've written in the past.

I'm not sure it'll be with the Lakers, but I'm pretty sure he'll be on an NBA roster next season.

Ben McCauley, C, North Carolina State - Big Ben was one of the most impressive "unknown" players in Vegas last year for the Lakers.

This past season the North Carolina State graduate played for Strasbourg in France, averaging 10.5 points and five boards in 30 French League games.  Most surprisingly, he shot 34 three-pointers - and made 47% of them!

McCauley is currently playing for the Orlando Magic in the Orlando Summer League - and has impressed me in his on-court play despite sub-par numbers.  In two games thus far, McCauley is averaging 4.5 points and 5.5 boards, though a bad shooting performance in game one has diminished his field goal percentage to just 25% (4-for-16).  Part of that is because he's clearly trying to show that the aforementioned jump shot is a formidable part of his game, but he's not going to make an NBA roster if that jumper isn't falling.

Courtney Sims, PF/C, Michigan - I used to like Courtney Sims, I really did.

When we last saw Courtney Sims in the D-League, the reigning league MVP (averages of 22.8 points, 11 rebounds and 2.0 blocks) was coming off of the bench for the Iowa Energy, scoring 12.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in just under 20 minutes of action.

Since then, he's been plying his trade in Puerto Rico with the Capitanes de Arecibo.  The Capitanes were playing in both the PBL, a USA minor league below the D-League, as well as in the Puerto Rican BSN League.  Against the PBL teams, Sims was pretty dominant, averaging 22.3 points, 14.7 rebounds and two blocks over the three games he played.  However, in the BSN he was averaging 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds in just less than 20 minutes.

Apparently, that wasn't good enough for whatever he was getting paid - and I have to assume he was getting paid quite well for ditching the chance at a call-up to play in Puerto Rico - because he was released before finishing out his month long contract.

This is just another in a long line of career altering issues and interesting decisions from Sims and those who represent him.

For more on Sims awkward career since dominating the D-League, check out this post.  I guess his path is working if he still was able to earn a Summer League invite with the Lakers, but...

Drew Naymick, C, Michigan State - I had originally planned to write Naymick off because I remembered what he did at Michigan State, but it seems he's playing well for the past two seasons overseas.

The athletic big man with good hands and a soft touch played for SKK Kotwica in Poland his rookie season where he averaged 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks while shooting 58% from the field.  Then, this past season, he played in the second division of Spain where he averaged 8.8 points, 6.4 boards and led the league with 1.9 blocks while again shooting 58% from the field.

He'd be a fun player to watch play in the D-League, but I don't think he'll make enough of an impression to make people forget about his four uneventful seasons under Tom Izzo - despite his decent numbers overseas.

Tyler Sanborn, C, Guilford (D3) - Seems to be more practice team fodder than anything else, but he was the Division 3 Player of the Year - so he has that going for him.

Wings

Gerald Green, SG/SF, Gulf Shores Academy - Green was the 18th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics and the prep-to-pros phenom has been trying to achieve his Ridiculous Upside ever since.

Green has great ability as a scorer because he's big for a wing at 6-foot-8, he elevates extremely well and he has a pretty nice stroke. The problem thus far has been an inability to differentiate a good shot from a bad one as well a seeming inability to develop the practice habits and attitude to get the most from his skills. Green is also a lethargic defender and occasionally comes down tunnel vision at the offensive end, tending to dribble into difficult situations and/or commit palming violations trying to go one-on-one.  As good of a shooter as he is, he's typically shown a poor in-between game on leaners and runners.

This past season, his first out of the NBA, Green averaged 16.3 points while shooting 35% from beyond the arc while playing in Russia.  He didn't blow out any cupcakes to my knowledge.

Guards

D.J. Strawberry, SG/PG, Maryland - Strawberry was the 59th pick of the Phoenix Suns in the 2007 NBA Draft, but he hasn't really been able to stick anywhere since his rookie season.

Strawberry has primarily been known to be a defensive presence, but he showcased a few new skills in the D-League this past season which leads me to believe that the NBA could be in his future again.

He didn't light the world on fire this past season after joining the Bighorns in January, but he did look alright as a point guard - something that I didn't originally expect him to showcase - and averaged 5.5 assists as the backup off the bench.  He also put up the best field goal percentage of his career, a scorching 52%, but the 34% three-point percentage shows that his range still isn't really there - he's just better at getting to the bucket.

I don't know if he's best used a point guard in the triangle offense, but this should be an interesting test to see what the Lakers think.

Oh, and yes, his dad is Darryl.

Frank Robinson, SG, Cal State Fullerton - First and foremost, you should know that Robinson attended the same college as Marc Stein so you can expect plenty of tweets out of my favorite ESPN personality covering basketball that attended CS-Fullerton.

Robinson has been to training camp the past two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, but it seems the 6-foot-4 guard has finally done enough playing in the Lakers backyard with the Los Angeles D-Fenders for the big club to take notice.

The 26-year-old guard has all of the intangibles - great strength, length, lateral quickness, etc. - but he's also a very heady basketball player.  Though his averages of 12.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists don't necessarily jump out at anyone, he's one of those players that you have to watch to actually appreciate.

If he's been working on a long-distance shot, I could foresee him making the Lakers roster simply because of his familiarity with the team's sets.

Ibrahim Jaaber, PG/SG, Pennsylvania - Remember when Brandon Jennings was relegated to mop up duty as a rookie in Italy?  Jaaber was the starter.

Since failing to make an NBA roster following a Summer League invite with the Detroit Pistons as a rookie in 2007, Jaaber's been tearing up the European circuit while playing in Greece and Italy.  This past season, Jaaber averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 boards and 2.5 assists while swiping 2.2 steals.

His best trait is on the defensive end (and his high steal rate in Europe would lead you to believe that it's really, really a good trait), but he shot just 23% (9-of-40) beyond the arc this past season after what looked to be a major breakthrough the season before (40% from distance).

Draft Express wrote late last year that "his contract with Rome is up this summer, so the time to make a push for the NBA (and vice-versa) could be right now. Jaaber has a Bulgarian passport in his possession, though, so his value for European teams (particularly in the ACB) could be substantially higher than it is for NBA squads, meaning a minimum contract just might not cut it."