The NBA summer league has come and gone so now we have to wait until October for basketball to return. It was a fun showing in Las Vegas as always and for the Los Angeles Lakers, they got a glimpse into some of their younger talent.
One of the players that really showed out is center Colin Castleton out of The University of Florida. The team signed him to a two-way contract after he went un-drafted during the NBA Draft.
The Lakers have a need for another big man to play behind Anthony Davis and Castleton could end up providing them that need. He balled out during the summer league and showed why the team signed him to the two-way deal. He even caught the eye of one expert, who raved about his play.
J. Kyle Mann of The Ringer broke down his thoughts on the Lakers young big man.
"Past that, Colin Castleton is definitely someone to keep an eye on. Castleton is a 6-foot-11 center from Florida who earned a two-way deal from the Lakers, and it would not shock me if he emerges as a rotation big in the next few years, if not sooner. I never took him to be all that agile for his size, but in this setting, he looked peppier than I’d seen him in a while. His passing might be his most marketable skill."
Castleton looked calm during his playing time and showed he can be a versatile player. He has a very soft touch around the rim, allowing for easy buckets to be scored. But he also showed the ability to play defense at a high level and handle the ball.
As mentioned, his passing skills came as a surprise but is exactly what teams are looking for in this modern era of the NBA. If he can continue to work and develop those skills, he could easily find himself looking at rotation minutes for the Lakers this season.
"There were four traditional centers taken in the first two rounds, and if you forced me to make a wild prediction, it’d be that it’s entirely possible that the undrafted Castleton ends up as more serviceable than any of them, save for Wemby."
With the team's need for another center, Castleton may have thrown his name into the mix after his performances in the summer league. Making the claim that he could end up being the second best center in the draft class is bold but could prove to be accurate if he keeps this production up.
It'll be interesting to see how much the organization valued his game and maybe we see him with the purple and gold sooner rather than later.
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