Jake LaRavia admits Lakers teammate’s shooting improvement has taken him by surprise

LaRavia spoke to the media following the second day of LA Lakers training camp and pointed out one teammate who has surprised him.

The 23-year-old admitted that Jarred Vanderbilt’s shooting was not respected during his stint with the Memphis Grizzlies. But he has seen a clear difference since joining the Lakers.

Now, from what LaRavia has seen up close, he has changed his view and noted how much Vanderbilt has improved.

“Yeah, I mean it’s gotten much better. I know early on in my career, we didn’t respect him as a shooter, but fair to say that he can shoot the ball very well now.

“I don’t know if he tweaked something, but yeah, it looks really good now.”

Jake LaRavia not surprised by LA Lakers star Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic is one player who did not surprise Jake LaRavia at all, but that is mainly because he had high expectations to begin with.

The California native spoke about his transition to playing alongside the Slovenian guard, admitting it is still early days, but he is already looking forward to how their partnership could develop.

“Still getting used to playing with Luka being on the same side as him, but it’s going to make my life so much easier playing with someone like that,” he said.

Pressed for more details on what stood out about Doncic so far, LaRavia kept it simple. 

“Very talented,” he replied. “He’s been shooting one-legged shots. He’s Luka. I don’t have much more to say than that – he’s really good.”