The Lakers ruled Cameron Carr out for Tuesday’s game against Portland, and a few hours later they sent him to the desert. The team announced Monday night that it had assigned the rookie to the Coachella Valley Lakers, its G League affiliate, as Jovan Buha posted and Khobi Price relayed “per the team.”
Good. I would go one step further. Once Carr’s right oblique strain is behind him, the Lakers should leave him in Coachella Valley for real games in November instead of recalling him to watch from the end of the bench. Before Tuesday’s game, the Lakers are 3-0 with nine players averaging at least 16 minutes. They don’t need a rookie in street clothes.
Where Carr Stands as of Tuesday
Carr still has not made his NBA debut. On October 21, before the opener, JJ Redick said Carr’s right oblique strain had him “ramping up” and “day-to-day,” per Buha. Four days later, before the Utah game, Redick still called Carr and Adou Thiero day to day, according to Benjamin Royer’s post on X. On Monday evening, Dan Woike posted that both would remain out against Portland.
So “day-to-day” has now covered six days and four games. That’s no scandal. Obliques are annoying, and nobody has said this one is serious. But it does mean Carr will have missed the end of the preseason and the first week of the season by the time he is cleared, and that is the problem the G League solves.
The Lakers Have Not Missed Him Yet
The bluntest argument for patience is the standings. The Lakers beat Golden State 127-105, the Clippers 125-117 and Utah 132-123 without Carr, per Basketball Reference. He has no place in the rotation to protect right now.
Look at the minutes for the perimeter players and forwards Carr would have to pass, through three games:
| Player | Games | Minutes per game |
|---|---|---|
| Ziaire Williams | 3 (3 starts) | 28.3 |
| Quentin Grimes | 3 | 26.0 |
| Matisse Thybulle | 3 (3 starts) | 24.3 |
| Collin Sexton | 2 | 18.0 |
| Jake LaRavia | 2 | 16.5 |
That’s the room Carr has to squeeze into, and it’s crowded. Thybulle is starting for his defense, and I’ve argued he is the Lakers’ wing stopper, if he stays healthy. Grimes is playing 26 minutes off the bench. Williams has started all three games. Sexton is the bench scorer. If Carr came back Wednesday at the Clippers, the honest expectation would be a few garbage-time minutes on a good night and a DNP on a close one.
Redick hasn’t hidden this. He has said, per Sean Deveney’s report, “We’re going to play more guys this year. We’re just naturally deeper.” On Carr specifically: “Those opportunities may be here and there; he may be part of the rotation.” That’s a coach being fair to a rookie, and also telling you the minutes are not promised. “Here and there” is not a development plan.
What Coachella Valley Actually Offers
There’s one catch with Monday’s move, and it is a calendar catch. The G League season doesn’t tip off until Friday, November 6, per the league’s schedule release. Coachella Valley, the relocated and renamed former South Bay Lakers, plays its first game that night at Acrisure Arena against the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s schedule announcement.
So for the next ten days, there are no G League games for him to play. The NBA team plays Portland on Tuesday, the Clippers on Wednesday, Golden State on Friday, then Toronto and Miami on back-to-back nights, November 1 and 2. A recovering rookie gets lost in that schedule. On a G League practice floor, he’s the main project.
Then the games start, and this is where I want the Lakers to be patient. The G League opens with a 14-game Tip-Off Tournament played inside each region, leading to the Winter Showcase in Orlando from December 19 to 22. That’s more than a month of real games with a real scouting report, where Carr can take the catch-and-shoot threes, make the closeout reads and guard the other team’s best wing for 30 minutes instead of three.
I made the case last week that Carr should earn his Lakers minutes without the ball, with a narrow job beside a creator, and that real G League minutes beat a long stretch of watching. This assignment is the first step toward that. The next step is resisting the urge to pull him back the moment he’s healthy just because a first-round pick is supposed to be on the NBA bench.
When to Bring Him Back
I’m not arguing for exile. The Lakers can recall him whenever they need him, and they will need him. Thybulle’s health history alone makes that a near certainty at some point, and Thiero is also out. If a wing goes down for weeks, Carr should be the first call.
But the bar for a recall should be a real role. If there are 15 or 20 minutes for him in Los Angeles because somebody got hurt, bring him up and play him. If the choice is between 30 minutes in the Coachella Valley and a warmup jacket at Crypto.com Arena, the desert wins every time.
The Lakers got the first part right on Monday night. The test comes in mid-November, when Carr is healthy, Coachella Valley is a few games into its season and somebody suggests he would look nice on the Lakers bench again. He’d look better playing.