Lakers get high grade for acquiring Baylors Cameron Carr in NBA draft

The Lakers entered the offseason wanting to add depth to their roster. They wanted to get more athletic.And they wanted to add elements of youth.By selecting Baylor wing Cameron Carr with the No.24 pick in the first round of the NBA draft on Tuesday night after moving up spot in the draft order following a deal with the Knicks, the Lakers accomplished all three goals. Carr averaged 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 blocks in 33.7 minutes across 34 games in his lone season at Baylor in 2025-26 after spending two years at Tennessee.Before Tuesday, Carr wasn’t expected to be available for the Lakers by the time they were on the clock to draft a prospect. Most mock drafts from major media publications projected Carr to be selected just outside of the lottery, between picks Nos.

15-20. But he fell to the Lakers, who moved up one spot after a draft-day trade with the Knicks to acquire Carr’s draft rights.Carr’s 3-point shooting and athleticism are his clearest strengths that should immediately translate from college to the NBA. He shot 37.4% from beyond the arc with the Bears last season, including over 40% on catch-and-shoot 3s, while attempting 6.1 3s per game. And while standstill shooting is a strength, it isn’t the only time Carr is dangerous from beyond the arc: Carr is a threat spotting up, relocating, curling off of screens and even showed potential as a pull-up 3-point shooter in college. Carr showed he knows how to leverage his threat as a 3-point shooter into easier scoring opportunties inside of the arc, where he shot 60.2%. He thrived with attacking closeouts or cutting into open space near the rim after defenders pressed up on him too much, using his athleticism to explode for dunks.Carr had the second-fastest lane agility time (10.46 seconds), second-highest standing vertical leap (38 inches) and third-highest max vertical leap (42 ½ inches) at the NBA combine last month.He uses his explosive athleticism and length in functio...