As fans, teams and young players around the league prepare for the beginning of NBA Summer League, take a look back on what may be one of the greatest Summer League teams ever put together: The 2017 Los Angeles Lakers.
The Roster
High first-round draft picks, second-round hopefuls and undrafted hidden gems made up the roster.
After finishing 26-56 in the 2016-17 regular season, the Lakers used their two first-round draft picks to draft Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma.
In the same draft, they also acquired the draft rights to Josh Hart from the Golden State Warriors and Thomas Bryant from the Utah Jazz.
The year before, the Lakers drafted Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac.
Before Summer League play, they signed undrafted players from the current draft class and past draft classes. The Lakers gave players like Alex Caruso, David Nwaba, Matt Thomas and Vander Blue a chance to prove that they belonged in the league.
A Dominant Display
This roster finished Summer League play with a record of 6-2 and won the Las Vegas Summer League Championship. En route to their championship, they ranked first in points and assists per game, second in field goal percentage, third in three-point percentage and fifth in blocks per game.
Ball led the way by ranking first in APG (9.3) and among the top 25 in PPG (16.3). On July 12, he turned heads by filling up the stat sheet with 36 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Ball was one of two Lakers to have a 30+ point game that summer.
Kuzma did it twice. One of which was in the Summer League Championship game, where he earned Championship Game MVP honors. He ended up leading all players in total points scored during Summer League.
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Vander Blue averaged 15 PPG and scoured his summer-high 27 points against the Brooklyn Nets.
Although he only played one game, Brandon Ingram also made his presence felt as a young star. On July 7, he scored a game-high 26 points against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Matt Thomas turned heads with his impressive shooting. He made at least five threes in two games. Over those two games, he missed one three-point field goal.
Their performances over that eight-game span were impressive, but it doesn’t compare to their long-term success.
Where are They Now?
This young core wasn’t together for much longer after their Summer League championship. Thomas and Nwaba didn’t make the final roster for the 2017-18 regular season. And in 2019, the Lakers traded Zubac to the Clippers, including Ball, Ingram, and Hart in the blockbuster trade that brought Anthony Davis to the Lakers from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Thriving in the League
Since then, Zubac has remained with the Clippers. This season, he averaged career highs of 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. In 2024, he signed a three-year contract extension worth $58.6 million.
Meanwhile, injuries have plagued Lonzo Ball’s career. After signing a two-year contract extension worth $20 million and being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers from the Bulls, Ball is looking to revitalize his career on a championship-contending team.
Brandon Ingram spent five full seasons with the Pelicans, during which he averaged 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game and made an All-Star team. This past season, the Pelicans traded him to the Toronto Raptors, where he signed a three-year contract extension worth $120 million.
After short stints with the Pelicans and the Portland Trail Blazers, Josh Hart seems to have found a home with the New York Knicks. After an Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance in 2023, Hart signed a four-year contract extension worth $81 million. Since then, the Knicks have appeared in two additional Conference Semifinals and this year’s Conference Finals.
Thomas Bryant was also a participant in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals. After a short stint with the Wizards and a return to the Lakers, he signed a two-year contract with the Miami Heat. In the summer of 2024, he re-signed with the Heat, who later traded him to the Indiana Pacers. He played a total of 32 minutes for the Pacers in this year’s NBA Finals.
A familiar face handed Bryant the Finals loss. Caruso played a key role in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first championship. He averaged 10.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game.
But this wasn’t the first time Caruso made an impact in the NBA Finals.
In 2020, Kyle Kuzma and Caruso were vital parts of the Lakers’ infamous bubble ring. But in 2021, Kuzma was traded to the Washington Wizards. Two years later, he signed a four-year contract worth $90 million. The Wizards traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks this past season.
Caruso left the Lakers in free agency. In 2021, he signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Bulls. This past season, the Bulls traded him to the eventual NBA Champions, the Thunder. In December, he signed a four-year extension worth $81 million.
Out of the League
Blue, Thomas and Nwaba are no longer in the league. Blue played his last NBA game for the Lakers in the 2017-18 season. Thomas played his last NBA minutes 2021, when COVID-19 protocols ravaged the Bulls roster. And Nwaba last played for the Rockets in 2022.
Blue, Thomas, and Nwaba all bounced around the G League until they decided to continue their playing careers overseas.
Nonetheless, with over $450.6 million in current contracts, an All-Star, multiple playoff appearances and two different championships, it’s safe to say the members of the 2017 Lakers Summer League team have had their fair share of success.
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