Los Angeles Lakers forward Maxwell Lewis is taking an uncommon path by playing a significant role in the Summer League as a second-year player. Unlike most second-year draftees who often skip the Summer League to prepare for the regular season, Lewis sees this as a crucial opportunity to secure his spot and prove his worth for the 2024-25 season.
Lewis aims to showcase his diverse skill set to demonstrate to the Lakers that he can contribute to winning games this season. In the Las Vegas Summer League opener, he scored six points on 2-for-8 shooting but also tallied four rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block.
“It’s not all about just scoring 30 [points],” said Lewis, the Lakers’ 2023 second-round pick, according to Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group. “Because the job you’re doing right now in summer league, most of those guys aren’t doing that in the NBA setting. That’s just real.”
While second-year players often dominate Summer League with their scoring, Lewis is taking a different approach. Understanding he won’t be a primary scorer for the Lakers, he focuses on defense and hustle stats.
“Just defense,” Lewis said. “Just knowing coverages and just being more IQ-wise smarter on defense. And just catching and shooting. I feel like I haven’t shot the ball well so far in summer league, but I know it’s gonna come. I’m still high in confidence.”
Lewis elaborated on his defensive focus: “Guarding on the ball, just one-on-one, coming off handoffs, coming off ball screens. And just talking, being a low man, not getting backdoored, just little things like that.”
The exact role Lewis will play for the Lakers this season remains uncertain. With a relatively full roster, he might be asked to do more than last season. Nevertheless, Lewis is preparing himself to be ready for any opportunity and showing his versatility to become a valuable asset for the team.
