Carr clears injury report for Lakers debut

Cameron Carr is officially available for the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

Carr, the No. 24 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft, spent the first two weeks of the 2026-27 season in street clothes on the bench. A right oblique strain suffered during the preseason kept him from suiting up for the Lakers' season-opening victory over the Golden State Warriors last month. He spent the following week practicing with the G League's Coachella Valley Lakers. The Lakers removed his name from the league-mandated injury report on Saturday afternoon.

Lakers coach JJ Redick confirmed Carr's availability during a pregame press conference on Sunday afternoon. Redick said he expects the rookie to focus on shooting and physical defense. "If he gets an opportunity, hopefully he shoots the ball well and all that," Redick said. He added that the team needs Carr to be a "low man" and to "crash" the boards.

Carr told the Southern California News Group on Friday that he feels "physically pretty good." The 21-year-old guard, who stands 7-foot-1 with a wingspan of the same length, called the debut a "blessing." He said he is ready to "make one big play" to settle his nerves.

Carr averaged 18.9 points per game on 49.4% field goal shooting at Baylor last season. He also made 37.4% of his three-point attempts. During the NBA Summer League and the California Classic, he averaged 17.4 points per game on 42.3% shooting. In the preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings, Carr scored 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting and made three of seven shots from beyond the arc.

Carr is the son of former NBA guard Chris Carr. He has said he wants to improve his physical strength and develop defensive habits to impact the game. "I definitely feel stronger," Carr said. "I feel like I'm just, every day, just taking and learning more and more and picking up as much as I can, becoming a better defender day by day."

Center Lawson Lovering also joined the Lakers recently. The 23-year-old signed a two-year contract on Wednesday morning. He averaged 7.7 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Memphis Hustle in the G League last season. Lovering said he practiced with Coachella Valley after joining the team. He described setting screens for Luka Doncic as a "cool thought." Lovering said he views his role as a "two-way guy" who does "dirty work" on defense and rebounding.