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Praise has been heaped in bundles to countless Lakers win throughout the first days of training camp. A new name was added to the mix on Monday and is one Lakers fans will likely be excited to hear about.

While head coach JJ Redick admitted he’s still young and going through the struggles any rookie would, Cameron Carr also was on the receiving end of some of that acclaim on Thursday.

“Cam, we see a player in Cam,” Redick said. “We’re really excited about him. You can also see through three days that he’s a rookie. There were times where we kind of had to stop a drill or, at one point a minute into the second scrimmage, I had to call timeout and bring him over and just teach him a little bit.

“He picks up things quick so very confident that he’ll have opportunities this year.”

Carr will certainly have an uphill battle to playing time. Given the little we have to go on right now, it seems that a number of wings are excelling early in training camp. It will come down to impressing in the moments Carr will have during preseason games.

But even if that doesn’t happen in the exhibition slate, it’s a long season and, as Redick noted, opportunities will come.

Mysterious injuries

Redick has alluded a couple of times during training camp that a couple of players were limited. On Thursday, he was asked a bit more about it and provided very little more insight.

“Everybody did something,” Redick said of practice. “Again, we’ve had to modify a couple guys. We had an extended scrimmage today and cleaned up some things offensively for the first time since, really, last Wednesday when we were doing our small group work. We’ll continue to have an emphasis on that over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday before we go to [Sacramento].”

When asked if those unspecified injuries would keep players out of games, Redick said that was to be determined but that it was nothing they were worried about long term.

Best training camp ever

Ziaire Williams hasn’t been in the NBA long, but this training camp has left an impression. After years of training camps on teams without a focus on winning, joining a Lakers side focused on winning has been a change of pace.

“It’s a little different, for sure,” Williams said. “This is a winning culture, a winning culture, a winning team, a team that has high standards, so it’s a little different. Guys have been more experienced, more in the league so it’s a little less teaching and more just concepts and schemes versus Brooklyn, it was eight rookies or however many we had…so it was a lot more teaching.

“But training camp here has been great. I’m comfortable. Guys have helped me work my way in and I just feel like I belong. I’m happy where I’m at and we just got to keep doing it.”

Multiple players have said this training camp has been great. For basically every team outside of the Kings, vibes at this point in the season probably are good. Another theme that has gone hand-in-hand with that, though, has been the competitiveness during camp, too.

“This has been a very physical, competitive, intense training camp,” Jake LaRavia said. “I think it’s been the best one that I’ve been a part of since I’ve been in the league and this third day just really put a stamp on what we’ve been doing.”

Other notes

• Redick spoke about Dalton Knecht, who he said has “been a pro” during training camp. He credited his offseason work and said he was hungry to earn a rotation spot.
• Add LaRavia to the list of people who have singled out Adou Thiero this summer. He said the second-year player had been “really good,” praise he also gave Williams.
• Speaking of LaRavia, Redick talked about his conversations with him this summer, saying they spoke a lot in the first six weeks of the offseason, both about shooting and the “mental side of things.” To that point, Redick said LaRavia is in not just a good place physically this traning camp, but mentally as well.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The Jalen Duren drama is officially in the past. The All-NBA big man agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year, $200 million contract, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. The move ends months of drama and seeming animosity between the Pistons and Duren’s agent Chafie Fields. Fields was the one to pass news of the deal along to Charania.

Fields, representing Duren, seemed to use every bit of negotiating leverage he could, waiting until 90 minutes before the deadline to accept a $9.6 million qualifying offer or accept the $200 million deal on the table. While there had been reports that the two sides were far apart, all indications are the Pistons’ first serious offer in the offseason landed between $185-$190 million. So the months of drama, meeting with teams in free agency, leaking interest from other NBA teams, threatening to sign the qualifying offer, and trying to engineer sign-and-trades netted Duren the $200 million deal he was seeking.

While Duren was technically eligbile for a $287 million max contract, there was never any indication that Detroit was interested in that number. Detroit made little headway in an extension last offseason, and there was thoughts it might have soured the relationship between player and organization permanently. It didn’t help that media leaks were obviously coming from Duren’s camp, and Detroit earned plenty of bad press by reportedly trying to include a weight clause in Duren’s contract. That provision was allegedly removed, and is not part of the $200 million deal.

If Duren had accepted the qualifying offer and then gotten a max deal in free agency next summer, he would have earned less than the $200 million the Pistons were offering. In the end, the Detroit deal always made the most sense, and that is the deal Duren decided to sign.

Now, we can focus on basketball.

Duren was a key cog in the Pistons’ resurgence over the past two seasons. In Detroit’s 60-win campaign last season, he averaged a career-high 19.5 points, earning an All-Star nod and All-NBA honors. He was a great rim threat for Detroit and added a face-up game that added versatility to his high-efficiency offensive game.

The problem, as yet unresolved, was a tremendous struggle in the playoffs. The hope is that at 22 years old, Duren will be able to build on that playoff experience and better understand what it will take to have the kind of success in the postseason that he had in the regular season.

The Pistons certainly added the kinds of pieces that should make life easier for Detroit’s core of Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, and Duren. All three are now on lucrative long-term deals, with the latter two signing new deals this offseason. The Pistons had great success last year despite having just one serious three-point threat in Duncan Robinson.

Now, Robinson will return and be joined by John Collins, Isaiah Joe, and Taurean Prince. Kevin Heurter, added at the trade deadline last season but slowed by injury in the playoffs, will also return.

The hope is that with two of the league’s best and most prolific movement 3-point shooters in Robinson and Joe, and reliable veterans who are efficient perimeter marksmen, there will be less congested lanes and more room to operate for Detroit’s three core players.

There is a lot more to say, but for now, I’ll just say I’m glad it’s over.

The saga between the Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren has finally ended as the disgruntled center agreed to a new five-year, $200 million contract to return to Detroit, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the terms of the deal and because it was not yet publicly announced.

The agreement came in ahead of Thursday's 11:59 p.m. ET deadline to decide on a $9.6 million qualifying offer.

Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 70 games in 2025-26 and was named an All-Star for the first time in his four-year career.

DETROIT PISTONS SEASON PREVIEW: Lineup, roster, prediction and biggest question mark

After being named to the All-NBA third team, Duren was eligible to sign a five-year deal, worth up to around $287 million, or 30% of the salary cap.

But Duren's dreadful playoff performance made any team, especially the Pistons, reluctant to pay that much. Duren's per-game production dipped to 10.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 51.4% shooting. The top-seeded Pistons were eliminated in the second round in seven games by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Pistons had maintained they were not going to trade Duren, as few teams had the salary cap space available to take on the maximum contract Duren was seeking. He did not get the max, but is now set to make $200 million over the next five seasons.

Jalen Duren contract details

Duren became a restricted free agent this offseason upon completion of his four-year, $19.4 million rookie-scale contract. He could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he had accepted the $9.6 million qualifying offer from Detroit.

Agreeing to a five-year, $200 million deal, Duren is slated to be on the Pistons for the forseeable future.

Jalen Duren age

Duren is 22 years old. He was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft after one season of college ball at Memphis. Duren was traded to Detroit in a three-way draft-night deal that also involved the New York Knicks.

Jalen Duren career stats

In four NBA seasons, Duren has averaged 13.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, while shooting 65% from the field. During the 2025-26 season, Duren averaged a career-high 19.5 points, along with 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and shot 65% from the field.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jalen Duren ends standoff with Pistons, agrees to $200 million contract

I’ve got a really bad feeling about Darryn Peterson.

It’s nothing that he did — certainly not. When he lit the Salt Lake City leg of the Summer League ablaze, I thought I had witnessed the spirit of Kobe Bryant descend from the sky and possess the body of Utah’s highly touted youngster.

In all my life, I’ve never seen a more velvety shooting touch. A silent determination to put in the work and let the results follow. The defensive instincts and basketball intellect to impact the game within a variety of roles on the court.

Even when he struggled with efficiency in Las Vegas, I felt confident chalking that up to needlessly aggressive defense (thank you, pointless 10-foul rule!) and a lack of competent help from his NBA-quality teammates (thank you, Cody Williams!). Even when his three-pointers didn’t fall, he reliably reached the foul line. He got his teammates involved, he made an impact on the defensive end, and looked like the most obvious superstar who has joined the Jazz since… Donovan Mitchell?

He’s the caliber of player the Jazz ushered in the tanking era in order to acquire.

He’s the caliber of player the Jazz ushered in the tanking era in order to acquire. He’s the final piece, now in place to shed Utah of their restricting shackles. Simply put, now that Utah has Peterson, the team has no use for losing. In the immortal words of Ignacio, “I don’t want to get paid to lose — I wanna win!”

And win they shall. Built upon a roster that includes veteran star power via Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., supplemented by the emergence of Keyonte George and the tantalizing talent of Ace Bailey, this is a team certainly capable of reaching the Play-In Tournament stages, if not arriving in the playoffs outright as a top-6 seed in the West.

If Darryn Peterson is as good as everyone says, perhaps home-court advantage could be in the cards in Utah’s first-round matchup.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In fact, I think everybody might be getting ahead of themselves. Is there something in the water, because DP’s legend seems to grow with every passing day — and he hasn’t played a moment of true NBA basketball.

This is why I’ve got a bad feeling about Peterson — we’re already building emotional monuments to his legacy. Monuments so mammoth that they may have no chance but to topple through his long professional career.

At what point does the hype swell beyond the point of believability? Are we reaching the end of the line for Darryn Peterson’s hype train? Is this locomotive moving too fast to stay on the rails?

At what point does the hype swell beyond the point of believability? Are we reaching the end of the line for Darryn Peterson’s hype train?

Of Peterson, The Ringer’s Michael Pina said: “He could honestly be the story of the season—that’s how high Peterson’s year-one ceiling could be.”

He’s already being listed among the NBA’s best players, ranked 83rd overall in ESPN’s recent top 100 list.

During a media availability, Mo Bamba compared his rookie teammate to Kawhi Leonard and Damian Lillard — two of the defining superstars in the last decade of NBA history.

Perhaps instead of highlighting the rookie Peterson for what he could become, we should anchor our excitement to what he is today. Jusuf Nurkic shrugged off the comparisons Lillard, his teammate while in Portland. He instead insisted that he, as a 13-year NBA veteran, believes Peterson is the most mature young player he’s every shared a court with.

“I’ve never seen in my 13 years a kid coming into the league and be that mature for his age,” he said. “When I see a person like that and a player like that, I really want to help him. I think so far, he’s been nothing but great. … Everyone loves him.”

“I’ve never seen in my 13 years…”

Utah Jazz big man Jusuf Nurkic has been pleasantly surprised by rookie guard Darryn Peterson. 👀 pic.twitter.com/jJu3Gqz8ib

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 30, 2026

Will Hardy was quoted praising Peterson for his work ethic — a trait many of his Jazz teammates have been quick to recognize. “He’s competitive, tough, excited to be here and a great teammate. His transition to our Utah family has been pretty seamless.”

Get excited about Darryn Peterson — basketball is supposed to be fun, and he’s the player this community has been waiting to witness for what feels like eons — but don’t set your hopes too high. You’ll be delighted to have your hopes shattered in a positive way.

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Calvin Barrett is the Associate Editor for SLC Dunk. Originally from Springville, Utah, he currently lives in Japan and has covered the NBA and college athletics since 2024.

It’s no secret that the Lakers are facing a roster crunch ahead of the regular-season start in 2 ½ weeks. 

That doesn’t bode well for Dalton Knecht, who could find himself on the outside looking in.

Knecht, the third-year wing the Lakers selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, made a big splash as a rookie. 

He was in the rotation from the start of the 2024-25 season, stepping into the starting lineup in mid-November amid injuries — which produced the best stretch of his brief NBA career: Knecht averaged 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in the final nine games of November 2024 (nine starts). 

Even when he hit a shooting slump in January and December, Knecht was still getting consistent playing time as a part of the rotation. 

It looked like Knecht was going to come out of the slump after scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the Lakers’ win over the Clippers on Feb. 4, 2025. 

But his career hasn’t been the same since. 

The Lakers included Knecht in the trade for Mark Williams that was rescinded, and Knecht’s playing time for the Lakers wasn’t the same after he returned to the team. 

That was still true during Knecht’s second season with the Lakers in 2025-26: He played 553 total minutes during the regular season across 54 games after recording 1,494 minutes in 78 regular-season games as a rookie. 

But with a significant roster reconstruction around star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s plenty of playing time to go around. 

“It’s a whole new opportunity for all of us,” Knecht said on media day this week. “Like [coach] JJ [Redick] said, there’s a lot of minutes open.”

But it’s unlikely Knecht will soak up those minutes. 

Until Thursday, Knecht wasn’t mentioned — directly or indirectly — by Redick or president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka during any of their media availabilities.

Other wing players such as free agent additions Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, second-year forward Adou Thiero or rookie wing Cameron Carr had gotten significantly more attention as discussion points. 

JJ Redick on Dalton Knecht, who's entering his 3rd season with the Lakers, and his approach to training camp: "First of all, he's been a pro. He's been in the gym. Like he has since Day 1, he has worked his butt off all offseason. And he's had a good three days of practice. So I… pic.twitter.com/heNsCTg6px

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) October 1, 2026

Not a good sign for Knecht, whom multiple rival executives expect to be the odd man out as the Lakers look to trim their roster from 16 players on standard NBA deals to the league maximum of 15. 

“First of all, he’s been a pro,” Redick said of Knecht on Thursday. “He’s been in the gym. Like he has since Day 1, he has worked his butt off all offseason. And he’s had a good three days of practice. So I don’t think his approach changes. I know he’s hungry to play and hungry to earn a spot in the rotation.”

The Lakers still have time to sort out the roster crunch.

As Pelinka pointed out, they don’t have to make a decision until the regular season starts. Remaining practices will determine who’ll stay with the team. And it will give the team time to survey the NBA landscape for consolidation trades.

Even with the minimal things the Lakers have said about Knecht, it’s been what they haven’t said that’s stood out the most.