The Lakers’ 2013-14 season elicited the same feelings that frequently happen on Las Vegas trips.
Dashed hopes. Regrettable nights. And one massive hangover.
But the Lakers have also built plenty of equity that compares to those fun nights in Vegas, their poker chips and calculated risk taking morphing into 16 NBA championships. And with the Lakers set to make their seventh appearance in the Las Vegas Summer League this July, there will be intrigue beyond that have nothing to do with high-stakes black jack or lounging by the pool.
The Lakers will have the seventh pick of the 2014 NBA draft, marking the first time they have held a first-round draft selection since 2007. Whoever the Lakers draft will likely play on the Summer League team, providing the first glimpse on to what degree they can make the purple and gold look glittery again.
The games will feature 24 NBA teams and will run from July 11-21 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion at UNLV. Those teams will play three preliminary round games from July 11-15 before playing in a seeded tournament that concludes with his championship game on July 21. Each team will play at least five games.
The Lakers have a 11-20 all-time record dating back to 2004 for reasons mostly stemmed from the team hardly fielding many prospects on both championship caliber teams. This year will be different with the first-round pick. The Lakers will have 12 of their 15 players become free agents, producing a mad scramble on filling out their roster mere days before Summer League begins.
NBA TV will televise all the NBA Las Vegas Summer League games, though a schedule will be released at a later time. The games will also be viewable both on NBA.com and on the NBA Summer League app. Tickets for NBA Las Vegas Summer League will go on sale June 1, at 9 a.m. PDT. Fans can purchase tickets to the Samsung NBA Summer League through here or by calling 702-739-3267. Customer service is also available by phone (866-357-1136) or email (NBATickets.comResaleSupport@ticketmaster.com)
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com