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Lakers’ rookie Moritz Wagner leaves Summer League game with ankle, knee issues

Moritz Wagner, Marvin Bagley III

Los Angeles Lakers rookie center Moritz Wagner, left, shoots against Sacramento Kings rookie forward Marvin Bagley III, right, during the second half of an NBA summer league basketball game Monday, July 2, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. The Kings won 98-93. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

AP

LAS VEGAS — Moritz Wagner, the Lakers’ rookie center out of Michigan, has had a solid summer. In the Sacramento Summer League he averaged 14.7 points and 8 rebounds a game, and in Las Vegas it has been 10.3 points and 8 rebounds a night. He’s shown three-point range, but hasn’t been terribly efficient with his shot yet. Still, you can see his potential as a rotation big man in the NBA, a backup who can knock down shots.

However, his summer may be done after tweaking both his ankle and knee in Tuesday night’s Lakers’ win over the Knicks. He did not play in the second half.

These were not serious injuries that will sideline him in the fall. However, the Lakers may not want to push him for Summer League games. (That said, they did bring Lonzo Ball back after an injury last year as they chased and won the Summer League title, and they are again one of the better teams in Vegas.)

Josh Hart has been maybe the best player in Summer League, averaging 23.3 points per game in Vegas. As a second-year player who got regular NBA run last season a lot is expected of him in Summer League, and he has lived up to that — and shown why a lot of other teams have wanted him as part of any trade talks with the Lakers this summer