Jordan Clarkson not complaining about not starting: The first time Lakers Coach Luke Walton said it might have taken some people aback. Jordan Clarkson, who received a $50-million contract this off-season, wouldn’t be starting for the Lakers’ first preseason game. If it took Clarkson aback, he isn’t showing it. Not in interviews and not with his behavior with the team. “He’s been absolutely great,” Walton said. -- Los Angeles Times

Brandon Ingram may have glimpsed his future self while guarding Houston's James Harden: On just the second defensive possession of his NBA career, Brandon Ingram found himself alone with James Harden on the left wing. Harden, one of the league’s premier shot creators, put the ball on his hip and then threw a no-look pass to the perimeter. He got it back seconds later, and immediately started to work Ingram with a bevy of jerky moves: a pump fake from three, a hard jab step to his left, a crossover dribble and then a fallaway jumper in the corner. -- Los Angeles Times

Lakers' Brandon Ingram begins checking off NBA 'firsts': It had been 17 years, but Metta World Peace still remembered the shot. “Three-pointer,” he said, while gliding on a workout machine following Thursday’s Lakers practice. Then, pointing: “That side of the court.” D’Angelo Russell’s memory only had to stretch 12 months, but he was just as confident: “Jump shot off a curl.” Timofey Mozgov remembered a game against Boston and a mid-range jumper. -- The Orange County Register

Luke Walton's energetic Lakers prove rebuilding process can blend joy with pain: The squeal of skin skidding across hardwood pierced the cheers of an anxious audience as Nick Young went tumbling, outdueling James Harden for a loose ball. He saved it inbounds, and the run-run-run Lakers went the other way and Julius Randle, who does not stop running when someone gets in his way, drove to the basket and willed a forceful hook shot to comply, first off the back of the rim, and then the front, before it dropped through the net. The place went nuts. -- The Orange County Register