Over the weekend, the South Bay Lakers played in two games and the constant in those contests was that Quincy Olivari was a step above everyone else.
After a preseason where he played his way into a two-way contract and became a fan favorite, Quincy Olivari has not slowed down in the G League.
Over the weekend, South Bay dropped a pair of games, losing to the Santa Cruz Warriors on Friday and the Stockton Kings on Sunday, but both featured Olivari showing out.
Olivari was far and away the best play on the court during Friday’s matchup, scoring 33 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists. He also converted on five 3-pointers. Against the Kings, he impressed again with 24 points, nine assists and three rebounds.
Quincy Olivari warming up.
— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) November 18, 2024
He’s averaging 30.5 points! 8 rebounds and 5.5 assists on 43% from 3 on 13 attempts a game so far. pic.twitter.com/TJcliOCR33
What's made these performances even more impressive is that he's doing it with teams clearly focused on stopping him. The Kings were getting really physical with Olivari, but he handled it well and could still get his shots and convert on 46% of his attempts.
If Olivari continues to shine and the team struggles to have guards who can score even one point — Gabe Vincent *cough* — then he could get a call-up soon. Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell certainly thinks Olivari deserves to play with the main team, saying he looked "too good" during the South Bay season opener.
Bronny James is not currently traveling on the road with the South Bay Lakers. He only participated in Sunday's game and produced a mediocre stat line of four points, two rebounds, and two assists.
After the game, South Bay coach Zach Guthrie talked about the team being patient with Bronny's process and his overall displeasure with his team's level of defensive effort in the Sunday loss.
South Bay Falls to 1-2.
— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) November 18, 2024
Rough night for Bronny in his second game.
2-10 4 points 2 reb 2 assists and a block.
Asked Coach Guthrie about the patience and process with Bronny, as well as if he could potentially play in Oceanside Wednesday: pic.twitter.com/t4drvM5uGn
Similar to Bronny, Maxwell Lewis is also occasionally sent down to South Bay. In Sunday’s loss, he played 39 minutes, scored 22 points and had six rebounds and two assists.
With Lewis only playing in two games during garbage time with the Lakers so far, it's encouraging to see that he's a bit better than the competition at the G League level.
While sitting on the bench and being with the main team is valuable for the two-year player, he needs more reps. If South Bay can provide that for him, then it's good for him to play there and stay fresh and prepared for whenever Redick wants to use him.
Armel Traore also played on Sunday with South Bay after earning his first minutes as a Laker the day before. In the G League, he had a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of play.
South Bay has two games this week, first going on the road on Wednesday against the San Diego Clippers before a home game against the Stockton Kings on Sunday.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
