Guest Nick Lagios on How The Lakers' Scouting Dept. Succeeds, and the NBA Building a Presence in Mexico

The Lakers are rolling of late, but with an off-day between Sunday's win over the Wizards and upcoming back-to-back games in Cleveland and Toronto, the Kamenetzkys thought it was a good time for a different conversation earmarked for a while on this show. The NBA is both looking to build its global footprint and G-League's profile, and these goals meet with the Capitanes, the NBA's team in Mexico City. Now a little more than year into its existence as a full member of the league, General Manager Nick Lagios has been tasked with turning this squad into a sought-after destination for players looking to showcase themselves for NBA scouts, as well as help the larger goal of making the NBA in Central America a viable concept.

It's no easy assignment, but it undoubtedly helped that Lagios gained experience working several years inside the Lakers, whether for the South Bay Lakers or the big club, with jobs ranging from video intern with the lakers (just like Frank Vogel!) to Director of Basketball Operations & Player Development with South Bay. Lagios saw firsthand how the Lakers' Scouting Department (undoubtedly the strongest part of the basketball department) operates with consistent success and identifies talent that's not as obvious "go draft Zion! In the meantime, Lagios, a big-time Laker fan in real life, got to see how the purple and gold sausage is made, which was a surreal experience.

Lagios' conversation with Andy Kamenetzky covers all that, plus the Lakers and Kobe Bryant's popularity in Mexico.

Segment One: Lagios' impressions of the Lakers unpredictable season, and his insights into the challenge of getting players to accept a different role, like Russell Westbrook's embrace of coming off the bench.

Segment Two: How are teams like the Lakers (and hopefully, Capitanes) consistently successful at finding less heralded NBA talent? How do guys like Austin Reaves and Alex Caruso go undrafted altogether?

Segment Three: What are the challenges of growing a league in another country? Plus, has Lagios ever seen a Kobe mural in Mexico?

Hosts: Andy Kamenetzky

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