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The Los Angeles Lakers yesterday signed Jay Huff.
Huff appeared in 28 regular season games (all starts) for the South Bay Lakers last season, averaging 15.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.4 blocks while shooting 64.1 percent from the field. He appeared in four games for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Javante McCoy and Fabian White Jr.
McCoy appeared in five games for the Lakers at 2022 Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging 10.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 20.4 minutes per game. The 2021-22 All-Patriot First Team selection appeared in 147 career games (138 starts) across five seasons at Boston University, where he averaged 13.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 37.7 percent from three-point range.
White Jr. played three games for Los Angeles at Summer League, averaging 2.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.1 minutes. In five seasons at Houston, White Jr. appeared in 149 games (90 starts), averaging 8.3 points (.364 3P%) and 4.7 rebounds and was named to the 2021-22 All-ACC First Team.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Max Christie, it was announced today by Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka.
Christie appeared in 35 games (all starts) in his lone season at Michigan State last year, averaging 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 30.8 minutes. The 2021-22 Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection scored in double figures in 13 games last season and was selected with the 35th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Thomas Bryant.
His deal is reportedly a one-year contract for the league minimum.
Bryant appeared in 27 games (nine starts) for the Wizards last season, averaging 7.4 points (.520 FG%) and 4.0 rebounds in 16.3 minutes. Bryant returns to Los Angeles after appearing in 15 games as a rookie for the Lakers during the 2017-18 season. Across five seasons with Los Angeles and Washington, Bryant has appeared in 170 games (108 starts) with career averages of 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.1 minutes, while shooting 59.0 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from three-point range.
Per ESPN.com, “Bryant was originally drafted by the Lakers in the second round of the 2017 draft, but he was waived after a rookie season that saw him play in only 52 games. He gives this Lakers team more frontcourt depth and a starting-caliber center to pair alongside Anthony Davis.”
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Lonnie Walker IV, it was announced today by Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka.
Walker’s deal with the Lakers is reportedly a one-year, $6.5 million contract.
Walker IV appeared in 70 games (six starts) for San Antonio last season, averaging a career-high 12.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and a career-best 2.2 assists in 23.0 minutes per game. In four seasons with the Spurs, Walker IV appeared in 208 games (56 starts) with career averages of 9.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 20.4 minutes, while shooting 34.3 percent from three-point range.
The Los Angeles Lakers yesterday signed Troy Brown Jr., Damian Jones and Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Brown Jr. appeared in 66 games (seven starts) for Chicago last season, averaging 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 16.0 minutes per game, while shooting a career-best 35.3 percent from three-point range. In four seasons with Chicago and Washington, Brown Jr. appeared in 221 games (39 starts) with career averages of 6.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
Jones played 56 games (15 starts) for Sacramento last season, where he averaged 8.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.2 minutes, shooting 65.8 percent from the field. Jones returns to Los Angeles after averaging 5.4 points (.941 FG%) and 3.3 rebounds in eight games for the Lakers during the 2020-21 season. In 199 career games (74 starts) for Golden State, Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Sacramento, the two-time NBA champion has averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.3 minutes, while shooting 66.5 percent from the field.
Toscano-Anderson appeared in 73 games (six starts) for Golden State last season, averaging 4.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 13.6 minutes. Across three seasons with the Warriors, Toscano-Anderson appeared in 139 games (28 starts) with career averages of 4.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He appeared in 14 playoff games for the Warriors last season, helping the team to the 2022 NBA Championship.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider to two-way contracts.
Pippen Jr. appeared in 36 games (all starts) for Vanderbilt last season, averaging 20.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 33.1 minutes. The 2021-22 All-SEC First Team selection led the conference in scoring and was the first SEC player to average 20 points in back-to-back seasons since 1996. Pippen Jr. also led the NCAA in made free throws last season with 224 such shots, a Vanderbilt single-season record. In three seasons as a Commodore, Pippen Jr. averaged 17.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 90 career games.
Swider appeared in 33 games (all starts) for Syracuse last season, averaging 13.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 34.5 minutes. He shot over 40 percent from three-point range in each of the last two seasons, hitting at a 41.1 percent mark in 2021-22 (81-197 3FG) and a 40.2 percent mark in 2020-21 (35-87 3FG). Across four years at Syracuse and Villanova, Swider averaged 7.8 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three-point range.
The Los Angeles Lakers have exercised their team options for the 2022-23 season on Wenyen Gabriel and Stanley Johnson, it was announced today by Vice President, Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka.
Gabriel appeared in 19 games (five starts) for Los Angeles last season, averaging 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16.4 minutes while shooting 50.5 percent from the field. Gabriel has played 77 career games, averaging 3.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.8 minutes.
Johnson played 48 games (27 starts) for the Lakers last season and averaged 6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 22.8 minutes per game. Across 419 career games, Johnson has averaged 6.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.1 minutes
The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired the 35th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft from the Orlando Magic in exchange for a future second round pick and cash considerations.
Orlando will receive the better of either the Lakers or Washington’s second round pick (which is owed to Los Angeles) in 2028.
The 2022 NBA Draft will take place tonight at 5 p.m. PT from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
A growing number of people, including many fans as well as those in the business of basketball, would be happy to see a Las Vegas-based NBA team in the future. Well, add LeBron James to that list. Via ESPN.com:
LeBron James, whose net worth was recently valuated north of $1 billion by Forbes, has made it known for years that he plans to own an NBA team when he is finished playing.
Now that vision has a location.
“I want a team in Vegas,” James said in a clip from the latest episode of his talk show, “The Shop,” that will debut Friday. “I want the team in Vegas.”
James, who is already a part-owner of Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox, said last season that his “goal is to own an NBA franchise,” adding, “and it will be sooner than later.”
The guess continues to be that if the NBA does add expansion teams again someday, Vegas and Seattle are the favorites to land squads.