Kyle Guy Works Out With Los Angeles Lakers
The City of Angels might be the next NBA landing spot for former Virginia basketball star Kyle Guy. As reported by ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Guy participated in a free agent workout with the Los Angeles Lakers last week.
The Lakers have only seven players from the 2021-2022 roster signed for next season, so they will have several spots to fill this summer when the free agency period begins with the start of the new league year on July 1st.
Los Angeles shot 34.7% from three as a team last season, which ranks 22nd in the NBA. Three-point shooting is a priority for every team in the offseason, but it is especially a need for the Lakers, who currently do not have a single player signed who shot above 37% from three last season and who have only two returning players who shot above 32% from beyond the arc.
So explains the Lakers' interest in Kyle Guy, who has not had the volume of opportunities to show his all-around capabilities as a playmaker, but his three-point shooting prowess is undeniable.
Originally drafted with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings just over two months after ending his collegiate career at Virginia with a national championship, Guy appeared in only 34 games over the course of his first two seasons in the league, spending most of his time in the G League.
This season, Guy appeared in 19 games for the Miami Heat, who signed him to a 10-day contract on December 30th through the NBA's hardship exemption when the team's roster was thinned severely due to injuries and COVID-19 cases. The following day, Guy was the talk of the league as he shined in his Heat debut on New Year's Eve, recording 17 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals and knocking down 4/6 three-pointers. He added another 14-point performance two games later. Guy's impressive play earned him a second 10-day contract with the Heat and then they signed him to a two-way deal on January 17th.
Eventually, the Heat got healthy again and Guy no longer got minutes even though he was impressive in the solid playing time he received during his two ten-day contracts. Guy played only garbage time minutes over the next two months of the season before getting waived by the Heat on March 24th and returning to the Cleveland Charge in the G League for the remainder of the season.
Guy's G League stats - 20.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists on 45.1% shooting from the field in 12 games - show that he belongs in the league. The only question is which NBA franchise will be the lucky team that gives him his next chance. It might just be LeBron James and the Lakers.
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