Why Jacari White has a legitimate shot to stick around for the LA Lakers

In addition to Ugonna Onyenso being drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2nd round of the 2026 NBA Draft, former Virginia sharpshooter Jacari White was just signed to a Summer League contract by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Though Summer League deals are non-guaranteed contracts that are basically just summer "tryout" invitations with a small stipend to cover food and lodging, White could definitely parlay this opportunity into an Exhibit-10 or two-way contract.

There's a good chance that White is going to absolutely ball out in the summer league, especially from the three-point line. He's always been a top-notch scorer from deep, and that shouldn't change anytime soon.

Jacari White is the definition of a two-way player

While at Virginia last season, he converted 43.4% of his 3-point attempts, 54.7% of his 2-point attempts, and had a whopping effective field goal percentage of 62.5%. Scoring isn't and has never been a problem for the 6'3", 180-pound guard, but in order for him to stick around at the NBA level, he'll have to show that he's more than just a one-dimensional scorer.

Luckily for both White and the Lakers, he's shown the ability to attack the basket at the ACC level, even dunking over players 6" taller than him. This is honestly one of the main reasons why he could have a realistic chance to be retained in some form or fashion by LA.

Though he didn't show it off a lot in 2025/2026, he can definitely score in multiple areas of the court.

Virginia guard Jacari White in the 86-73 win over Dayton today:

25 PTS
4 REBS
3 ASTS
9-9 FG
7-7 3PT

Can't remember the last time I watched a perfect shooting performance like that. Huge game from the North Dakota State transfer who's having a solid first season in the ACC. pic.twitter.com/9ZEJRmWKtA
— Sam Kayser (@KayserHoops) December 6, 2025

On the opposite end of the floor, he's shown the ability to be a lockdown defender due to his pesky hand movement and lateral quickness. He's undersized, but it didn't affect his capability to be one of UVA's best perimeter defenders last season.

White was routinely tasked with neutralizing opponents' top-scoring guards last year, having lockdown performances against players like Wake Forest's Juke Harris, Tennessee's Ja'Kobi Gillespie, and Maryland's David Coit. He also finished the season with the second-highest defensive rating amongst all ACC guards, and had a 57.7% stop rate.

Looking at the Lakers' roster, it's easy to see that they could be searching for a player with Jacari White's specific skillset as well. They're very forward-heavy, and don't have a lot of players who are capable of knocking down threes consistently aside from Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić.

White is the type of player who can come off the bench, play 5-10 quality minutes per game, and knock down a couple of 3's to spice things up. That's all the Lakers would need him to do, and it's something that he'd be able to execute incredibly well.

If he plays anywhere near as well in the Summer League as he did for Virginia, a two-way deal should definitely be on the horizon for Jacari White at some point.

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