Key Los Angeles Lakers Player Is Still A Free Agent
Wenyen Gabriel initially went undrafted out of Kentucky in 2018 but did not make his NBA debut until the 2019-20 season.
This past year, the 26-year-old played in a career-high 68 regular season games (for the Los Angeles Lakers) and averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest while shooting 59.6% from the field in 15 minutes of playing time (he also appeared in ten NBA playoff games).
Gabriel became a free agent this summer, and (on August 20) he is still available to be signed by any team in the league.
Since Gabriel was a solid role player for the Lakers, it's surprising that he has not been picked up by anyone yet.
Coming out of Kentucky, he was an intriguing prospect because he was one of the best players on a team that had reached the Elite 8 and Sweet 16.
In addition to Los Angeles, Gabriel has also spent time with the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets.
Over 145 regular season games, he has career averages of 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest while shooting 53.1% from the field and 31.9% from the three-point range (he has also appeared in 14 NBA playoff games).
As for the Lakers, they are coming off a year where they were the seventh seed in the Western Conference with a 43-39 record.
They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in tournament game and ended up going all the way to the Conference Finals before getting swept by the Denver Nuggets.
