Lakers News: Darvin Ham Reflects On Matt Ryan's New Landing Spot

Former Los Angeles Lakers three-point specialist small forward Matt Ryan has found his next NBA destination after a brief stint in L.A. to start the year.

Ryan, 25, has inked a two-way deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the club announced recently in a press release. Such an arrangement essentially stipulates that he will be splitting his time between Minnesota proper and its NBA G League affiliate club elsewhere in the Midwest, the Iowa Wolves.

"I'm happy for the guy. His story is nothing short of amazing," Lakers head coach Darvin Ham reflected, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. "When he decides to write his movie, I'll be in it."

Ryan hopped around in college, from Notre Dame to Vanderbilt to finally the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After going undrafted in 2020, Ryan opted to forgo a non-basketball track career, instead taking odd jobs as a delivery driver and working at a graveyard so that he could prioritize workouts for pro clubs.

Eventually, his patience paid off, and the 6'7" swingman joined the Denver Nuggets' NBAGL affiliate team, the Grand Rapids Gold, for the start of the 2021-22 NBA season. He eventually landed a two-way deal with the Boston Celtics, though he appeared in just one game for Boston.

Ryan was an Exhibit 9 training camp signing for L.A. and was not necessarily expected to make the team's 15-man standard roster, his only option for the season with the team's two-way slots already occupied. But his stellar three-point shooting stood out for a team in desperate need of that very attribute.

Across 12 games for L.A., Ryan went 13-of-35 from deep for a solid 37.1% long range rate, though he struggled elsewhere, making just two of his 14 total attempts from within the three-point line. He had fallen out of the team's rotation in the weeks before he was ultimately waived by Los Angeles last Thursday.

Prior to the Timberwolves news, Ryan tweeted his appreciation to the Lakers franchise following his release:

Nothing but gratitude for the city of LA and the @Lakers ! Any opportunity to play in the NBA, let alone for this franchise, is special. Thank you. Now I’m excited for whatever is next!
— Matt Ryan (@Matt_Ryan04) December 1, 2022

He was a fun story in the early part of the season, and All Lakers wishes him the best in his new city.