Lakers G League Team Lands Stanley Johnson From Rip City Remix via Trade

Ricardo Sandoval | Feb 10, 2025

Apr 3, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Stanley Johnson (14) moves the ball against Denver Nuggets center DeMarcus Cousins (4) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, have traded for guard/forward Stanley Johnson. 

Johnson will return to the Lakers organization after last playing in L.A. in 2022. 

The South Bay Lakers announced it on Monday. 

Johnson returns to L.A. in exchange for the returning player rights to guard Devonte’ Graham, forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon and a 2026 second-round draft pick. 

Johnson, a California native, is a former lottery pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

He was drafted eighth overall by the Detroit Pistons. Across eight NBA seasons playing for San Antonio (2022-23), Los Angeles (2021-22), Toronto (2019-21), New Orleans (2018-19) and Detroit (2015-19), the 28-year-old appeared in 449 regular season games (104 starts), averaging 6.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 19.8 minutes.

Prior to this move, Johson signed a deal with the Turkish club Anadolu Efes. 

Johnson spent one season with the purple and gold during the 2021-22 season. In 48 games, he averaged 22.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0,9 steals per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from behind the arc.

After the 2022 season, Johnson was traded to the Utah Jazz alongside Talen Horton-Tucker in exchange for defensive-minded guard Patrick Beverley. The Jazz waived Johnson less than two months after the trade.

It's been a whirlwind of a career for the 28-year-old after he came into the league with much promise. The Detroit Pistons thought they drafted their next superstar in the making when they selected him with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. However, for one reason or another, he could never reach those heights as a lottery pick.

Johnson could never find his footing with the Pistons, who ultimately traded him to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2019 NBA trade deadline. Since then, he's bounced around from team to team and has spent some time in the G League.

Johnson has played with the Toronto Raptors, Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs in the span of four years.

Coming out of powerhouse high school in Southern California, Mater Dei, and attending the University of Arizona, Johnson was set to be the next big thing in the NBA. He had the speed, strength, size, and do-it-all ability to be a great NBA player.

In the G League, Johnson is a career 15.2 points per game scorer, 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from three in 35 games. 

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