Lakers Rumors: Insider Predicts LA Opts to Keep Three Young Bench Players

The Athletic's Jovan Buha believes that the Lakers will retain Stanley Johnson, Austin Reaves, and Wenyen Gabriel.

Author:
Eric Eulau
Apr 28, 2022 7:00 PM EDT

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Most of the conversation surrounding the Lakers roster for next season has been centered around Russell Westbrook - as it should be. What the Lakers decide to do with Westbrook this summer will play a massive role in what the team can and can't do with their roster.

However, general manager Rob Pelinka and senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis do have three younger players with team options. The Athletic's Jovan Buha thinks the Lakers will opt to keep all three.

"The Lakers also hold team options for Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson and Wenyen Gabriel. Given each player’s contributions last season and the Lakers’ limited means of improving their roster, Los Angeles will likely retain all three."

Austin Reaves

Reaves was a nice surprise for the Lakers this season. LA converted the 23-year-old's two-way contract in late September to make him a fixture on their roster.

Reaves didn't boast eye-popping stats, but the guard proved to be a willing defender who had no qualms with putting himself in harms way either to secure a loose ball or take a charge. Honestly, it was a surprise whenever there was a game when Reaves wasn't hit in the face or being helped off the floor.

In the Lakers final four games Reaves averaged 18 points per game and shot 41.2% from three. In LA's season finale, Reaves became the first undrafted rookie to post a 30-point triple-double.

The Lakers stars were on the bench for most of those games, but safe to say, Reaves aced the tryout.

He's never going to be an All-Star, but he's the type of role player that winning teams need on the roster.

Assuming LA does pick up his option, he'll earn about $1.6M next season.

Stanley Johnson

The depleted Lakers signed the 2015 lottery pick to a three 10-day contracts before signed him to a fully guaranteed contract in late January. Johnson was a decent defensive compliment to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

He started 27 of 48 games for the Lakers and provided some much needed athleticism and toughness for a team full of veterans on the wrong side of 30. The concern with Johnson is that he doesn't stretch the floor (31.4 3PT%) and struggles to create his own shot.

However, with the Lakers limited cap space, keeping the Mater Dei alum for $2.4M feels like a no-brainer.

Wenyen Gabriel

Speaking of forwards that will aide the Lakers in getting younger and more athletic, Gabriel does just that. The wiry 6'9" power forward is still pretty raw, but his activity on the glass is something the Lakers sorely need.

LA signed Gabriel to a two-way contract on March 1st and converted him to a standard NBA contract on April 8th.

As a Laker, Gabriel averaged 16.4 minutes a game and 4.3 rebounds per game. Per 36 minutes stats should be taken with a grain of salt for a player who's likely to never receive those type of minutes, but Gabriel does have some potential as a small-ball center or a forward that can focus on rebounding while Anthony Davis prowls the arc based on those metrics.