Lakers Rumors: LA Holds Free Agent Mini-Camp That Includes Former Lottery Pick
The Lakers are in a familiar quandary when it comes to their fleshing out the rest of their roster. As of today, the Lakers have five players under guaranteed contracts for next season: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kendrick Nunn, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Austin Reaves. Russell Westbrook is likely to opt in before the June 29th deadline to push that number to six.
It would be a surprise if the Lakers front office didn't exercise the options of Stanley Johnson and Wenyen Gabriel.
That leaves plenty of holes that LA will have to fill with their taxpayer mid-level exception ($6.4M) and veteran minimum contracts.
According to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors, the Lakers worked out eight NBA free agents:
"The Lakers held a free-agent mini-camp yesterday that featured former No. 2 pick Derrick Williams and veteran Darren Collison, league sources say. Among the other attendees: Justin Tillman, Craig Randall II, Sindarius Thornwell, Olivier Sarr, Antonio Blakeney and Jaylen Adams."
Collison did play for the purple and gold on a ten-day contract this past season, but the 34-year-old former UCLA Bruin didn't exactly turn any heads. He shot 28.6% from the field in three games and looked every bit like a player who hadn't stepped on a NBA court since the end of the 2019 season.
That being said, the Lakers do need to find a low-cost backup point guard and Collison provides a low-risk option.
As for Derrick Williams, the former University of Arizona standout briefly played for the Lakers in 2018 on a ten-day contract, but hasn't played in the NBA since.
For those bemoaning the Lakers bringing in a slew of fringe NBA players, this is where the franchise is from a cap space perspective. They're going to have to improve around the margins, and hopefully, that endeavor goes better than it did last season.
