Getty Former Lakers guard Joel Ayayi.
The preseason is officially over for the Los Angeles Lakers. The team finished with an 0-6 record but shouldn’t be too concerned yet. There’s plenty of time for them to figure things out. In the meantime, the Lakers did need to make a number of roster moves to get ready for Tuesday’s regular-season debut against the Golden State Warriors.
The team announced on Friday that they will be waiving Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown Jr., Cameron Oliver and Trevelin.
The Los Angeles Lakers have requested waivers on Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown Jr., Cameron Oliver and Trevelin Queen. The Lakers roster stands at 15, including one two-way player.
The decision to let go of Ayayi is the most notable as he was on a two-way contract. That gave him a bit of a head start on some of the fringe players but the Lakers decided to go with Sekou Doumbouya instead. Brown was another rookie guard but didn’t do enough to earn a two-way contract.
Oliver has a bit of experience and could’ve been an interesting player to keep around. However, he’s only played in four career games. Queen was only recently brought in after a solid summer league stint. He’ll be a strong candidate to get a spot on the South Bay Lakers G League team.
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Lakers Roster Should Be Set
With these roster cuts, the Lakers are about ready for the regular season. There weren’t any big surprise cuts and it was expected that general manager Rob Pelinka would only keep 14 guaranteed contracts on the roster. That will give the Lakers help with luxury tax money and keep make it easier to had a player on the buyout market down the road.
In fact, Los Angeles may need to consider adding a player in the near future. Both Talen Horton-Tucker and Trevor Ariza could miss around two months with injuries. If any other injuries occur, the team could need more depth. They’ll likely hold off on that for now and see how the current pieces work together. In a perfect world, the team would keep that extra roster spot open until after the trade deadline when key players start getting bought out.
Austin Reaves Continues to Impress
One rookie who didn’t have to worry about hearing news that he’s getting let go after training camp was guard Austin Reeves. He did enough to earn a guaranteed spot on the roster this season and he’s been impressive. LeBron James has already started to sing the praise of the rookie guard. The superstar had a chance to talk about what he likes about Reaves so far.
“I just always have loved playing with guys with high IQ and guys who play the right way,” LeBron said after Thursday’s loss to the Kings. “I’ve always grown a likeness and love for players like that, who literally have zero entitlement, who just come out and work, who play the game the right way, always in the right spots and understand and learn from their mistakes.”
Earning the trust of LeBron this early could do wonders for Reaves’ career. It remains to be seen how much of a role he’ll have on the team in the regular season. It’ll take time for him to develop before the Lakers trust him in big spots. That said, it’s been an impressive start for Reaves.
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