Getty Rob Pelinka (left) and coach Darvin Ham of the Lakers
Stop us if you’ve heard this before but the Lakers are holding an NBA workout for a potential holder of a future roster spot. And he’s a holder of a past roster spot, one who has been in and around the team for the better part of two years: point guard Darren Collison.
Collison does not exactly fit with the Lakers’ intention to get younger this season, coming in at 34 years old and with 10 full NBA seasons under his belt. It’s difficult to say, too, what the Lakers’ roster will look like as the team continues to search for another star/near-star to add to its mix, with options ranging from Kyrie Irving to Eric Gordon to Terry Rozier.
Sources: The Lakers had free agent point guard Darren Collision in for a workout Wednesday. Collision, 34, played in 3 games with the Lakers last season and has interest in playing in NBA this season.
But the team is looking for a veteran backup point guard, and Collison could fit the bill—sooner or later.
Collison has averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 assists in his NBA career, which has taken him through stops with the Pelicans, Kings, Clippers, Pacers (twice) and finally with the Lakers late last season after two years in retirement. Collison played only three games with L.A. last year, scoring four points in 37 minutes.
Lakers Very Familiar With Collison’s Skills
At this point, though, it would be fair to wonder what the Lakers need to see from Collison at this point to know whether he would be a fit. Collison first surfaced as a Lakers possibility back in the winter of 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic that halted the NBA season. The Lakers tried to persuade Collison to come out of retirement then, even having owner Jeanie Buss host him for dinner and a game, but he did not return to the floor.
Collison had various flirtations with the team since, and nearly got a roster spot last year. “He looked fantastic for a guy that’s been out,” then-interim-coach David Fizdale said. “He played a ton of pickup with our guys so we got a really good look at him, and obviously he is a perennial pro, man. He just kept himself in shape, his approach to the game and his attitude towards the game is phenomenal.”
Collison, who was a star at UCLA, did finally make his Lakers debut this past December, as the team was knocked sideways by health and protocols issues.
Collison on Potential Return: ‘We’ll See’
The Lakers did keep Collison around even after his brief tenure with the team, signing him on to play with the South Bay Lakers of the G-League. Collison, it seems, is not much interested in coming back to play in the NBA unless it is with the Lakers. He also had a workout with the team last month.
He spoke to the website SilverScreenandRoll.com in April and indicated he hoped to continue playing.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that lasted long, but we’ll see in the near future,” he said of his Lakers stint. “Obviously, it was unexpected as a Covid call-up, but I got a chance to be around one of the greatest players who ever played this game in LeBron and just kind of learn from him. Any time you get a chance to be that close and just kind of learn his ways and his habits, what makes him great, it’s always a plus for me.”