Getty Lakers GM Rob Pelinka is headed towards a pivotal offseason.
The Los Angeles Lakers acquired the rights to Darren Collison as the veteran guard signed with the team’s G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Collison already played three games for the Lakers this season after previously signing a 10-day contract with Los Angeles on December 24, 2021.
“Sources: Free agent guard Darren Collison is joining the Los Angeles Lakers’ G League affiliate – South Bay Lakers (17-9) – in hopes of helping lead the No. 2 seed to a G League title as well as earning a call-up to an NBA team,” Charania tweeted on March 22.
As Charania mentioned, Collison now has an opportunity to be called up to the Lakers active roster from the G-League team. Collison averaged 1.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and .7 assists in 12.3 minutes per game during his three contests with the Lakers this season. The guard was selected by New Orleans with the No. 21 pick of the 2009 NBA draft and was named to the All-Rookie team.
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Prior to This Year, Collison Last Played in the NBA During the 2018-19 Season
Despite plenty of rumors, the Lakers were quiet both at the NBA trade deadline and in the buyout market. Any changes to the team’s roster will have to wait until the offseason when the Lakers can once again explore trades and sign free agents. The Lakers are limited to tangential moves like adding Collison to the G-League roster.
Prior to his comeback this season, Collison last played in the NBA for the Pacers during the 2018-19 season. The guard averaged 11.2 points, six assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 40.7% from the three-point line in his 76 starts with Indiana.
Vogel on Lakers: ‘This Team Has Not Let Go of the Rope’
Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison, former UCLA teammates, went at it in open run 👀 (via @ChrisJHoops)
With 10 games remaining in the season, the Lakers are the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. This means the Lakers would host the No. 10 Pelicans to begin the play-in tournament if the season ended today. If the Lakers are victorious, the team would face the loser of the No. 7 and No. 8 seeded matchup, which right now would be the Timberwolves or Clippers.
Despite the Lakers underperforming based on preseason expectations, head coach Frank Vogel emphasized that the team has yet to “let go of the rope.” Vogel cited the leadership of LeBron James as a major reason for this.
“It’s the NBA, this is a league that [when] things don’t go the right way, it’s not a pleasant thing to be around,” Vogel explained during his March 21 press conference. “And many teams see it every year, I’ve been in it a long time and this team has not let go of the rope. And the biggest number one reason is because of how he’s [James] played and how he’s led and what he represents in terms of having confidence about where we can ultimately get to.
“How we’ve played up to these 65, 70 games, whatever it’s been and the trial and error nature of our season does not necessarily represent who we are going to be in the play-in game and hopefully beyond that. We’re looking to continue to adjust and build something that’s gonna win for us in the postseason.”