Getty The Lakers are close to signing Sterling Brown.
The Los Angeles Lakers are on the verge of adding veteran guard Sterling Brown via a 10-day contract, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Brown last played for the Raptors G-League team this season and provides the Lakers with depth at guard.
“The Los Angeles Lakers are progressing toward a 10-day contract with five-year NBA veteran G/F Sterling Brown, sources tell me and @jovanbuha,” Charania tweeted on January 6, 2023. “Brown has played for Raptors 905 in G League this season and brings wing depth to the Lakers.”
Brown is shooting a solid 38.1% from behind the arc this season with the Raptors 905 team in the G-League, but it is admittedly a small sample size of four games. The guard also averaged 11.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game in the G-League.
The Lakers Hosted Tyler Dorsey for a Workout: Report
The wing played for the Mavericks last season averaging 3.3 points and three rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game during his 49 appearances. Brown is just one season removed from posting a career-high 8.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 42.3% from the three-point line in 51 games with the Rockets.
Amid plenty of rumors about possible blockbuster deals, the Lakers so far have only been willing to make moves that offer temporary solutions to holes on the roster. Los Angeles hosted former Mavericks guard Tyler Dorsey for a January 5 workout prior to the latest news on Brown.
“Tyler Dorsey, who was waved by the Dallas Mavericks last month, worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers today, sources told @YahooSports,” Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek tweeted on January 5. “General Manager Rob Pelinka and head coach Darvin Ham were both in the gym watching Dorsey.”
Will the Lakers Make a Significant Trade by the February 9 Deadline?
There have been no shortage of hypothetical trade proposals involving the Lakers moving their two future first-round picks (2027, 2029) along with Russell Westbrook before the February 9 deadline. The question Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has been weighing is whether any of the available deals improve the team’s roster enough to justify giving up future draft picks.
Sports Illustrated’s Howard Beck reported on a January 3 episode of “The Crossover” podcast that the buzz around the league is that Pelinka has been instructed not to trade the future draft selections. This puts Pelinka in an unenviable bind between ownership and LeBron James who continues to publicly push the organization to go all-in on the current season.
If there is indeed a power struggle within the Lakers, James has little leverage given he signed a two-year, $97 million contract extension this past offseason. James cannot be traded until this offseason, but NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the superstar has no desire to leave Los Angeles.
“Family reasons and LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, as we’ve noted here many times, were the true driving forces that prompted James to leave Cleveland for Hollywood in the summer of 2018,” Stein detailed on December 30. “Those are believed to be the same forces that would keep him from urging the Lakers to ship him somewhere that he has an actual chance at ring No. 5. His oldest son Bronny is a high school senior. Another son, Bryce, is a high school sophomore. They’re budding prospects thriving in Southern California. James presumably doesn’t want to uproot them.”