In the early portion of the season for the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the biggest surprise stories was the success of sharpshooting wing Matt Ryan.
The Lakers signed Ryan prior to training camp seemingly as a player to fill out the roster, but most players in this situation rarely make the final cut. But with the Lakers in dire need of shooting, Ryan was able to show enough during the preseason in order for the Lakers to give him the final available roster spot. Most notable was a 20-point performance in which he hit 6-of-9 3-pointers in a preseason victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Ryan would be in and out of Darvin Ham’s rotation throughout the early part of the regular season. He would appear in 12 games total for the Lakers, averaging 3.9 points and shooting 37.1% from 3-point range. While his threat as an outside shooter was sorely needed by the Lakers, his limitations elsewhere made it difficult for him to maintain a consistent rotation spot.
Ultimately, the Lakers would release Ryan on Dec. 1 in order to open up a roster spot. He would sign a two-way contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves and finish the 2023 season there, appearing in 22 games for the Timberwolves and knocking down 38.8% from deep.
2022-23 Highlight
It is a very obvious choice for Ryan here as he provided not only his personal season highlight, but one of the biggest ones for the Lakers as a whole back in November.
The Lakers hosted the Pelicans on Nov. 2 having just picked up their first win of the season. Ryan had struggled most of the night, but with the Lakers needing a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime, Ham brought Ryan back in the game for the final possession. They drew up a great play and Austin Reaves fired a perfect crosscourt pass to Ryan who caught it, checked his feet, then launched a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and send the game to an extra period.
The Lakers would win the game in overtime with Ryan scoring a season-high 11 points on the night. But that play, the shot, and Ryan’s celebration would go down as one of the top highlights for the Lakers this season.
And it was a huge one for the Lakers as with the way the standings ended up, they would’ve went into the Play-In Tournament as the No. 9 seed needing to win two games as opposed to the No. 7 seed where they ended up.
2023-24 Outlook
Ryan’s two-way contract with the Timberwolves expired at the end of the season making him a free agent this offseason. It is very likely that he could be on a Summer League team in Las Vegas as he continues to look for a team to really catch on with.
A player with his shooting ability and fearlessness in big moments will always have at least some appeal in the NBA and he will almost definitely get at least a training camp opportunity somewhere this year. But where that chance will be is anyone’s guess at this time.
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