The Los Angeles Lakers signed undrafted Vanderbilt guard Chris Mañon to a two-way contract prior to the 2025-26 season. He made it into nine games with the Lakers, but spent most of the season with the G League South Bay Lakers. There, he was dominant as a defensive-minded guard.
The Lakers — while still having to make major plans to fill out their parent roster around Luka Doncic — don’t want to lose Mañon in their system thanks to his efforts in 2025-26. They’ve made it more difficult for that to happen by making him a restricted free agent, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac:
The Los Angeles Lakers have tendered a two-way qualifying offer to Chris Manon, a league source told @spotrac.
Manon will now be a restricted free agent this summer.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 28, 2026
Mañon averaged 10.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game for South Bay last season. He was named to the G League’s All-Defense team and finished second in G League Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Questions about his offense are apparent, as he shot 32.0% from 3-point range and 69.8% from the free throw line as a guard. However, nobody can deny his impact on a basketball team, and that is why the Lakers are looking to keep him in the organization.
Doing this move means the Lakers will have the opportunity to match any offer that Mañon might get, with the qualifying offer itself being equivalent to another season on a standard two-way deal.
The Lakers recently signed undrafted rookies AK Okereke and Peter Suder to two-way contract and appear to be leaving their third one open for a potential Mañon return. If he does then he likely would play for the team in Summer League.
Lakers’ Cameron Carr excited to learn from Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves
Another young player that the Lakers are hoping can turn into a real rotation player is first round draft pick Cameron Carr. The two-way wing excelled in his final college season at Baylor, shooting the three extremely well and providing length and athleticism on the defensive end.
Carr was mocked to go before Los Angeles’ selection but wound up sliding a bit and the Lakers pounced on the opportunity to draft him. Now becoming teammates with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, he is excited to learn from them.
“First things first is learn,” Carr said during his introductory press conference. “That’s a heck of an organization to walk into. Especially with the level of guys I’m getting to play with and just be around every day. Just be a sponge as much as possible and soak up all the information they give. Man, just learn. You don’t get to wake up and be teammates with them every single day, so just wake up and learn every single day. Take it step by step.”
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
