The first free agency signing for the Los Angeles Lakers this summer was wing Jake LaRavia. A former first-round pick of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2022, LaRavia has shown flashes of being an excellent 3-and-D wing, but has been unable to garner consistent minutes in his career so far.
At just 23 years of age, there is still plenty of room to grow for LaRavia and the hope is that that 6’8, 235-pound wing can help fill the void left by the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets. One thing that is for sure is that LaRavia is excited to join the purple and gold.
The newest Laker took to social media not long after news of his signing came out to say how he excited he was to be joining the franchise and is ready to get to work:
Jake LaRavia reacts to signing with the #Lakers: pic.twitter.com/2uFIrsT5B3
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) July 1, 2025
The LaRavia signing may not bring about the level of excitement that others would as he doesn’t carry too much name value. But the wing has a ton of potential just waiting to break out and he could potentially make a huge impact for this team next season.
He is a career 37.1% shooter from 3-point range and is actually a solid defender as well both on and off the ball who has enough size and foot speed to guard multiple positions. In terms of a low-risk move that could pay major dividends, the Lakers did well in bringing him on.
And after three seasons of showing flashes, LaRavia will be motivated to take a leap and become an important rotation player for this Lakers team. He already has a relationship with Austin Reaves, so he should have an idea of the level of work he is in store for and he is ready to turn some heads in L.A.
Jake LaRavia was Lakers’ first call in free agency
With Jake LaRavia being the team’s first free agency signing this offseason, it is apparent that the Lakers had their eyes on the wing and made bringing him in a priority this summer. In fact, LaRavia was reportedly the team’s first call made once free agency began.
Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick spoke to LaRavia and his representation, who were impressed with Redick’s vision on how he would utilized on the Lakers this season.
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