The Los Angeles Lakers have made their offseason moves official, announcing the signings of Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia, as well as the acquisition of second-round pick Adou Thiero in a historic seven-team deal stemming from the trade to send Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets.
The team also revealed the jersey number that each would be taking on and they are all new numbers as Ayton will wear No. 5, LaRavia will wear No. 12 and Thiero will wear No. 1.
Ayton had previously worn No. 2 with the Portland Trail Blazers and 22 with the Phoenix Suns. However, both of those are unavailable as 22 is the retired number of Lakers legend Elgin Baylor while the 2 is currently worn by Jarred Vanderbilt.
Ayton will instead be able to build his own Lakers legacy with 5, most recently worn by Cam Reddish. The most famous player to wear the number, however, was Robert Horry, who had many amazing moments during the franchise’s 3-peat from 2000-02.
LaRavia most recently wore 33 with the Sacramento Kings, but that number obviously isn’t available having been retired for the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He wore No. 3 while with the Memphis Grizzlies, which is technically available, although potentially will later be retired for Anthony Davis.
So LaRavia decided on No. 12 in L.A. which was most recently worn by Max Christie. Other notable names to wear the number in purple and gold include Vlade Divac, Shannon Brown and Dwight Howard.
Thiero, like LaRavia, also wore No. 3 previously. In fact, at both of his collegiate stops, first at Kentucky and then Arkansas, Thiero sported that number, but will now switch to 1. With the Lakers not giving out 3 to either player, it’s reasonable to expect that to be the case moving forward in honor of Davis.
Regardless, Thiero will take on the No. 1 jersey most recently worn by D’Angelo Russell while also being sported by the likes of Caron Butler and Jordan Farmar, among others.
Lakers interested in Bradley Beal if bought out by Suns
Perhaps that No. 3 jersey could be inherited by a future member of the Lakers as that is the number Bradley Beal has worn throughout his NBA career.
Beal and the Suns are discussing the possibility of buyout and if that does happen, the Lakers are one of the teams reportedly interested in signing him, which would be solid value on a minimum-type deal. Beal should have plenty of suitors though and isn’t a clear fit for the Lakers unless more moves are on the way to reshape the roster.
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