The Los Angeles Lakers have more or less filled out their roster. The team has 13 guaranteed contracts at this time, but rookie Brandon Ingram has yet to sign his contract, and the Lakers are expected to sign Yi Jianlian which would bring them to the maximum 15 contracts.
During training camp, however, teams are allowed to carry up to 20 players and the Lakers are exploring all options in finding players to potentially come to camp. The team recently held a free agent minicamp that was attended by 13 players, many of whom have previous NBA experience including former Laker Xavier Henry.
After the camp, General Manager Mitch Kupchak spoke about the players and Of course, potential to be invited to camp and ultimately make the roster via Joey Ramirez of Lakers.com:
“I don’t think we’re looking at players here that would be in the rotation, although you never know,” Kupchak said. “They come to camp and earn whatever they can get. But what I think we’re looking at here are known players. They’re free agents and we do have roster spots open in terms of our team. But also we have roster spots open in terms of training camp.”
In addition to Henry, the minicamp was full of players with local ties. Travis Wear (UCLA), Orlando Johnson (UC Santa Barbara), Mamadou N’Diaye (UC Irvine), and Julian Jacobs and Nikola Jovanovic (USC) all attended local colleges. Jeff Ayres spent last season with the Clippers and is a Southern California native, attending Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga.
The camp was also attended by former first-round draft pick P.J. Hairston as well as a former second-rounders Pierre Jackson and Johnny O’Bryant. Rounding out the camp was former BYU player Tyler Haws who spent last year in Spain, Wesley Saunders of the D-League’s Austin Spurs, and Dion Wright of St. Bonaventure.
Any of these players ultimately making the final roster seems like a longshot right now, especially since the Lakers have 15 players on the roster. Of course there are still plenty of rumors surrounding Nick Young’s future with the team and if he is released, there could be one spot up for grabs.