Injuries have robbed the Los Angeles Lakers of almost their entire backcourt. Kobe Bryant, Xavier Henry, and Ronnie Price are all gone for the season while Nick Young has had recurring knee issues and Jeremy Lin has dealt with an illness.
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To combat their lack of options in the backcourt, the Lakers signed Jabari Brown form the Los Angeles D-Fenders. Brown had played well during his two 10-day contracts and the Lakers have announced that they have signed him to a multi-year deal according to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News:
The Lakers have waived guard Steve Nash and signed guard Jabari Brown to a multi-year contract.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) April 1, 2015
In order to make room for Brown, the Lakers formally waived point guard Steve Nash according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN:
The Los Angeles Lakers have formally waived guard Steve Nash.
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) April 1, 2015
Brown, the teammate of Jordan Clarkson at University of Missouri, has shown himself to be a capable scorer at the NBA level averaging 9.4 points in his 10 games with the Lakers. He really stepped it up as his contract was coming to an end, scoring in double figures in each of the Lakers’ last two games including a 20-point performance in Monday’s win over Philadelphia.
This deal will give the Lakers a chance to view Brown through the rest of this season and ensures that he will be in Lakers training camp next year. The second year of the contract is non-guaranteed.
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