Training camp is only a month away for the Los Angeles Lakers and while the team does currently have the league maximum of 15 contracts, they can bring in up to 20 for camp. One player who had been rumored to be joining the Lakers was former Notre Dame big man Zach Auguste.
Auguste played for the Lakers’ Summer League team this year and apparently did enough to impress the coaches. The Lakers made it official, announcing that Auguste had officially been signed:
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Zach Auguste, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.
That wasn’t the only bit of roster news however as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported that the Lakers have also signed Travis Wear to a training camp deal:
The Lakers signed forward Travis Wear to a training camp deal, league source tells @TheVertical. He will compete for a roster spot.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) August 29, 2016
Wear spent last season with the New York Knicks, appearing in 51 games for the Knicks averaging 3.9 points and 2.1 rebounds. Wear should be familiar to local fans, however, as he starred at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana and spent three years at UCLA. Wear was also a part of the Lakers’ recent free agent mini-camp.
Both Wear and Auguste will likely be competing for the final spot on the roster. Though the Lakers do currently have 15 guaranteed contracts, many still expect the team to ultimately release Nick Young which would open up a spot.
As big men, Wear and Auguste would likely be added for depth if they were to make the roster. The Lakers have a number of options up front already, and was further crowded by the recent addition of Yi Jianlian.
Last season the battle for the final spot went to Metta World Peace as the team released Jabari Brown as the final cut. It will be interesting to see who else the Lakers choose to bring in for the first camp under new head coach Luke Walton.