The Los Angeles Lakers will report to training camp in just a few weeks, which means they have been busy filling out the end of their roster with Exhibit 10 signings.
It’s no secret that the Lakers didn’t make any significant roster upgrades this offseason, and the reason for that is their roster is full and they were unwilling to attach assets to move off players.
So with that being the case, the Lakers were limited to Exhibit 10 training camp contracts, where they have added Quincy Olivari, Kylor Kelley, Alex Fudge, Jordan Goodwin and Vincent Valerio-Bodon. Some of them will get a chance at some minutes in the preseason before ending up in the G League with the South Bay Lakers.
It appears the Lakers were aiming bigger as they attempted to bring in NBA veteran Cedi Osman on a training camp contract but he turned them down, via Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops:
According to Eurohoops sources, the Turkish international was in advanced talks with Real Madrid but he ultimately didn’t find an agreement with the Spanish powerhouse. He also received interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, which invited him for a training camp; however, due to the lack of guarantees about making it to the season roster, he decided to refuse and come back to Europe.
Considering the Lakers have 15 guaranteed players on the roster, there wasn’t really a path for someone like Osman to earn a spot, so it makes sense that he preferred to secure a guaranteed contract overseas.
The 29-year-old has played in seven NBA seasons, six with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the San Antonio Spurs. In 22.7 minutes per game across 476 career games, Osman has averaged 9.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 35.7% shooting from deep.
He played in 72 contests for the Cavaliers last season and put up 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting a career-high 38.9% from 3.
Osman has a relationship with Lakers star LeBron James from their time together in Cleveland, but it appears that wasn’t enough for him to turn down an opportunity with Panathinaikos to come to L.A. for training camp.
Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht added strength this summer
Given the Lakers’ lack of roster moves, one player they will be relying on is rookie Dalton Knecht, who they drafted 17th overall out of Tennessee. And the early reports on Knecht are good as he apparently added a lot of strength and muscle this offseason to be ready to his rookie year.
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