Although the Los Angeles Lakers went into training camp with their roster essentially set, there were some two-way spots up for grabs.
The two-way spots were originally occupied by Austin Reaves and Joel Ayayi, both of which signed with the Lakers shortly after going undrafted.
But Reaves was promoted to a standard NBA contract after a strong summer of workouts, while Ayayi ended up being waived after an underwhelming Summer League, training camp and preseason.
While the Lakers were hopeful they would be able to keep Ayayi and add him to their G League team, it appeals his prospect status out of Gonzaga was enough for a team to claim him as the guard will be heading to the Washington Wizards, per Shams Charania of The Athletic:
The Washington Wizards have claimed Lakers camp guard Joel Ayayi off waivers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Ayayi is on a two-way contract.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 17, 2021
While this is unfortunate for the Lakers, it’s not totally unexpected as Ayayi is still just 21 years of age and showed a lot of promise in college.
The Lakers have already filled one of their two-way spots with former lottery pick Sekou Doumbouya, but they still have one more to give out before the start of the season.
Lakers expected to take time before filling second two-way spot
As far as the Lakers’ open two-way spot that became available after Ayayi was waived, Frank Vogel said they will take their time to do their due diligence before filling it.
“We’re going to give it some time,” Vogel said. “I don’t know exactly how much. We’re going to continue to evaluate what’s out there.
“But we’re not moving on it today and we’re hopeful that Joel [Ayayi] rejoins us with SBL [South Bay Lakers] if he clears waivers. Same with those other guys. We’re probably looking for the best player. The ideal situation to get a big and a small … we want to get the best two players that we can. Guys that can fill in and help us if we have injuries.”
Obviously the Lakers weren’t able to keep Ayayi after all, but they should be able to hang onto their other Exhibit-10 guys that were waived at the end of camp.
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