The Los Angeles Lakers announced that they signed center and Summer League standout Jay Huff to an Exhibit 10 contract.
What that means is that Huff has signed a one-year, minimum contract with the Lakers and will be in attendance at training camp. While the odds of him making the team are low, the Lakers will have the ability to convert his deal to a two-way contract if they are impressed with his play.
With Huff, it’s hard not to be impressed with what he brings to the table as he showed in Summer League that he can be a force on both ends of the floor. While Huff’s play was limited after missing time due to a positive coronavirus (COVID-19) test, he still showed an ability to shot-block, rebound, score around the basket and even shoot from deep a little, which is what the Lakers are looking for in a big man next to Anthony Davis.
Huff appeared in 28 regular season games (all starts) for the South Bay Lakers last season, averaging 15.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.4 blocks while shooting 64.1 percent from the field. He also appeared in four games for the Lakers during the 2021-22 season albeit in very limited minutes.
The Lakers’ current center rotation consists of Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones along with Davis himself expected to play some minutes there as well. That doesn’t leave a lot of playing time for Huff, but he has shown to be a legit NBA player so it makes sense for the Lakers to hold onto him as long as they can to allow him to continue to develop in the organization.
At 24 years of age, Huff still has some room for growth whether it be at the NBA level or G League for one more season.
Lakers sign McCoy and White to Exhibit 10 contracts
The Lakers are allowed to bring in five players to training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts and they now have two available spots with Huff joining Javante McCoy and Fabian White Jr.
Those final two spots won’t be going to the Lakers’ other big men in Summer League as Shareef O’Neal already signed a deal with G League Ignite while Sacha Killeya-Jones signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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