Even though they went into the day without any picks, the 2022 NBA Draft wound up being a busy one for the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the morning of the draft, the Lakers acquired the No. 35 pick in the second round for the Orlando Magic, which they wound up using to take Max Christie out of Michigan State.
Then immediately after the draft ended, the Lakers wasted no time inking undrafted free agents to two-way contracts, signing both Syracuse’s Cole Swider and Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr.
All three of those players are expected to play on the Lakers’ Summer League team, although there still are some roster spots to hand out.
According to Ari Alexander of KPRC news, the Lakers are filling one of those roster spots with Houston’s Fabian White Jr.:
Former @UHCougarMBK Forward and program’s winningest player Fabian White Jr. has agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal and will play Summer League with the Los Angeles Lakers, per source.
— Ari Alexander (@KPRC2Ari) June 24, 2022
White played five years at Houston with the 2021-22 season being his best. The 6’8″ forward averaged 12.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 37.1% from three.
In addition to White, the Lakers are also adding UConn’s R.J. Cole, per JD Shaw of HoopsRumors:
UConn’s RJ Cole has committed to play summer league with the Los Angeles Lakers, league source tells @HoopsRumors.
— JD Shaw (@JShawNBA) June 24, 2022
Cole is another experienced player, playing two years at Howard and two at UConn. In his final season, the 6’1″ guard averaged 15.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists with a 33.9 3-point percentage.
Lakers also adding O”Neal to Summer League roster
One other undrafted free agent the Lakers are bringing in is Shareef O’Neal, the son of franchise legend Shaquille O’Neal.
With O’Neal, Cole, White, Swider, Pippen and Christie on the roster, plus returnees like Mac McClung, Jay Huff and Mason Jones, the Lakers’ Summer League squad is starting to take shape and they should be very competitive.
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