The Los Angeles Lakers announced they have requested waivers on Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown Jr., Cameron Oliver and Trevelin Queen. Ahead of Saturday’s deadline, the Lakers’ roster now stands at 15, including one two-way player in Sekou Doumbouya.
The only surprise amongst these cuts was Ayayi, who signed with the Lakers on a two-way contract shortly after going undrafted out of Gonzaga this year. Ayayi didn’t really impress in his limited playing time during Summer League and preseason though, so it appears the Lakers will look elsewhere for their second two-way deal.
It will be interesting to see if they stay in house and sign one of the players they just waived to that two-way contract or if they go outside the organization as they did for Doumbouya.
Regardless though, all of the players that were just waived will likely remain in the organization and play for the G League South Bay Lakers as they originally signed unguaranteed Exhibit-10 contracts at the start of training. Unless another team claims them and signs them either to a standard NBA deal or two-way contract, they will likely be sticking around.
The same can be said for Mac McClung and Frank Mason III, who were also waived in recent days.
As things currently stand, the Lakers’ roster for the regular season seems complete outside of that one open two-way spot. The Lakers could have 15 players on standard contracts but they have made it clear they will go into the season with 14 in order to maintain flexibility.
Vogel believes Brown was ‘making a case’ for two-way contract
If the Lakers do sign one of their own for their second two-way deal, perhaps the favorite to land that is Brown, who is a three-and-D wing that has impressed this summer.
Frank Vogel recently spoke about Brown’s play and why he has made an impression on the coaching staff.
“Yeah, he’s making a case. He’s performing well, obviously with the premier shooting and the defensive physical toughness, you can have success in this league. So he’s a dark horse.
“And he’s tough. He has the mindset of blowing up screens and being really physical on the glass. So he’s done a good job for us in camp and like I said, he’s a guy that can shoot the ball from the perimeter, take plays off the bounce and compete at a high level on the defensive end, you got a chance.”
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