The Los Angeles Lakers recently brought in former second-round draft pick Christian Koloko on a two-way contract, although they are still waiting for him to get cleared by the NBA.
Koloko missed all of last season due to a severe blood clot issue and although he and the Lakers are optimistic that he is healthy enough to play, the official clearance needs to come from the league.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka discussed why he believes that will happen and what Koloko can provide for the Lakers if it does.
“In terms of our center depth, I think in addition to Jackson Hayes, Christian Wood, we do have two guys on two-way that play the center position in Colin Castleton and we signed Christian Koloko. We have optimism,” Pelinka said.
“We did a deep dive with our medical staff, again Dr. Vigil, Dr. Jones, Dr. Sims, and have a lot of optimism and hope he’s still with the panel. And part of that is just logistics that have to happen, but we think that’ll happen sooner than later and whatever the decision of the league is, we’ll respect. But again, we have a lot of optimism and if he’s cleared, 7-foot-5 wingspan, 7-foot-1 [height], I think we saw a lot of promise in him when we scouted him when he was at Arizona, was almost a first round pick. So, to get a player like that that we can bring along and develop and may even impact games this year when he gets cleared is something we’re really excited about.”
With the recent injury to Christian Wood, the Lakers are going into the 2024-25 season short on center depth. They have Anthony Davis and Jaxson Hayes, but behind them is just two-way players like Koloko and Colin Castleton.
While that is not ideal, it does provide opportunities for Koloko to show the organization what he is capable of, assuming he does indeed get cleared eventually. If Davis or Hayes are forced to miss time, then he may be the next man up in JJ Redick’s rotation.
Christian Koloko ready to make impact for Lakers
Even though Christian Koloko is still waiting to get officially cleared by the NBA, he recently said that he is feeling ‘amazing’ and ready to make an impact for the Lakers.
“I’m just gonna come in ready,” Koloko said, “Be ready to do whatever it takes to have the team win and that’s the goal — win!”
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