The Los Angeles Lakers called Thomas Bryant back up from the South Bay Lakers, the team announced. Bryant has averaged 21.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 29.7 minutes per game over his 16 games in the G League this season.
Bryant hasn’t played much for the Lakers, only getting a team-low five minutes of burn over the course of two game appearances.
In South Bay, however, Bryant has looked downright dominant while shooting 60.1 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three. And with Andrew Bogut being waived by the Lakers over the weekend, Bryant could see an increased opportunity for NBA minutes.
Although, Lakers head coach Luke Walton has not made it sound like Bryant is on the verge of receiving increased playing time.
The front office is instead bringing Bryant along slowly, taking their time with their promising second-round pick who wants to be “the best two-way big man” in the NBA but still has a long way to go to reach that type of potential.
Still, Bryant’s 3-point shooting prowess and solid rim protection instincts offer hope he could one day at the very least be a useful piece for the L.A.
For now, with all of his trips up and down from the G League to the NBA, Bryant is just a two-way player. With Bogut gone, he might actually get to put the emphasis on doing some of that playing at the NBA level.
Bryant will get his next opportunity to get some minutes when the Lakers try to snap their nine-game losing streak against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
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