Lakers Host Free Agent Mini Camp Prior to Regular Season
By Eric Yee
Just a day after being rumored to sign Chinese prospect, Yi Jianlian, the Lakers are reportedly hosting a free agent mini camp to find additional players to fill out their roster
As stands, the Los Angeles Lakers currently have the 27th lowest salary total, in front of only the Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Brooklyn Nets but it seems that may change in the near future.
With deals involving Chinese prospect, Yi Jianlian and second overall pick, Brandon Ingram yet to be formalized, that number will go up, though how much remains to be answered. Including Jianilian and Ingram, the team’s roster currently sits at 15 players, the maximum number of players a team can carry.
The organization obviously knows this but are still doing their due diligence, hosting what is being called a “Free Agent Mini Camp” with a series of former NBA players. Of the thirteen man camp, six of them have prior NBA experience including former Lakers’ guard, Xavier Henry and Los Angeles Clipper, Jeff Ayres.
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One possibility that could account for this mini-camp is the idea that the Lakers are preparing to move on from Nick Young despite his recent efforts to “reconcile” with teammate D’Angelo Russell. Trading him would likely require the team to give up at least one of the trade chips they received in the Jose Calderon trade, making the prospect of stretching him that much more appealing.
Additionally, trading him could also mean that the team has to take a player back, depending on which team they traded with, which would bring their roster total back up to 15 defeating the purpose of this mini camp.
According to Mitch Kupchak, the team ran two practices in one day to gauge the field but he made it clear that he doesn’t see any of them as “rotation players.”
"I thought it was a good workout… We’re used to looking at our players coming here every morning — D’Angelo and Larry and Julius (Randle) and Jordan (Clarkson) — so it’s a different level. But these guys are certainly worthy of getting a close look and they’ve had great college careers and they’re good players in their own right."
Next: Lakers Close to Signing Chinese Prospect Yi Jianlian
This can be seen as both good and bad, depending on how you look at it, but it’s nice to see how highly Kupchak thinks of his young core.