South Bay Lakers forward Travis Wear becomes a permanent Los Angeles Lakers player as he signed a new contract after two 10-day contracts.
South Bay Lakers forward Travis Wear inked a contract for the remainder of the Los Angeles Lakers season today. It was announced today by Lakers GM Rob Pelikna.
Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart are recovering from injuries and the Lakers have dropped six of their last ten games. Enter South Bay Lakers forward Travis Wear, known for his fierce defense and three-point shot efficiency. After two 10-Day contracts expired, Pelinka and his head coach Luke Walton decided to make it a permanent deal with 11 games to go in the regular season.
Last season, Walton signed David Nwaba away from the South Bay Lakers and Nwaba is now playing on the young Chicago Bulls squad. Alex Caruso and Gary Payton II are still the Lakers two-way players while Vander Blue is playing in Italy for the Auxilium Torino of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A.
The Lakers are working very closely with the South Bay Lakers GM Nick Mazzella and are making things happen for the G League players.
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There has been a lot of movement between the two teams with Lakers Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant adding to South Bay’s success and excitement this season in the pain. Bryant also adds thrills from beyond the arc as well, and that’s darn fun to watch.
Mazzella explains to Ryan how Travis Wear worked hard to make this happen. He explains that It wasn’t luck but a lot of determination and hard work.
“I just think he’s evolved a lot,” said Mazzella, “But I think it’s him proving that he’s not just this three-point shooter that you put in the corner, you know he’s really taken pride in becoming a better defender, a better rebounder. You saw it all season with South Bay and you’re seeing it with the LA Lakers as well right now.
South Bay Lakers GM Nick Mazzella talks clinching a playoff spot, the new @NBAGLeague playoff format and the evolution he's seen in @TravisWear. #SBLakers #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/TXpK1FRrWo
— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) March 23, 2018
Not only did Wear work on his now famous three-pointer, but he also worked on the defensive side of the ball. South Bay coach Colby Karl must be so happy for Wear but is probably desperately missing his presence on his squad. Even Larry Nance Jr., now a Cleveland Cavalier, expressed his thoughts on the Wear signing.
Travis Wear making the most of his opportunity!! Dude deserves it!!
— Larry Nance (@Larrydn22) March 17, 2018
Travis is a very focused and serious player. He focusses on everything that’s going on in the game while playing and while on the bench cheering on his teammates. He takes losing very hard and winning is barely celebrated as he looks forward to his next challenge. I have been covering Wear since his UCLA days, and have spoken to him many times. This interview took place after a great win at the end of 2017 where Wear was the star:
The Lakers team won the Las Vegas Summer League with Wear so they are very familiar with the newest Laker. It seemed to come down to Wear and Derrick Williams for the forward roster spot, so when the Lakers decided to not re-up Williams, they signed Wear.
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It’s great that he has worked himself back to the NBA, nothing warms my heart more than a player who deserves a shot getting his shot.