The Los Angeles Lakers will be signing Scott Machado, of the South Bay Lakers in the G League, to a 10-day contract.
The Los Angeles Lakers backcourt has been decimated by injuries. Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball have both missed significant time, with Ball being ruled out for the reason earlier this month.
In addition to those losses, LeBron James and Brandon Ingram have also suffered through injuries. James has been battling a groin injury since Christmas Day, while Ingram had Deep Venous Thrombosis.
Those four players are the best ball handlers and facilitators that the Lakers have on their roster. Alex Caruso has filled in admirably in recent weeks, playing some of the best basketball of his career.
Caruso has shown he is a capable perform during his time with the South Bay Lakers, the Lakers G League affiliate. Now, he will be joined by another G League teammate in Scott Machado.
According to Mike Scotto, the Lakers will be signing Machado to a 10-day contract.
The Los Angeles Lakers will sign guard Scott Machado to a 10-day contract, a league source told @TheAthleticNBA. Machado was recently named G League Player of the Week.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) March 20, 2019
The Player of the Week award that Scotto mentioned was earned with some impressive stat lines. Machado averaged 25 points, 14 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. In addition to the gaudy stats, the SB Lakers went 3-0 in the games.
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On the season, Machado is averaging 16.4 points, 8.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He should be able to find some minutes with the Lakers over the course of his 10-day contract.
Hopefully, Luke Walton gives him more of a chance than he gave Andre Ingram. People were excited when it was announced that Ingram would be signing with the Lakers, but he never received much of a chance this season to play after his magical debut last year.
Ingram played only 14 minutes in his four games with the Lakers this season. For a team that is no longer focused on trying to win games, it would have been nice to see them give Ingram more of a chance than they did.
To make room for Machado on the roster, Ingram’s 10-day contract was not renewed.
With James’ status unknown essentially on a nightly basis, and Josh Hart also battling injuries, there is no reason for Machado to not receive minutes off the bench.
He should take away some of the minutes from Rajon Rondo. At this point in the season, there is no reason Rondo should be playing 33.5 minutes per game as he has been in the last 10 games.