The Los Angeles Lakers continue to fill out their 2019 Summer League roster, adding four players following the 2019 NBA Draft.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been hard at work following the 2019 NBA Draft. After trading into the second round and selecting Talen Horton-Tucker with the No. 46 overall pick, the Lakers got to business on the undrafted free agent market.
Los Angeles has been busy at work signing players to all types of contracts, filling up their Summer League roster. The first reported signing was Zach Norvell Jr. The former Gonzaga guard signed a two-way deal with the Lakers after going undrafted.
Following that deal, the Lakers signed three more players; Jordan Caroline, Aric Holman and Devontae Cacok. Cacok was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal, meaning he could earn up to a $50K bonus for sticking with the Lakers, whether it be them signing him to a deal or him playing with their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.
That gives Los Angeles seven players on their Summer League roster; the four mentioned and Moritz Wagner and Isaac Bonga, assuming they aren’t traded before then. Now, the Lakers have added four more players to their roster for Summer League.
Jeffery Carroll will be returning to the Lakers for the second consecutive year on their roster. Carroll also played for the South Bay Lakers, averaging 9.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Joining Carroll in the frontcourt is former Buffalo Bulls standout, Nick Perkins. Perkins went undrafted after four seasons at Buffalo, as they shared the news of him joining the Lakers on their Twitter account.
.@Nick_P34 will be joining the @Lakers Summer League team! Congrats Nick!#ForeverABull pic.twitter.com/BiNCJsTiII
— Buffalo Men's Basketball (@UBuffaloMBB) June 21, 2019
Perkins was productive in his time at Buffalo. He improved his shooting all four years, turning himself into a solid 3-point shooter, making 37.1 percent of his attempts this past season. He is also a tenacious rebounder, averaging 7.4 per game despite playing only 26.2 minutes.
Joining the backcourt for the Lakers Summer League is Joe Young and Dakota Mathias. Young was a second-round pick of the Indiana Pacers in 2015, No. 43 overall. He played three seasons in the NBA before heading over to China, where he impressed by scoring 36.1 points per game.
Mathias played last season overseas with Divina Seguros Joventut.
LA Lakers are starting to fill out their summer league roster with guards. Joe Young (Oregon) who averaged 36 ppg in China this past season, will be joined by Dakota Mathias (Purdue), who played in Spain.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 22, 2019
This is an excellent opportunity for Young to get back into the NBA. The Lakers are going to need players to fill out their regular season roster, and unlike the other players that have been signed, he has NBA experience.
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Finding cheaper alternatives to round things out will be very important, and with how the roster is currently situated, the only point guard under contract is Bonga. If Young has a strong showing in Las Vegas, he could play his way onto the roster. He can fill it up, as he averaged 17.5 points per game in college, averaging at least 18 points his final three seasons and 20.7 his senior year at Oregon.
Mathias played collegiately for Purdue. During his four-year career with the Boilermakers, Mathias showed that he can be a deadly shooter. He knocked down 250 3-pointers in his career at a 41.9 percent clip. In his junior and senior season, he shot 45.3 percent and 46.6 percent.
All of the players that the Lakers have added to their Summer League roster have landed in a great spot. No matter how things go for the organization in free agency, they are going to need to find players to round out their roster.
Anyone who plays well during the summer has a great chance to land a training camp invite as well to play their way onto the regular season roster.
The Summer League roster may be complete now, especially if Wagner, Bonga and Johnathan Williams are going to participate. That would put them at 12 potential players.