The Los Angeles Lakers made shocking news on Wednesday night as it was reported shortly after the team’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers that Matt Ryan would be waived. The timing of this with other events around the Lakers is quite interesting, leading to a conspiracy as to why the team might have made this bold move.
While Ryan did not play much, it still did not make much sense to simply let him go. Ryan had the third-highest three-point percentage on the team (37.1%), is young and was responsible for the team’s second win of the season over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Ryan has value as a sharpshooting role player and he proved that with his short stint in Los Angeles. Now that he is free for the taking, there are several teams that should give the former DoorDash delivery driver a look.
3 potential new teams for Matt Ryan after being waived by the Lakers:
1. New York Knicks
The New York Knicks are one of just two teams in the NBA that has a worse three-point percentage on the season than the Lakers. With that in mind, bringing in a wing that can knock down threes becomes a no-brainer for New York.
The Knicks are pretty thin when it comes to wings as well, which is why the team signed former Laker Svi Mykhailiuk to hopefully provide the same kind of shooting presence that Ryan could provide. Svi has hardly played this season whereas we could see Ryan get around 10-12 minutes a game like he was in LA.
The Knicks have the means to easily open up a roster spot for Ryan as well. While they are currently full with 15 players, 28-year-old Ryan Arcidiacono is on a non-guaranteed contract and does not really have a role in the rotation to begin with.