The Los Angeles Lakers made a flurry of roster moves after the 2025 NBA Draft have fans buzzing. Typically, fans don't care much about undrafted free agents and Exhibit 10 contracts. However, when you have the track record the Lakers have, fans get excited.
The initial flurry of roster moves did not include the most notable signing, though. Instead, the Lakers saved that for the weekend as the team continued its trend of signing the family members of notable professional basketball players.
General manager Rob Pelinka signed Maryland forward Julian Reese to an undrafted free-agent deal to play on the Lakers' Summer League roster. Reese will inevitably be one of the most-watched players in all of Summer League thanks to his sister, Angel Reese.
Lakers sign Angel Reese's brother to Summer League roster
Angel Reese has become one of the most famous basketball players in the United States thanks to her rivalry with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. Clark is already the most famous WNBA player of all time and her rivalry with Reese has reached even the most casual of sports fans.
Reese is not as beloved as Clark as many have given her the villain label in the rivalry. Love her or hate her, she is one of the most famous basketball players in the world. As a result, all eyes are going to be on her brother during Summer League.
Julian Reese averaged 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game last season for Maryland. Like her sister, three-point shooting is not a strength for Reese. He's attempted just one three-point shot in the last three seasons for Maryland. He missed it.
That does not bode well for his chances of making any kind of roster in the NBA (or the G League, for that matter). It would be one thing if he was a seven-footer who was protecting the rim. He's not. He is six-foot-nine and is a forward who cannot shoot. That is unplayable in the NBA.
Still, the Lakers have made it a habit out of bringing in players with basketball bloodlines. Bronny James is the most notable example but he is not alone. Back in 2022, the Lakers signed both Scotty Pippen Jr. and Shareef O'Neal to the team's Summer League roster.
Pippen ended up turning into a viable NBA rotation player and is now on the Memphis Grizzlies. It didn't quite pan out for O'Neal, who never played a game at the NBA level.
Reese is much more likely to follow in O'Neal's footsteps than he is Pippen's. But either way, the former Maryland forward will have plenty of eyes on him because of his sister.