The final roster spot for the Lakers will be used for one of their own and no big last-minute splash signing.
On Sunday morning, Shams Charania of ESPN reported Nick Smith Jr. and the Lakers had agreed to a two-year deal. Smith has spent the season on a two-way contract in LA.
The Lakers opened up a roster spot earlier in the weekend by waiving Kobe Bufkin, who they signed to a standard contract in the opening months of the campaign.
While other names like Chris Paul or Lonzo Ball were the flashier names mentioned as possible signings, it always felt likeliest that the open roster spot and contract would go to one of the team’s two-way signings in Smith Jr. and Drew Timme. Two-way players are not eligible for the playoffs, so if Redick wanted to continue using those players in his rotation, they would have to be signed to a deal.
Details of the deal are not known nor have they been reported, but in similar situations in previous years, the “two-year” aspect of the deal means the remaining one game and postseason of the 2025-26 season and likely a non-guaranteed second year.
On the season, Smith Jr. is averaging six points on 43.3% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from range. Most memorably, he won a game for the Lakers in Portland very early in the season when a host of players were out injured.
Even during the months when Bufkin was on a standard contract, Smith Jr. seemed to be ahead of him in the rotation and had the trust of head coach JJ Redick and the staff. With injuries to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the path to minutes for Smith Jr. is not all that crowded.
While he won’t be called upon if the remaining players are healthy, an injury or foul trouble in one of the playoff games could lead to him seeing minutes.
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