With training camp starting next week, the Lakers’ front office has been quietly busy in recent days. They signed Anton Watson, Chase Ross and Meechie Johnson Jr. to Exhibit 10 deals, although they waived Watson one day later. Ross and Johnson might not be far behind.
What’s the point of signing someone only to waive him the next day? Why are the Lakers signing these guys when they already have 16 players on standard contracts? In essence, they’re using the expanded roster limits for training camp—teams
can have up to 20 players until the regular-season cutdown—to build out their G League roster.
Exhibit 10 contracts effectively allow the Lakers to funnel a bit of extra money to players as long as they stay on the newly branded Coachella Valley Lakers for at least 60 days. They’re eligible to receive anywhere between $5,000 and roughly $90,000 from the Lakers if they do so, and that money won’t count toward the Lakers’ team salary, so it won’t impact their luxury-tax bill or their proximity to the first apron. In essence, there’s no downside for the Lakers unless you’re an heir of Mark Walter, Bob Iger or Josh Kushner.
The Lakers do have to waive Ross and Johnson prior to the start of the regular season for them to be eligible for that bonus. But since the Lakers already have 16 players on standard contracts, both players would be facing an uphill battle to make the regular-season roster as is. The Lakers might want to keep them around for training camp to see if they merit either a standard roster spot or one of their three two-way slots, because players on Exhibit 10 deals can’t be converted to two-way contracts once the regular season begins.
The Boston Celtics originally selected Watson with the No. 54 overall pick in the 2024 draft. They signed him to a two-way deal that offseason, but he never appeared in a regular-season game for them before they waived him in March 2025. The Knicks claimed him on waivers two days later, and he played a grand total of 22 minutes across nine games for them at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Lakers signed Watson to an Exhibit 10 deal last year as well before waiving him prior to the start of the 2025-26 regular season. He averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 46.2% overall and 32.3% from deep for the then-South Bay Lakers across 14 appearances last year.
Ross went undrafted out of Marquette this past summer after averaging 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game as a senior. He was named to the Big East All-Defensive team this past year.
Johnson also went undrafted this past summer after bouncing between Ohio State and South Carolina in college. He averaged 17.2 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game as a super senior, although he shot only 41.4% overall and 32.6% from deep.
The Lakers have now signed six players to Exhibit 10 contracts, which is the most they’re allowed to have. Watson, Ross and Johnson figure to join Robbie Avila, Williams Kyle III and Robert McCray in the G League within the next few weeks to fill out the Coachella Valley Lakers’ roster. If any of them manage to stay on the roster through Christmas, they’ll likely have a few extra bucks to dole out around the holidays this year.
These signings might all sound like inconsequential moves around the margins, and they very well might be. The odds of any of them becoming impactful players for the Lakers one day aren’t great. But the Lakers are smart to take advantage of Exhibit 10 deals to get as many players as possible into their developmental ecosystem, especially if the cost of doing so is effectively a rounding error for their owners.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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