The Lakers moved quickly after the trade deadline to sign their 15th and final player.
On Saturday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Lakers were signing Kobe Bufkin to a two-year deal with the second
year being a player option.
Bufkin had a brief 10-day stint with the Lakers, playing rotation minutes in two games. His best outing came against the Blazers where he had nine points in 22 minutes. In the previous game, he played 17 minutes against the Hornets and went scoreless.
However, as has been the case throughout the year, Bufkin has been putting on a show in the G League recently. His last three games have seen him score 36, 41 and 29 points. Across those contests, he shot 18-31 from the 3-point line. In 21 games with South Bay, he’s averaged 26.7 points, shooting 51.3% from the field and 43.1% from the 3-point line.
For a Lakers team that has struggled to shoot the ball this year, adding Bufkin, as well as Luke Kennard at the trade deadline, gives them some options for shooters off the bench. Bufkin is also still 22 years old, so there is plenty of room for him to grow and develop.
Since the second year is a team option, the Lakers could decline it this summer if things don’t go well for the rest of this season or if they need to clear some cap space.
This does mean the Lakers are out of the running for any buyout players. Considering most of the buyout market is guards, the Lakers opted to keep one they already had in-house over a Cam Thomas or Haywood Highsmith.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
