The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up the preseason with a Friday night loss against the Golden State Warriors and are now awaiting their season opener against the Timberwolves on Tuesday. Despite the lack of offseason activity from their team, Lakers fans are hopeful for the new season under head coach J.J. Redick.
At this point, it’s clear that the Lakers aren’t going to make a big move before the season. GM Rob Pelinka had said that they wanted to watch the team for 30 games before evaluating the need for a trade.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the front office isn’t making marginal moves to improve the roster. On Saturday, NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Lakers were signing rookie Quincy Olivari to a two-way deal. To make space for the move, Los Angeles is waiving big man Colin Castleton.
NBA News: Lakers Sign Quincy Olivari
Olivari first joined the Lakers for the Summer League before signing an Exhibit 10 deal with them. He was able to impress the team enough during training camp and preseason that he earned himself a roster spot. In the preseason finale, he scored 22 points on 5/9 shooting from three while adding seven rebounds and two assists.
The undrafted free agent played four seasons at Rice before finishing his collegiate career at Xavier last year. As a Musketeer, he hit 3.1 threes per game on 40.9% accuracy from downtown. His calling card is shooting and as long as he continues to make his threes at an above 40% clip, he should be able to find a role in the NBA.
Olivari will now split his time between the G League and the NBA. Considering how desperately the Lakers need shooting, however, he should get a chance to show what he can do with the big squad.
