The Los Angeles Lakers made a roster move earlier this week and no, likely won’t affect their season-long outlook. However, it’s still interesting to see what the Lakers believe they need at this point in the season when it looks like they have everything under control with a 22-3 record.
The Lakers announced on Wednesday that they signed G League forward Devontae Cacok to a two-way contract after the forward recorded 10 double-doubles in 12 G League games. In a related move, the Lakers waived guard Zach Norvell Jr., according to The Athletic/Stadium’s Shams Charania.
However, the double-doubles stat only tells part of the story of Cacok’s impact in the G League. His current rebound percentage of 24.9% would be the highest in the history of the G League, according to Dakota Schmidt of the G League blog Ridiculous Upside.
Fun fact: Cacok's current TRB% is better than the 24.1 average that Angel Delgado maintained last year in Agua Caliente. Delgado had the best rebounding season in G League history and was Rookie of the Year. https://t.co/soYPApS5eH
— Ridiculous Upside (@RidicUpside) December 11, 2019
With LeBron James running the show offensively, Rajon Rondo shooting the ball well from the 3-point line and Alex Caruso providing quality play on both ends, perhaps the Lakers made the decision they don’t need more players who are score-first oriented like Norvell. While Norvell had some big scoring performances in the preseason, Cacok’s efficiency and rebounding in the G League has been undeniably better.
Cacok was in training camp with the Lakers and joined the team on their trip to China after signing an Exhibit 10 contract with them in the summer.