Tag: Joel Ayayi

Lakers news: Wizards claim Joel Ayayi off waivers

The Washington Wizards claimed former Los Angeles Laker two-way player Joel Ayayi after he was waived.

The Washington Wizards claimed Joel Ayayi off waivers after the Los Angeles Lakers released him, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Los Angeles initially signed Ayayi to a two-way deal after he jockeyed his way to be undrafted in order to sign with L.A. as an undrafted rookie.

However, Ayayi didn’t stand out in the summer league games and that continued during the preseason. He even went 0-of-6 from the field in one game in limited minutes.

The former Gonzaga standout was among six players waived by L.A. before the regular season started.

Head coach Frank Vogel recently said he hoped Ayayi would join the South Bay Lakers G League affiliate, but this move gives Ayayi another chance to make an NBA roster.

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Lakers to waive Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown, Trevelin Queen, Cam Oliver

The Los Angeles Lakers are waiving four players, including two-way player Joel Ayayi.

The Los Angeles Lakers Friday requested waivers on Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown, Trevelin Queen and Cam Oliver.

Out of the four, Ayayi is the biggest name since he previously occupied a two-way spot on the roster. Now the Lakers will need to replace his opening.

Brown, Queen and Oliver were all training camp players, so their releases were expected. Mac McClung and Frank Mason III are two other players who were on Exhibit 10 deals who got cut.

Head coach Frank Vogel said earlier in the preseason Brown was making a case for a two-way spot. Brown showed more than Ayayi, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the final spot.

L.A. recently inked Sekou Doumbouya to the other two-way opening.

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South Bay Lakers GM Nick Mazzella discusses Lakers’ Summer League team

“You know, we think he has a shot.” – South Bay Lakers GM Nick Mazzella on Mac McClung.

The Los Angeles Lakers participated in two different Summer League tournaments shortly after draft night and finished with a combined 4-3 record.

Los Angeles developed hype around the team despite not having a 2021 draft pick — it was traded in the package for Russell Westbrook — with the additions of Joel Ayayi and Austin Reaves on two-way contracts, followed by Mac McClung and Chaundee Brown.

Devontae Cacok, who was one of L.A.’s two-way players for the last two seasons, also participated despite not making the main roster following the conclusion of his contract.

Other notable players on the roster were Vic Law, Trevelin Queen, Yoeli Childs and Jordan Floyd.

Nick Mazzella, who is the general manager of the G League South Bay Lakers, recapped how the key players performed throughout the competitions:

Las Vegas Summer League: Lakers lose to Pistons in Game 4

The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of the Las Vegas Summer League.

The Los Angeles Lakers took on the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of the Las Vegas Summer League but lost, 103-86.

The main star of the night, Cade Cunningham, didn’t feature in this game, but the Pistons received major production from their second-round draft pick last year in Saben Lee.

Lee was a major catalyst in the early stages of the third quarter that saw Detroit’s lead balloon, as the Pistons once held a 17-point lead, the largest of the game.

Lee couldn’t be stopped from the perimeter or when attacking the basket as he finished with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting to lead all scorers. Luke Garza, a 2021 second-round pick for Detroit, added 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The Lakers didn’t play the trio of Vic Law, Justin Robinson and Yoeli Childs, three players who have been either starting or playing a key role off the bench.

Jordan Floyd led the Lakers in scoring as he dropped 16 points in 15 minutes off the bench to go with five assists and three steals. Tres Tinkle was second in scoring for L.A. with 13 points as he got the starting nod in place of Law.

Chaundee Brown scored 10 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting to go with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Austin Reaves scored nine at the point guard spot while backcourt partner Joel Ayayi chipped in seven points, six rebounds and two assists.

Mac McClung had another quiet shooting night, going 1-of-5 for three total points and four assists.

With a 2-2 record after four games, the Lakers will not be competing in the Summer League championship game.

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Austin Reaves, Joel Ayayi turned down chance to be drafted to sign with Lakers

Austin Reaves and Joel Ayayi could’ve been drafted, but they opted to go undrafted to join the Los Angeles Lakers instead.

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have any picks in the 2021 NBA draft after dealing the 22nd pick to acquire Russell Westbrook.

Despite not possessing a first-round pick for yet another year, the Lakers made some promising moves after the draft that turned heads.

Los Angeles signed Oklahoma guard Austin Reaves and Gonzaga guard Joel Ayayi to two-way deals as undrafted rookies.

At the time, the Lakers lacked guards, but they have since picked up Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn in free agency while retaining 20-year-old Talen Horton-Tucker for at least three more seasons.

According to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, Reaves and Ayayi both turned down the chance to be drafted in order to have autonomy in signing with a team after the draft:

“Sources told The Athletic Reaves turned down the ability to get drafted in order to pick his own spot after the draft.

Similarly to Reaves above, Ayayi turned down offers to be drafted in order to skate through the draft and choose his spot. And similarly to Reaves again, he chose the Lakers. Yeah, the Lakers did well by not even having a pick.”

There is still some room on the 15-man roster for Ayayi and Reaves to land, but they’ll need time in the summer league to impress. Both made appearances in the California Classic games, but two games isn’t a good sample size.

Reaves averaged 9.0 points by primarily attempting shots inside the arc, but his shot-blocking also shined. Ayayi averaged 4.0 points in the two games but didn’t attempt as many shots. Both should benefit from more reps in the Las Vegas games.

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Lakers sign Joel Ayayi, Austin Reaves to two-way contracts

Ayayi and Reaves each made their debuts with the Lakers on Tuesday in the California Classic.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that they signed Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Joel Ayayi and Oklahoma Sooners guard Austin Reaves to two-way contracts.

Ayayi was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team after averaging 12 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 32 games last season. He ranked third in the conference in true shooting percentage (.665) while he scored in double figures 21 times.

Reaves averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists in 25 games with the Sooners on 44.3% shooting from the field, earning All-Big 12 first-team honors. He led the conference in free throws made (147) and ranked fifth in true shooting percentage (.579).

The two players each went undrafted last week.

Just hours after the news was announced, Ayayi and Reaves made their debuts with the Lakers at the California Classic in Sacramento.

Ayayi registered eight points, three rebounds and one steal in 24 minutes during the 80-78 loss to the Miami Heat. Meanwhile, Reaves finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists in 27 minutes of action.

The two players figure to give the Lakers some depth in the backcourt next season, while also developing in the NBA G League. They can spend no more than 50 games with the Lakers during the regular season with the rest of their time spent with South Bay.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Live tracker: Here is where the top undrafted free agents have signed

The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.

The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.

While the following prospects didn’t get to hear their name called by the commissioner or deputy commissioner on Thursday night, they can find solace in the fact that their path to the pros is far from over. It’s not unheard of for an undrafted free agent to carve out a role for themselves in the NBA.

Some notable names, including Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi and G League Ignite’s Daishen Nix, will join the fraternity of undrafted basketball players who hope to still make a name for themselves in the NBA.

Here is where the best remaining prospects have landed so far, according to reports:

A roundup of NBA sleepers draft analysts are higher on than others

Who owns the most real estate on Davion Mitchell Island? Who is buying stock in Sharife Cooper?

Everyone loves Cade Cunningham. It’s not a hot take for an analyst to say that Cunningham is their favorite player in the class. That’s not particularly interesting to read, either.

But what is fascinating, however, is when an analyst deviates from the norm and ranks someone significantly higher than where the prospect falls in other rankings. What does that tell us about their individual scouting process and what they value? Further, what does that tell us about the potential draftee?

Some folks call it “buying stock” in a player. Others, like ESPN’s Zach Lowe or The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, call it owning real estate on a player’s island. I like to refer to it as a “draft crush” when I wind up higher than consensus in my evaluation of a player.

My process is ridiculously tedious but the results can be fairly useful. I’ve tracked the evolution of more than sixty unique mock drafts, big boards and draft models from trusted analysts and popular accounts on Twitter.

Each placement is assigned a value based on Kevin Pelton’s draft pick trade value chart. I do this because, as Pelton notes, the difference in relative value between the No. 5 overall pick and the No. 7 overall is much more stark than, say, that of the No. 45 pick and the No. 47 pick.

After composing an aggregate score based on each ranking, I can see where each analyst strays from the pack.

I’ll leave the conclusions drawn from these results up to the reader. But if nothing else, this can eventually be used as a bragging point if one writer was higher than consensus on a draftee who eventually ends up outperforming his draft position.

Final 2021 NBA Mock Draft: Latest intel, trade rumors and predicting all 60 picks

Wasn’t it just the 2020 NBA draft? How is the 2021 NBA draft already here? Crazy, maybe, but the league is about to have a ton of new faces.

Wasn’t it just the 2020 NBA draft? How is the 2021 NBA draft already here? Crazy, maybe, but the league is about to have a ton of new faces.

The names that you’re most likely to hear at the top are Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Evan Mobley. But the draft will start heating up once guys like Jalen Suggs, Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga start to find their new homes.

This draft will also be unique in that there will be fewer players in attendance than usual. According to one prospect who recently spoke to For The Win, due to COVID-19 restrictions, those not invited to the green room are not allowed to come to the stage and shake the hand of the commissioner as they have been in years past.

Regardless of who is actually in the building, however, it is certain to be an exciting and life-changing night for the next generation of NBA talent.

Based on conversations I’ve had with scouts around the league, and from reports and tea leaves left in other mock drafts from trusted draftniks, below is how I project the events will unfold at Barclays Center and on ESPN and ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET on July 29.

2021 aggregate NBA mock draft 7.0: Ranking the full class of prospects

The 2021 NBA draft is less than a week away and we finally have an idea of who is in — and who has withdrawn — from the class.

The 2021 NBA draft is less than a week away and we finally have an idea of who is in – and who has withdrawn – from the class.

In order to get a better sense of where all of the prospects stand as of right now, we compiled mock drafts from NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo, The Athletic, The Ringer, Yahoo, NBA Big Board and USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s For The Win to see where the prospects rank at the moment.

Please note that these rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for consensus, not our own opinion.

Since our previous update last month, some of the players with the most positive momentum include Quentin Grimes, Joe Wieskamp, Vrenz Bleijenbergh, Aaron Wiggins, Justin Champagnie, Jericho Sims, Jason Preston, Josh Primo, Neemias Queta, Trey Murphy and Bones Hyland.

Among players who ranked on our previous update who have since withdrawn from the draft include Roko Prkacin (32), Marcus Bagley (39), Terrence Shannon (48), Ariel Hukporti (50), Max Abmas (53), Johnny Juzang (54), Jordan Hall (66), Carlos Alocen (69) and Ochai Agbaji (75).

The most notable omissions who remain in this class but not these rankings are Yves Pons, Scottie Lewis, Jay Huff, Marcus Zegarowski, Aamir Simms, Dalano Banton, Matt Mitchell, Jose Alvarado, Carlik Jones, Derrick Alston Jr., Romeo Weems, Balsa Koprivica, Chaundee Brown, Isaiah Miller, Jordan Schakel and D.J. Carton.

Note that for the offensive roles, we borrowed a fun idea from Todd Whitehead (formerly of Nylon Calculus) with help from our friends at Bball-Index.com to create a slightly tweaked formula from the version they use.

The goal of that is not to explain how well a player scores but rather offer context for the way that he was used on his most recent team. This should help you predict how he might be used at the next level.

Meanwhile, you can learn the latest updates on every single prospect who has been included in recent mock drafts by scrolling below.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report