Tag: Shaquille Harrison

Lakers are signing Tristan Thompson, Shaquille Harrison

The Lakers have made two interesting additions ahead of the play-in tournament.

The Los Angeles Lakers have possessed a deep and well-balanced team  since they executed multiple trades ahead of the trade deadline.

They acquired forward Rui Hachimura in late January to address what was an utter lack of forward depth beyond LeBron James. Then came the blockbuster Russell Westbrook trade that brought back former All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell, defensive standout Jarred Vanderbilt and sharpshooter Malik Beasley.

For good measure, Los Angeles landed backup center Mo Bamba for veteran guard Patrick Beverley.

However, some believed even with Bamba, a good shot-blocker and 3-point shooter, the Lakers lacked center depth.

To that end, the team signed veteran big man Tristan Thompson, as well as guard Shaquille Harrison, on Sunday.

The Lakers have taken their time adding another center, but now they will have an additional one for the play-in tournament and, they hope, the playoffs.

 

Lakers to waive Shaquille Harrison, Nate Pierre-Louis and Jay Huff

In preparation for the regular season, the Lakers have asked for waivers on three players.

With the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason schedule complete, they now get down to the business of preparing for their regular-season opener, which is Tuesday versus the Golden State Warriors.

One task for every NBA team at this point of the year is making final cuts and trimming the roster.

The Lakers had several men they brought in to compete for one roster spot. While some played hard, only one — forward Matt Ryan — really stood out in a positive way.

Therefore, the Lakers are waiving guards Shaquille Harrison and Nate Pierre-Louis and center Jay Huff.

Harrison has five years of NBA experience and had the ability to bring some defensive toughness and hustle. Pierre-Louis went undrafted after three years of college ball at Temple University and spent last season with the South Bay Lakers.

Lakers fans may not like the fact the team has let go of Huff. He showed the ability to protect the rim and hit 3-pointers, especially during summer league play a few months ago.

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Lakers release two players, sign two new players

The Lakers have made a few minor roster moves.

Through three preseason games, the Los Angeles Lakers are 0-3, but there are things to be hopeful for.

When their regular rotation players have been in the game, mostly in the first half and for much of the third quarter, they have looked fairly good on both ends of the floor.

But head coach Darvin Ham has given almost all the rest of the available playing time to men who will either not make the final roster or get very little run during the regular season.

It’s part of his job. Every team needs to determine who will end up getting its final roster spots.

To that end, the Lakers released Dwayne Bacon and Javante McCoy, and signed L.J. Figueroa and Shaquille Harrison.

Figueroa is a 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard who spent last season in the G League. He seems to have the potential to be a good rebounder for a guard.

Harrison, meanwhile, has played with six teams across five NBA seasons. His best year came in the 2019-20 campaign when he averaged 4.9 points in 11.3 minutes per game while shooting 38.1% from 3-point range.

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Explaining the NBA’s hardship exception and the free agents who signed as replacement players

Explaining what hardship exceptions and replacement players mean as COVID-19 protocols hit the NBA.

As the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread, the NBA has required a large share of “replacement players” to fill in for the players who are in health and safety protocols. And so far, more than 100 players have reportedly entered the league’s health and safety protocols so far this month, per ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

But how exactly do the “replacement players” work?

Essentially, the NBA’s hardship exception allows teams to exceed the 15-man roster limit if more than three players on the roster are each going to miss extended time due to illness or injury. Typically, teams weren’t allowed to apply for the hardship exception before Jan. 5.

But starting last season, the league changed the policy to allow earlier exceptions. And as of earlier this week, effective Dec. 19 until Jan. 19, the NBA is allowing teams to sign one replacement player for each player on their roster who tests positive for COVID-19.

While there are some big names (e.g. Isaiah Thomas, Lance Stephenson, CJ Miles) who have signed as replacement players, there are lots of promising young NBA hopefuls who are hoping to use this opportunity as a chance to stick around the league.

Not all of the players below were signed through hardship exceptions and some transactions (e.g. DeMarcus Cousins and Wesley Matthews to the Milwaukee Bucks) may have happened anyway during a normal season.

But below, based on the NBA’s transaction log and reporting from the league’s top insiders, you can find a live tracker of all the players who have signed new deals with NBA teams over the course of the past month.