The Lakers have signed Jake LaRavia, who became a free agent after his negotiations with the Kings fell out while discussing an extension. LaRavia, who played for the Grizzlies for most of his career, was traded to the Kings in February as part of a three-team trade. Now, while discussing his contract extension with the Kings, the talks allegedly broke down, which allowed the Lakers to move for him.
According to NBA Insider Chris Haynes, the Kings wanted to re-sign Jake LaRavia, and he thinks something happened last minute where things fell apart, and he ended up signing with the Lakers.
Following the signing, LaRavia even went on Instagram to show how elated he is about joining the Lakers.
“LAKESHOWWWWW! Hope Lakers fans are as excited as I am. Lets work”, wrote the Lakers’ newest acquisition on Instagram.
LaRavia is a small/power forward and a career 37.1% shooter from beyond the arc. In the 47 games he played for the Grizzlies last season before his trade, he averaged a career high 44.4% from deep before he was traded to the Kings. His career stats show that he averages 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, but we anticipate his usage will be much higher on the Lakers. He has gotten less than 20 minutes per game on average for his career, but coming off the bench for the Lakers, a lot more expectations will be on his shoulders.
At 6’7, he brings a decent amount of size for the physicality as well as the sharpshooting skills that the Lakers need to replace Dorian Finney-Smith on their roster. Finney-Smith allegedly declined his player option with the Lakers due to his unhappiness with how the Lakers’ front office treated him. Hopefully, LaRavia is a better fit for this team than Finney-Smith was.
Now the Lakers continue their search for a starting center in the free agent market, and we anticipate hearing another major signing for the Lakers soon. It could be Deandre Ayton. It will be interesting to see what is next for the Lakers.
