The Los Angeles Lakers grabbed a potential steal when Cameron Carr slipped to the late first round of the NBA Draft, and they tried to do so again with their reported pursuit of Henri Veesaar in the second round. While the Atlanta Hawks swooped in and snatched Veesaar away, the Lakers went hunting for a possible undrafted gem with a few roster signings following the draft.
As soon as the second round was over, the Lakers inked a pair of two-way contract signings, but they also added a few other undrafted players to their roster on Exhibit 10 contracts, as per Carlos Yakimowich of The Sporting Tribune.
William Kyle III, Chase Ross and Robbie Avila will presumably be joining the Lakers for NBA Summer League play next month. On Exhibit 10 contracts, the Lakers essentially made these signings for their Coachella Valley G League affiliate. As per NBA rules, E10 contracts allow teams to bring players to summer league and training camp with the expectation that they’ll eventually join the team’s G League franchise.
It is possible though that the Lakers opt to convert one, or more of that trio to a two-way contract as they are allowed to do. Right now, with AK Okereke and Peter Suder signed, the team has only one remaining two-way roster spot available. The Lakers ended last season with Drew Timme and Chris Mañon as their two-way signees, but both players are currently free agents.
Kyle and Avila are both big men, while Ross is a guard. Lakers fans might be familiar with Kyle as he played his junior year of college at UCLA. He finished up his eligibility at Syracuse where he averaged 8.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 2.5 blocked shots. He is a defensive-minded forward with a good motor.
Avila stepped on the national scene in 2023-24 when many college basketball fans felt like Indiana State was robbed of a NCAA Tournament appearance. He transferred to Saint Louis after that year, and is coming off averaging 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He’s got a versatile skill-set as a big man and it will be interesting to see how that translates in summer league.
Ross is coming off the best season of his college career after four years at Marquette, averaging 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals. The steals were a career-best and he never averaged less than 1.1. He can guard multiple positions and is an intriguing option for camp.
Part of the job is being able to hit on the margins, especially in the second-apron era, and Lakers fans will no doubt be tuning in during summer league to see how these players perform.
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