Free agency: Lakers sign former Warriors F Juan Toscano-Anderson
Going into the offseason, it was clear that the Lakers were unlikely to make any splash trades or signings in free agency.
That was definitely the case as the free agency period officially began on Friday.
The Lakers announced on Friday they have signed former Warriors guard/forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, former Wizards forward Troy Brown Jr. and free agent center Damian Jones.
Toscano-Anderson is coming off a three-year stint with Golden State, helping the Warriors win the NBA Finals last season. As a result, Toscano-Anderson became the first NBA player of Mexican descent to win an NBA championship.
He averaged 4.8 points, 3.3 rebounds per game during his time in the Bay Area.
Brown, who was selected No. 15 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, played last year for the Bulls. His best season came in 2019-20 when he averaged 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for Washington.
Meanwhile, Jones returns to Los Angeles after reportedly signing a two-year contract with the Lakers.
However, despite the fact the Lakers have no first-round draft picks until 2027, there is optimism that the team will do whatever it can to acquire Nets G Kyrie Irving.
The seven-time All-Star has reportedly requested a trade out of Brooklyn, even though he opted into his player option this week worth $36.5 million.
Irving is a talented ball handler and playmaker who has proven he can play with Lakers captain LeBron James. Irving and James ended the city of Cleveland's professional sports championship drought in 2016, defeating the Warriors in the NBA Finals after falling behind 3-1 in the series.
However, Irving is coming off a season in which he only played 29 regular season games for the Nets due to his adamant decision to not receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Lakers don't have a lot of assets that are in demand. The team traded away a lot of those last offseason in the acquisition of guard Russell Westbrook.
Meaning, general manager Rob Pelinka will have to dig even deeper to the team's small allotment of future draft picks. Fortunately for Lakers fans, the purple and gold are likely one of the few handful of teams in the league that can afford taking on another massive contract like Irving's.
Two-Way Contracts
The Lakers announced they undrafted free agent Scotty Pippen Jr. to a two-way contract, as well as former Syracuse guard Cole Swider.
Pippen is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Scotty Pippen Sr., who won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s.
Pippen Jr. played his high school basketball at Chatsworth's Sierra Canyon High School.
