After the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020-21 season didn’t go as expected, the organization decided to make a number of roster changes this past summer.
One of those changes was not bringing back wing Wesley Matthews, who had an up-and-down season with the team, often finding himself in and out of Frank Vogel’s rotation.
After the Lakers let him go, it appeared that Mattthews’ NBA career may be coming to an end as no other team signed the 35-year-old as well and the season began without him finding a place to play.
It appears Matthews never gave up hope and officially retired though, and he is now reportedly signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, who he played for the season before joining the Lakers, per Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Free agent Wesley Matthews plans to sign a deal with the Bucks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The 12-year veteran, who spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, is set to return to Milwaukee.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 3, 2021
Matthews appeared in 58 games for the Lakers last season, starting 10 of them, and averaged 4.8 points and 1.6 rebounds while shooting 33.5% from 3-point range, which were career-lows across the board.
Similar to the Lakers this season though, the Bucks have been forced to deal with a ton of injuries early on, so bringing back a familiar face like Matthews who is familiar with their schemes makes sense.
Even though the Lakers desperately needed 3-and-D wings this summer, they obviously felt the options they went with were better than Matthews at this stage of his career.
Vogel doesn’t believes stats measure Bradley’s impact
One of those players is Avery Bradley, who the Lakers brought back just before the start of the season after he was waived by the Golden State Warriors.
Bradley has actually started a majority of the Lakers’ games this season and although the stats and advanced metrics aren’t pretty, Frank Vogel doesn’t believe that accurately reflect his impact.
“Effort and intensity is infectious,” the head coach said. “He plays extremely hard and I know the numbers you’re talking about, we take them with a grain of salt. When a guy is bringing that type of intensity, it’s just an intangible thing that energizes the group, sets the tone for our defense. So there’s a lot of positives to what he brings to the table.”
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