The Los Angeles Lakers announced they have requested waivers on forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon and guards Damion Baugh and Scotty Pippen Jr.
All three signed Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers last month and spent training camp with the team. Now that they have been waived, they will likely join the South Bay Lakers of the G League for the 2023-24 season unless they receive better offers elsewhere whether that be a standard NBA contract, two-way contract or overseas.
Pippen originally signed with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt in 2022 and spent his rookie season on a two-way contract. In 19 games for South bay, he averaged 21.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.6 steals in 27.9 minutes per game. He was named NBA G League Player of the Week on Dec. 19 and participated in the 2023 Jordan Rising Stars Game as part of NBA All-Star Weekend
In six games for the Lakers last season, Pippen played sparingly and averaged 2.3 points in 5.3 minutes. He appeared in two games this preseason and posted averages of 4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 15.7 minutes per game.
Baugh followed a similar path this summer and signed with the Lakers shortly after going undrafted out of TCU, playing for the organization in the Summer League. After impressing in 29 games in his senior season, averaging 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals in 35.0 minutes per game to earn All-Big 12 Second Team honors, Baugh again had a solid summer for L.A. He only appeared in one preseason game, however.
Valerio-Bodon is a 22-year-old 6’9″ forward out of Hungary. He played 29 games for Sopron KC of the Hungarian NBIA during the 2022-23 season and averaged 8.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He is a sniper from deep, shooting 41.2% from 3-point range. He played one game for the Boston Celtics in the Las Vegas Summer League in July and had 13 points on 4-of- 8 shooting with six rebounds, three assists and a block in 25 minutes.
He appeared in one preseason game with the Lakers, recording two rebounds and one block in 5.0 minutes.
Lakers roster set at 14 players
With the Lakers waiving these three players, their roster is now set at 14 players to begin the season as the expectation is they will keep an open roster spot for now to maintain flexibility.
L.A. also has three two-way players under contract in Colin Castleton, D’Moi Hodge and Alex Fudge.
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