The Lakers have added two more players to their training camp roster, it was announced today. Center Eric Boateng and guard Darius Johnson-Odom have both been invited to training camp.
Johnson-Odom is a familiar name in Lakers territory. He was the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and was acquired by the Lakers on draft night. Before being waived by the Lakers in January, the North Carolina native actually appeared in four games for the Lakers last season and 13 games for the Los Angeles D-Fenders. While with the D-Fenders, he averaged 21.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 39.8 minutes.
—- Check Out Our Interview With Darius Johnson-Odom Last Year! —-
Boateng has spent the last three seasons splitting his time between the NBA’s Development League and playing internationally. The 6-10 center, out of Arizona State University is also a member of the Great Britain national basketball team.
With the signing of Boateng and Johnson-Odom, the Lakers training camp roster currently stands at 18 players. NBA teams are allotted a maximum number of 15 in the regular season (minimum of 13). In a press conference this afternoon, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak hinted that they may be able to justify keeping 14 or 15 going into the regular season.
For the full Lakers press release, click below.
[showhide type=”pressrelease”]LAKERS SIGN TWO PLAYERS TO TRAINING CAMP ROSTEREL SEGUNDO – The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Eric Boateng and guard Darius Johnson-Odom, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not released.
Boateng, a free agent center out of Arizona State University, has split time over the last three seasons playing for the Idaho Stampede and the Austin Toros of the NBA’s Development League in addition to playing internationally for the Greek Basket League team Peristeri and the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig in Germany. The 6-10 center, who played one year (2005-06) at Duke before transferring to Arizona State University (2007-10), finished his collegiate career averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.8 minutes over 116 games. Born in London, Boateng is also a member of the Great Britain national basketball team.
Johnson-Odom, the 55th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, was acquired by the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks on draft night. The 6-2 guard out of Marquette appeared in four games for the Lakers last season, where he totaled four rebounds and one assist in six minutes. Johnson-Odom also played in 13 games for the Los Angeles D-Fenders where he averaged 21.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 39.8 minutes. After being waived by the Lakers in January, the Raleigh, North Carolina native spent the remainder of the 2012-13 season playing in Russia for BC Spartak Saint Petersburg.
Most recently, Johnson-Odom participated in the 2013 NBA Summer League games held in Orlando and Las Vegas. In three games as a member of the Boston Celtics summer league entry in Orlando, Johnson-Odom averaged 10.3 points and 1.3 assists in 23.7 minutes. In six games played as a member of Denver’s summer league team in Las Vegas, Johnson-Odom averaged 7.2 points and 3.0 assists in 15.8 minutes.
The Lakers training camp roster now stands at 18 players. [/showhide]
