With Nick Young suspended for Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics due to the altercation against the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to roll the dice on another player from the D-League, signing Manny Harris from the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Harris is only the 16th player that has ever been signed from the D-League by the Lakers and will get on the floor immediately according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Also, expect Manny Harris to play according to Mike D'Antoni. Fortunately, D-Fenders plays are the same as Lakers.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 17, 2014
Although Harris has struggled to remain on the NBA level after a failed stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 24-year-old will have an ideal opportunity to make an impression right out of the gate on a desperate Lakers squad.
Harris has been a scoring machine with the D-Fenders this season, averaging 30.6 points per game. In fact, not only has Harris dominated the competition in the D-League during a 13-game stretch with the D-Fenders, but he was unstoppable in his last three games.
The Michigan product averaged an incredible 43 points per game while shooting 60 percent from the field in his last three games with the D-Fenders. It seemed as though it would be only a matter of time before the shooting guard would get the call from the Lakers or another NBA team and Young’s suspension appears to have given him an opportunity once again.
Along with Harris, the Lakers also signed point guard Kendall Marshall from the D-League after Kobe Bryant went down with the knee injury. Marshall has played much better than anticipated in his short time with the Lakers averaging 9.9 points and 8.6 assists per game in 11 games with the team thus far.
Needless to say, the gamble to sign Marshall appears to have worked out and Harris might have a similar impact while Young sits out against the Celtics on Friday.
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