With the start of the regular season only a week away, the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching staff will likely cut a few more players before setting the final roster at 15 players or less.
The current roster is down to 16 players after Reeves Nelson, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Ronny Aguilar and Greg Somogyi were waived by the team. With a 15-player maximum set by the NBA, the Lakers’ coaching staff will have to cut at least one more player before the start of the season next week.
As of right now, only three players on the current squad have non-guaranteed contracts. Robert Sacre, Andrew Goudelock and Darius Johnson-Odom are the three players currently on the hot seat heading into the final week of the preseason.
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It appears that the Lakers may waive two of those three to set the final roster at 14 according to Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times:
“The Lakers are leaning toward keeping 14 players on their roster, one below the NBA maximum, meaning Robert Sacre might be the only one to stay among three players with nonguaranteed contracts.
“Sacre, the last player taken in the June draft, has averaged 5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 24 minutes in preseason with the Lakers.”
Even though Goudelock has one season with the Lakers to his credit, the coaching staff seems to be favoring Sacre over the second-year guard. As for Johnson-Odom, the Lakers may have traded up in the draft to acquire him, but he hasn’t impressed the coaching staff enough to merit keeping him on the roster.
With a crowded backcourt filled with veterans and insurance needed in the frontcourt with Dwight Howard and Jordan Hill still getting back to form after back injuries, Sacre is the clear choice to make the final roster of the three players left without guaranteed deals.
At this point in time, the Lakers seem intent on keeping 14 players heading into the regular season. This may very well change over the next week, but as of right now, Sacre is the only non-guaranteed player that has earned a roster spot.
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