Even though they are less than one year removed from winning a championship, the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster has undergone two overhauls in hopes of winning another.
The Lakers decided to only bring back three players from last year’s team after their disappointing exit in the first round of the playoffs.
One player who won’t be returning is big man Devontae Cacok, who played minimal minutes on a two-way contract the last two seasons.
There was thought that Cacok may be returning since he played with the Lakers in Summer League, but they couldn’t give him another two-way deal since Austin Reaves and Joel Ayayi already occupy those spots on the roster.
It appears Cacok has found a new home for the beginning of training camp though as Shams Charania of The Athletic is reporting he’s signing with the Brooklyn Nets to compete for a two-way spot:
Former Lakers forward Devontae Cacok will sign with the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The 6-foot-7 forward will go to training camp and compete for an open two-way spot.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 17, 2021
The Lakers and Nets both reloaded this summer and appear to be on the collision course to the NBA Finals if both teams can stay healthy. If Cacok shows the organization enough during training camp then he will be involved in that once again, although from the other side this time.
Cacok, who originally went undrafted out of UNC Wilmington, played in 21 career games with the Lakers and averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 5.1 minutes. The 24-year-old may be undersized for a big man, but he has impressed with his hustle and rebounding ability so far in his NBA career.
Lakers sign Oliver to Exhibit 10 deal
Perhaps what took Cacok so long to find a new home was that he was waiting to see what the Lakers would do with their final Exhibit 10 contract.
They reportedly handed that out to Cam Oliver on Thursday though, ruling out any potential return for Cacok with both of their two-way spots and all of their non-guaranteed contracts now occupied to start training camp.
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