With their recent signings of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and now Tyler Ennis, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves with 13 roster spots filled out of a possible 15. The question for Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka is how to fill them.
One of those spots is undoubtedly headed towards rookie second round pick Thomas Bryant who became a fan favorite during Summer League. That still leaves one open spot for L.A however.
According to Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times, the Lakers will likely fill that final spot with a training camp invite after getting Bryant signed:
Lakers have pretty much wrapped up for the summer. Will get Thomas Bryant signed. Likely fill last roster spot with 1 who impresses in camp.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) July 26, 2017
The Lakers are no strangers to players impressing in camp and finding themselves on the roster once training camp starts. Veteran Metta World Peace was able to get a roster spot in each of the last two seasons on training camp invites and Thomas Robinson turned in an impressive season last year after being invited to camp.
Who the Magic and Pelinka ultimately invite is anyone’s guess, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they focused on players who bring shooting or defense, which were their main criteria for players in free agency who they were considering.
A couple of Summer League players could find themselves in camp for the Lakers with Vander Blue being an obvious possibility. Travis Wear, who played big minutes in Summer League, and P.J. Dozier, who got injured before he could really get going, may also be considered.
The Lakers also have one more two-way contract left after signing Alex Caruso to one during Summer League so they will likely be looking for someone to fill that spot as well.