The Los Angeles Lakers announced they have waived Sekou Doumbouya in order to sign Wenyen Gabriel to a two-way contract.
The move was made in order to sure up L.A.’s frontcourt depth after the organization waived DeAndre Jordan in order to sign point guard D.J. Augustin.
While Doumbouya is also a big man, he has seen limited time with the Lakers in two stints as a two-way player this season while also struggling at the G League level. In 12 games with the South Bay Lakers this season, the former lottery pick is averaging just 6.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
With the addition of Gabriel, the Lakers now have a two-way player capable of competing in NBA games, and he also fits their style of basketball as an undersized big man that can run the floor and shoot a little bit.
Gabriel has appeared in seven NBA games this season between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 6.7 minutes per game. The 24-year-old has played in 58 career NBA games since going undrafted out of Kentucky in 2018 and averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9.0 minutes.
With only a handful of games left in the season, it remains to be seen what role, if any, Gabriel will play at the NBA level. He gives the team some young and fresh legs for the tail end of the year though, which is important given the overall age of the roster and plethora of injuries they have been forced to deal with this season.
James believes turnaround starts with one win
If the Lakers want to turn their season around and get back on track, they are running out of time. LeBron James feels just getting one win can help push things in the right direction though.
“It all starts with a win. That’s what it starts with,” James said. “Try to get off the schneid, get a win and learn from that win. With that, things that you did well and the things that you didn’t do so well.
“It always starts with that and how you can try to implement that into a game-to-game situation. The Clipper game was right there and [we] couldn’t finish the game and tonight against a Pelican team who, like I’ve said, had been playing some good ball as of late. This season is definitely different.”
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