On Friday night, as the Los Angeles Lakers lost their fourth straight game, Dylan Windler, a wing, registered 22 points and 33 rebounds for the New York Knicks' G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks. By Saturday morning, the Lakers signed Windler to a two-way contract, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Windler will sign a two-way contract with Los Angeles, his agents told Woj. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 regular season, the Lakers have had the same three players on their two-way contracts: guard D'Moi Hodge, center Colin Castleton, and forward Alex Fudge. (Update: Fudge will be waived to make room for Windler). Two-way contracts allow players to freely shuttle between the G League and NBA. Rookies Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis have spent time with the South Bay Lakers, as well.

Windler, 27, was a first-round pick (no. 26 overall) by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019 after starring at Belmont University. In three-plus years in the G League, the 6'7 guard-forward has averaged 13.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists on .468/.378/.644 shooting splits. In 27 games for Westchester, Windler is putting up 15.0 points and 14.3 rebounds, thanks to his historic showing on Friday. Windler is making 32.1% of his 3-pointers in 2023,24, though he was around 40% the previous two seasons.

Windler will presumably make his South Bay Lakers debut on Monday vs. the Ontario Clippers at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo.

The Lakers (17-19) dropped their fourth straight game on Friday night — a 127-113 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies that marked their second consecutive 14-point loss at home. Afterward, LeBron James acknowledged the Lakers “just suck right now” as Darvin Ham spent the evening refuting reports about his job security by comparing anonymous sources to Mafia whistle-blowers and questioning why fans even care about individual basketball games.

“There's no help coming. There's no cavalry,” Anthony Davis said when the Lakers' woes began in December. Apparently, not true!