The Los Angeles Lakers are waiving shooting guard Troy Daniels to open up another roster spot, per ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski:
Lakers will waive G Troy Daniels, agent Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tells ESPN. Two sides had been working together to find a solution that will give Daniels an opportunity elsewhere, and also give Lakers an open roster spot into March.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 1, 2020
Daniels was originally expected to be waived when the Lakers agreed to terms with Markieff Morris, but L.A. waived the injured DeMarcus Cousins instead.
However, the Lakers appear insistent on trying to add to the current roster, and Daniels was an easy target considering he had virtually no role with the team.
Daniels played in 41 games for the Lakers, averaging 4.2 points in just over 11 minutes per game.
Bartelstein praised the Lakers in actively seeking avenues to allow Daniels to pursue other opportunities:
Bartelstein tells ESPN: "Rob (Pelinka) and Kurt (Rambis) were fantastic in giving Troy optionality based upon all the scenarios that could play out in the coming weeks." https://t.co/PfS8H3Y8Yn
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 1, 2020
The question now becomes: who will the Lakers look to sign?
Los Angeles had interest in coaxing former point guar Darren Collison out of retirement, but Collison elected to remain retired. The Lakers pivoted to Morris after failing to land his brother, Marcus, but they seem intent on finding another potential difference-maker.
One name to watch could be J.R. Smith, who has not played this year but has repeatedly stated his interest in returning to the Association. Smith was LeBron James' teammate during his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he is the kind of dynamic scorer they might be hoping to add to their bench unit.
The Lakers were expected to give Smith a workout earlier in February, but as of Tuesday he claimed the team had yet to reach out to him:
I asked jr smith IG story he was waiting for a call case not yet @TheRealJRSmith @JeanieBuss 💜💛🙏💯 #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/WaPFDzu1Hf
— AJ (@abrahamjohn24) February 26, 2020
In any case, the decision to waive Daniels gives the Lakers an opportunity to pursue other players as they hope to solidify the roster prior to the playoffs.
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