The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their first win of the preseason on Sunday following their 126-116 win against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers have three more preseason games on the schedule before the start of the regular season, and they’re hoping to get Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart in the lineup for at least two of those games. But one player on the Lakers’ roster who likely won’t see any preseason action is rookie guard Chris Mañon.
Chris Mañon is dealing with an ankle injury that will likely keep him sidelined for the rest of the Lakers’ preseason schedule, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The news was announced by Lakers head coach JJ Redick during a media availability session following practice on Monday.
Mañon went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft and was signed by the Lakers to a two-way contract. The Lakers currently have all three of their two-way contract roster spots filled with Mañon, Christian Koloko and Nick Smith Jr. Both Koloko and Smith already have prior NBA experience.
With two-way contracts not counting against the salary cap, NBA teams often use them to rotate different players throughout the season. The Lakers had reportedly agreed to a two-way contract with Eric Dixon after the draft, but an injury kept him out of summer league and the Lakers eventually cut him right before training camp. It remains to be seen if Mañon’s injury might put his spot in jeopardy.
Mañon played four seasons of college basketball, three at Cornell before transferring to Vanderbilt for his final year of eligibility. In his last year, he appeared in 33 games, including 26 starts, at a little over 18 minutes per game.
He averaged 6.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.7 steals with splits of 53.3 percent shooting from the field, 23.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His best season statistically came in 2023-24 at Cornell when he averaged 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals.
Should Mañon remain on the team past the end of training camp, he will be limited to only 50 NBA games and will spend most of his season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers.
