The Los Angeles Lakers have been surrounded with rumors heading into NBA free agency. Now that the market is officially opened, things have been slow but one move has already been made.
After seeing Dorian Finney-Smith leave town to sign with the Houston Rockets, the Lakers brought in 23-year-old forward Jake LaRavia in their first free agency signing.
LaRavia is not a household name. However, he played well during the 2024-25 season split between the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings. He could become a solid role piece for Los Angeles if all pans out.
Rob Pelinka still has a lot of work to do, but LaRavia is a sleeper signing who could yield surprising results.
Read more: Lakers Make Intriguing $12 Million Signing To Begin NBA Free Agency
Following the news of the two sides agreeing to terms on a two-year, $12 million contract, LaRavia took to his Instagram account to send his first message to his new fans.
“LAKESHOWWWWW,” he wrote. “Hope Lakers fans as excited as I am. Let’s work.”
Clearly, he could not be more excited to be joining the stories franchise. Playing for the Lakers is a childhood dream for most players.
During the 2024-25 NBA season with the Grizzlies and Kings, LaRavia played in 66 games. He averaged 6.9 points per game to go along with 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.9 steals, while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from the three-point arc.
At just 23 years old, as previously mentioned, there is still room for LaRavia to develop. Los Angeles is getting a young piece that could improve quite a bit over the next two years.
Read more: Lakers, LeBron James Rumors Receive Huge Update
Granted, there is a chance that LaRavia may not crack the rotation. This could be a $6 million per season deal that doesn’t pan out to being an impact addition.
That being said, he has displayed a good work ethic and improvement. He’s starting to come into his prime and has three years of NBA experience under his belt. There are reasons to hope that he can take a leap in year four.
Expect to continue hearing a lot of rumors about the Lakers moving forward. Rob Pelinka still has a lot of work to do to build a championship contender around LeBron James and Luka Doncic. LaRavia is a nice piece, but there’s more that needs to be done.
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