With just a month to go before they begin training camp for the 2025-26 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers made a minor move on Monday.
They had significantly upgraded at the center position earlier this summer by adding Deandre Ayton, a 27-year-old who has career averages of 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds a game but still hasn’t fully tapped into his potential. Behind him, they have Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber as backups, but many fans would like a better option to spell Ayton.
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On Monday, the Lakers signed Kylor Kelley. While the terms of the contract weren’t revealed, it is believed he was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal.
They signed Kelley to an Exhibit 10 deal last summer, and they ended up waiving him before the 2024-25 campaign started. He ended up with the South Bay Lakers in the G League and averaged 11.1 points on 67.4% field-goal shooting, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 24.3 minutes a game there.
The seven-footer was called up to the big leagues twice last season — once by the Dallas Mavericks and once by the New Orleans Pelicans, and in 11 contests with both teams, he registered 3.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game. Afterward, he spent time with Pallacanestro Trieste of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A.
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Kelley is 27 years of age and went undrafted in 2020. He had averaged 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks a game in his two seasons at Oregon State University.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: The Lakers have added a center to their roster