{"id":430924,"date":"2025-11-23T23:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/430924\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T23:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:08:13","slug":"lakers-prospect-gets-surprise-nba-call-up-from-another-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/430924\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Prospect Gets Surprise NBA Call-Up From Another Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-nba-grizzlies\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> are going to get a look at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-nba-lakers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> developmental prospect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">On Sunday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Grizzlies are calling up Kobe Bufkin, who recently joined the Lakers\u2019 G League affiliate in South Bay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">For Bufkin, it\u2019s not his first go-round at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-nba\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA<\/a> level. He spent the previous two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks.<\/p>\n<p>Loading twitter content&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">After recently making his South Bay Lakers debut, Bufkin appeared in just two games. Seeing the court for 28.5 minutes per game, Bufkin shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from three to average 22 points per game. He also posted an average of 6.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.0 steals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Bufkin has a chance of returning to South Bay when his short stint with the Grizzlies is up, but for the time being, he\u2019ll attempt to work his way back onto an NBA roster for the long haul.<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11095685\" alt=\"\" caption=\"LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 11: Kobe Bufkin #4 of the Atlanta Hawks drives past Javonte Cooke #59 of the Miami Heat in the second half of a 2025 NBA Summer League game at the Thomas &amp; Mack Center on July 11, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Hawks defeated the Heat 105-98. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Candice Ward\/Getty Images)\" credit=\"\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"6490\" height=\"4327\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2224701103.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Coming out of Michigan in 2023, Bufkin was the 15th overall pick in the NBA Draft. He was selected by the Atlanta Hawks, who kept him on board for his first two seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">As a rookie, Bufkin appeared in 17 games, seeing the court for 11.5 minutes per game. He produced 4.8 points while shooting 37 percent from three. During his sophomore effort, he saw a slight increase in production. Taking on a small bump of minutes (12.4 per game), Bufkin averaged 5.3 points while shooting 38 percent from the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Over the offseason, the Hawks traded Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets. He wasn\u2019t kept around beyond the preseason. Bufkin\u2019s G League rights belonged to the Motor City Cruise, but the Lakers acquired them for a 2027 first-round pick in the G League draft. He didn\u2019t get to spend too much time out west before getting the call to head to Memphis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">The Grizzlies recently wrapped up a game with the Dallas Mavericks. They\u2019ll host the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">For all the latest NBA news and rumors, head over to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/nba\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Newsweek Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Memphis Grizzlies are going to get a look at a Los Angeles Lakers developmental prospect. On Sunday,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,2822,150,177,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-430924","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-kobe-bufkin","10":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","11":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","12":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115601532903822366","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}