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Over the last two days, the Los Angeles Lakers have been busy on the free agency marketing, adding a trio of names to the roster. Guard Briante Weber signed a partially-guaranteed deal with the Lakers on Tuesday afternoon before big man Stephen Zimmerman inked a partially-guaranteed deal in the evening.
On Wednesday, undrafted free agent VJ Beachem signed his own partially guaranteed deal with the Lakers.
All three deals amount to little more than training camp invites as the team looked to bring them in and offer them a chance at the final roster spot, akin to the team’s deal with Vander Blue earlier in the summer.
Of the three, the name most NBA fans are familiar with is Weber, who has spent two years in the league with four different teams, most recently at the end of last year with the Bobcats where he averaged 3.8 points and 1.2 assists in 13 games.
In 27 career games, Weber has averaged 3.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 13.9 minutes per contest. However, he’s attempted just 15 three-pointers in those games, making one while shooting 39.4 percent from the field.
In the newly-renamed G-League, Weber has averaged 13.7 points in 59 games while shooting 37.5 percent from three on 2.6 attempts per game.
Despite the Lakers’ lack of point guard depth, Weber is a likely longshot to make the roster ahead of Blue, who showed himself as a more natural fit in the Lakers’ scheme during Summer League.
Likewise, Zimmerman is unlikely to carve out a spot in an already overflowing Laker front court. Last season with the Magic, Zimmerman played in just 19 games. In the G-League, he played 21 games, averaging 29.9 minutes, 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.
Again, though, the Lakers already have too many bodies in the front court, making Zimmerman a likely training camp body and potential member of the South Bay Lakers in the G-League.
Lastly is Beachem, who likely has the best shot at making the team. An undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, Beachem played in four games with the Timberwolves, starting in one game and averaging just 9.5 minutes per contest.
While he only averaged 1.2 points and was 2-for-14 from the field, he was also considered by many to be one of the top undrafted free agent options, especially on the wing.
Beachem measured at 6’8″ at the combine this spring with a wingspan of 6’10.25″ and a vertical of 37″. With the Irish last season, he averaged 14.5 points on 49.5 percent field goal shooting and 36.1 percent three-point shooting.
With the Lakers’ lack of depth at small forward – Corey Brewer is the likely back-up as of now – Beachem has a respectable chance of making the roster should he find a form more similar to that in South Bend than that in Las Vegas in the Summer League.
The one roster spot up for grabs will likely come down to these four listed, if the Lakers choose to fill it. It’s likely that the final cuts could come down to Blue or Beachem with either being more than worthy players for the South Bay Lakers.
