The Los Angeles Lakers announced they have exercised the team options of both Brandon Ingram and Larry Nance, Jr. via press release.
This was to be expected, as neither Nance or Ingram have been outright disappointments along the lines of past rookies whose deals were not picked up.
Rob Pelinka made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.
This doesn’t mean much in the long-term as, again, this fell in line with what most would have predicted and the amounts owed to both players is pretty pedestrian, even while the Lakers attempt to shed as much salary as possible to entice superstars like LeBron James and Paul George.
In his rookie season, Ingram only missed three games, averaging 9.4 points, 4 rebounds and 2.1 assists. So far this season, that production has already jumped to 14.7 points, 4 boards and 3 assists per game, albeit in only three games.
Nance, who has been the starting power forward this year (a move some consider semi-controversial) has, to his credit, outperformed his draft position. He was selected 27th overall in the 2015 draft.
Congratulations to both guys, as continuing to be paid to play basketball would probably be pretty damn cool.
