The Los Angeles Lakers have set their opening night roster (barring a surprise signing in between now and Tuesday’s game against the Warriors). In order to get to 15 roster spots or less, the team announced that they waived Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown Jr., Trevelin Queen, and Cameron Oliver. The former three played on the Lakers’ 2021 Summer League squad while Oliver played four games with the Houston Rockets last year after he went undrafted out of Nevada.
The Los Angeles Lakers have requested waivers on Joel Ayayi, Chaundee Brown Jr., Cameron Oliver and Trevelin Queen. The Lakers roster stands at 15, including one two-way player.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 15, 2021
Austin Reaves was signed to a partially guaranteed contract to become the Lakers’ 14th roster spot, seemingly ending Rob Pelinka’s pursuits of any other full-time Lakers due to his statement around media day that the team would prefer to keep an open roster spot throughout the season. That caused Reaves’ two-way status between the G-League and NBA to end, paving the way for the team to sign Sekou Doumbouya to a two-way deal. Doumbouya is the lone two-way player mentioned in the Tweet.
Joel Ayayi was previously signed to a two-way contract, with that deal waived as part of the move. The move isn’t too surprising as Frank Vogel seemed to tip his hand early on that he had the opinion that Ayayi wasn’t up for playing in the NBA. He received 14 and 15 minutes in the Lakers’ two first preseason games, respectively, only for that minutes total to decline more and more as games went on. He went 0-for-7 from the field in those first two games, committing four fouls as well. He played last night against the Sacramento Kings, only receiving three minutes.
Per Austin Green at Silver Screen & Roll, Brown, Queen, and Oliver will more than likely play for the South Bay Lakers, the team’s G-League affiliate. It is a bit surprising that the team didn’t convert Chaundee Brown’s contract into a two-way to replace Ayayi’s as he’s been mildly impressive in the preseason. However, it definitely seems like this is the end of Ayayi’s time with the Lakers unless he signs a new, Exhibit 10 deal with them.
