The South Bay Lakers have had a nice collection of talent walk through their doors. The likes of Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Alex Caruso all got part of their starts with the Los Angeles Lakers G-League affiliate. This season, they continue to nurture more NBA talent and this time, they’ve added Stanley Johnson. The team announced it officially on Monday afternoon:
The #SBLakers have acquired six-year NBA veteran Stanley Johnson. Welcome back to that Cali ☀️ pic.twitter.com/ej9VP0H2vf
— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) November 15, 2021
Johnson was the eighth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. That time included his best basketball, where he started 64 games for them over four seasons. He averaged a career-high of 8.7 points per game during the 2017-18 season. In 2016, he played in the playoffs against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Johnson averaged eight points per game on 52 percent shooting.
Fits A Need
The days of those flashes of early potential are starting to run out for Johnson. The opportunity he has with South Bay is tremendous. With a great showing, he can possibly be called up and fill an immediate need with his defense and athleticism. The Lakers don’t have all of their young legs on the court right now, and there’s a shot for Johnson to earn a shot to do some filling.
LeBron History
As mentioned earlier, Johnson and LeBron have a little history. Johnson was just a young buck during LeBron’s second stint in Cleveland. The two did a little chirping both on and off the floor.
@BleacherReport "Lebron is Stanley Johnson in your head?" pic.twitter.com/3SHHZmt3kO
— Kareem (@RespeckMySixers) April 23, 2016
Hopefully there are no hard feelings and it’s a possibility that LeBron slides his name past the coaching staff.
The South Bay Lakers will be in action on Wednesday, November 17th against the G-League Ignite at 7PM PST/10 PM EST.
