The Los Angeles Lakers kick off training camp with Media Day on Monday. With their first preseason game against the Phoenix Suns only four days away, the Lakers are still trying to finalize their roster before the 2025-26 campaign. While they will likely enter the season with their current rotation, the Lakers are making moves on the margins to see if they can find any diamonds in the rough. Their latest attempt to do so, however, badly misses the mark.
On Monday, the team announced the signing of guard Nick Smith Jr. to a two-way deal after releasing center Kylor Kelley in a corresponding move, as shared by Lakers insider Jovan Buha on X.
On paper, this may seem like a worthy flier on a player who was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 HS class, and a first-round pick only two years ago. In reality, however, Smith is the last thing the Lakers needed on their roster due to his redundant skill set.
Lakers' Nick Smith Jr. Signing Is a Head-Scratcher
Smith spent the last two seasons with the Charlotte Hornets after being selected by the franchise with the 27th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Landing on a young, rebuilding team meant that Smith would get plenty of opportunities to showcase what he could do. His calling card coming into the league was being a dynamic shot creator and playmaker who could get buckets in a pinch. In the 111 games he played in Charlotte, he failed to do this in any meaningful way and was waived last week.
The former Arkansas star finished his Hornets career with a miserable 50.5% True Shooting, displaying his lack of efficiency. He went to the free-throw line 0.5 times in 18.9 minutes per game and only made 36.9% of his threes. For a player whose main reason for being on the court is to score, those are extremely poor numbers.
In Smith's defense, he is only 21 years old, and he has enough on-ball juice that, understandably, teams would want to evaluate him further. For the Lakers, however, he makes very little sense.
If the Lakers have enough of one thing already, it is shot creation. The trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves provides more playmaking than almost any team in the league.
Smith needs the ball in his hands to be effective, but it's impossible to conjure up a scenario in which the Lakers would give him the ball when there are far superior options. It's not like the Lakers are in a developmental mode where they can give on-ball reps to players of Smith's caliber.
This means that the 6'2" guard will spend most of his time with the G League affiliate, which begs the question of why the Lakers are wasting a roster spot on Smith. If the two-way spot was instead used on a frontcourt player who can provide more defense, size, and athleticism, the Lakers could have had an emergency backup in times of need.