5 Former Lakers Who Should Stop Dreaming of an NBA Return

Damian Jones

Over his eight years in the NBA, a lot of teams have taken a chance on Damian Jones. The Lakers have done that twice, once in 2021 and again in the 2022-23 season. His efficiency around the basket and potential two-way ability were always intriguing to teams around the league. However, the former Vanderbilt star was never able to put it together in the NBA.

Now at age 29, after spending the last season as the third-stringer center in Cleveland, Jones signed with Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China. There have been players in the past who have made a comeback to the NBA after spending some time in China but those occasions are rare.

Even if Jones never plays another game in the NBA, he still managed to win two rings with the Golden State Warriors early on in his career, so he will have no regrets when he eventually hangs up his sneakers.

Harry Giles

This is a different type of player than the other names on this list. Harry Giles III is still only 25 years old but he has likely exhausted his potential NBA possibilities already.

When he was drafted in the first round out of Duke in 2017, expectations were sky-high for the talented big man. He was the No. 1 overall recruit in the country as a high school player and he had shown superstar upside as a young basketball player.

That has unfortunately never come to fruition. His intriguing skill set of passing, dribbling, and scoring, while being able to defend multiple positions on the other end never materialized. After a few underwhelming seasons in Sacramento, he bounced around the league before landing with the Lakers to finish out the 2023-24 season. Now he is still a free agent and is unlikely to find a guaranteed NBA contract.

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