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Lakers Quickly Sign Undrafted Rookies to Two-Way Deals After NBA Draft

The Los Angeles Lakers didn't waste any time signing a couple of undrafted rookies to two-way deals on Thursday.

By Jovan Alford

Apr 28, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka looks on prior to game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena.
Apr 28, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka looks on prior to game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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The Los Angeles Lakers had an eventful but good 2024 NBA Draft. With their first pick at No. 17 overall, the Lakers got Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, who was viewed as a potential lottery pick heading into the draft.

Then with their second pick at No. 55, the Lakers took Bronny James, son of future Hall of Famer LeBron James. Los Angeles hopes that both rookies can contribute right away as they look to start a new era of Lakers’ basketball under JJ Redick.

However, despite all the fanfare surrounding the Lakers’ draft picks, the team did not rest on its laurels and attacked the undrafted rookie signing period, filling up two of their three potential two-way deal slots.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Thursday that the Lakers signed Blake Hinson from the University of Pittsburgh and French forward Armel Traore to two-way deals. Traore played in the LNB Pro A League with Ada Blois this season.

The 21-year-old Traore averaged 10.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Traore didn’t shoot the ball well enough from beyond the arc (30 percent). However, the young forward has a lot of good skills (rebounding and finishing around the rim) that he’ll continue to develop in the summer and the NBA G League with South Bay.

As for Hinson, he was one of the more underrated players in the country this past season. The 6-foot-8 wing shined in his final season with Pitt, averaging 18.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. 

Hinson also shot 45.4 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from deep on 7.9 attempts per game, which is impressive, given that he shot 38 percent from three in 2022-23 (7.1 attempts per game). 

Since Hinson is 24 years old, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him make the proper adjustment to the NBA G League and create some plays in the summer league. Los Angeles’ summer league roster is slowly coming together, it will be interesting to see who else they add to compete in the California Classic and Las Vegas.

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