Los Angeles Lakers Make A Roster Move Following Wednesday's Win
After starting the season 2-10, the Los Angeles Lakers have won six of their last eight games, including a win on Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers in Los Angeles.
Following this game, the Lakers decided to make a roster move by waiving forward Matt Ryan, first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Ryan, 25, went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft and he ended up sitting out the entire 2020-21 season due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Joining the Cleveland Cavaliers for Summer League in 2021, Ryan was invited to the Denver Nuggets training camp and he eventually joined the Grand Rapids Gold in the NBA G League.
In February 2022, Ryan signed a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics and he spent time with both the Boston Celtics and Maine Celtics in the G League.
After playing for the Celtics in Summer League this past offseason, Matt Ryan signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Los Angeles Lakers and he did play in 12 different games this season, including two minutes in Wednesday night’s victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
On the season, Ryan has played a total of 129 minutes and he has shot 13-35 (36.1 percent) from three-point range.
Matt Ryan was a player the Lakers really liked because of his three-point shooting abilities and he will always have one key moment to remember from his time with the Lakers this year, as he hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer at the end of regulation against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 2 to send the game to overtime, a game that the Lakers eventually went on to win.
While it is not necessarily surprising to see the Lakers move a non-guaranteed contract on their roster, the timing of this move does raise some eyebrows around the league.
Los Angeles has been rumored to be engaged with teams on the trade market and now, they have an open roster spot that can be utilized ahead of December 15, the day in which almost every newly signed free agent from this past offseason can be traded.
The Lakers will remain a key team to watch in trade discussions over the next month.
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