The Los Angeles Lakers have claimed Avery Bradley off waivers from the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers announced Monday. Bradley was a member of the 2019-20 championship team, starting in the backcourt for most of the season before opting out of the Orlando bubble. Bradley struggled last season, but thrived as a shooter and defender for the Lakers.
The Lakers were initially expected to keep only 14 players on their roster entering the season. This would have left a little bit of flexibility for the Lakers to add another player through the buyout market, and it also would have saved a fair bit of money against the luxury tax. Fortunately for the Lakers, Bradley’s contract is not fully guaranteed. They can waive him on Jan. 7 or earlier and get out of the rest of his deal. If he is on the roster all season, he will cost the Lakers roughly $7 million in combined salary and luxury taxes.
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If he’s the player he was last time he was in Los Angeles, though, he will be well worth it, and the Lakers very badly need his services right about now. Trevor Ariza and Talen Horton-Tucker are expected to miss roughly eight weeks due to injury. Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington are also considered day-to-day due to minor issues of their own. The Lakers simply need bodies right now, and Bradley is a player they already know fits their team and culture.
After losing Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason, the Lakers sorely needed a guard who could defend at the point of attack. Bradley was exactly that last time he played in Los Angeles. Now the Lakers are hoping for a repeat performance. With Bradley in tow, the Lakers now have a complete 15-man roster.
