The Los Angeles Lakers have swiped a free agent forward from a critical California rival.
L.A. has begun Monday's 2025 free agency period essentially taking one step forward, but two steps back.
The Lakers have already seen 3-and-D combo forward Dorian Finney-Smith depart for the Houston Rockets on a reported four-year, $53 million deal. But they're replacing him with more true size inside — without sacrificing shooting from deep.
Jan 17, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo at center court at the Crypto.com Arena.
Jan 17, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo at center court at the Crypto.com Arena.
© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
NBA insider Chris Haynes reports that L.A. has inked Jake LaRavia, most recently with the Sacramento Kings, to a two-year, $12 million deal. This could be the club's taxpayer mid-level exception play (the 2025-26 mid-level exception is worth $5.7 million this year) to shore up its frontcourt.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the contract is fully guaranteed for both seasons.
The 6-foot-8 Wake Forest product, still just 23, split his third pro season between the Memphis Grizzlies and later the Kings. All told, across 66 games off the bench for both squads, LaRavia averaged 6.9 points on .475/.423/.678 shooting splits. That three-point conversion rate arrived at 2.2 triple tries a night, in 20.4 minutes per.
According to The Athletic's Dan Woike, Los Angeles considered LaRavia, essentially a stretch four, to be the team's "top wing target" after Finney-Smith left.