Rafael Castro
Sep 22, 2026; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Rafael Castro (00) poses for a picture during media day at Hilton Americas hotel. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The Los Angeles Lakers announced that they have signed forward Rafael Castro and waived forward/center William Kyle III.
Castro (6’10”, 224) started all 29 games at George Washington University during the 2025-26 season, averaging 15.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.7 blocks in 27.3 minutes. The 23-year-old was a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team selection and was named a finalist for the 2025-26 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Kyle III appeared in Thursday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, where he played three minutes. He totaled two points and block in what would be his last appearance for the Lakers before likely heading to their G League team for the 2026-27 season.
The Syracuse product appeared in all three of Los Angeles’ preseason games but did not produce many meaningful stats, granted in limited minutes. With two games remaining in their exhibition schedule, L.A. appears to be wanting to evaluating more talent before making cuts.
Notably, the Lakers have 16 guaranteed contracts and need to get to 15 before Opening Night. Perhaps Castro will get an extended look in these final two games to gauge if he fits their farm system, before eventually being waived and heading to the G League.
The Lakers worked out Castro in the pre-draft process and given the Lakers’ lack of frontcourt depth, getting him into the organization to develop could pay dividends down the road.
JJ Redick likes where Lakers are at but hoping for one healthy preseason game
The Lakers are currently 2-1 this preseason, showing positive signs on both sides of the floor while obviously having plenty of areas to clean up.
Additionally, L.A. has yet to have a game where every player was available to play. However, head coach JJ Redick likes where his team is at, but admittedly hopes to have at least one game where everyone is fully healthy.
“Yeah, I like where we’re at,” Redick said. “I think getting a bunch of guys more than that 20-21 minutes is good for live play. Again, we’ll look to continue to build up in terms of playing time for a lot of these guys over the next two games. Would love to get some news on some people in the next few days and be able to see what it could look like at full strength, at least in one of these games. And just build that rhythm with each other. Very confident we’ll have enough practice time over the next 13 days, 12 days, whatever it is until we start.