Lakers Call Up Andrew Goudelock

Without Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, the Lakers have quite the minute load to fill as the playoffs approach. Mike D'Antoni has shown a rather justified aversion to calling upon the services of Chris Duhon and Darius Morris, both of whom have started for this team this year and left unfavorable impressions. The Lakers have been quiet on the free agency front due to the massive bill they are already footing due to the luxury tax, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

According to ESPN's Marc Stein:

Word on D-League grapevine is that Lakers are lining up Andrew Goudelock for a callup for some backcourt reinforcement

As many here well know, Goudelock was drafted by the team in 2011 and quickly gained the moniker "Mini Mamba" for his hot shooting ability and beautiful floater. Faced with a roster crunch in the offseason, the Lakers opted to part ways with Goudelock after he failed to make significant headway on his point guard skills. In the meantime, he has been playing in the D-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce and later the Rio Grande Vipers. He has improved remarkably between stops, as a 20.3/3.4/3.4 line on 43.8% shooting (52.0 TS%) was upped to 21.4/4.1/5.8 one on an impressive 58.0 TS%. According to our fellow SB Nation blog Ridiculous Upside, he is considered a bona fide NBADL MVP candidate and has been getting a lot of attention around the league.

While we can question whether Goudelock will make any meaningful difference in what remains of the Laker season, he does fill a need in a depleted backcourt and it certainly is endearing to have a former player back in the fold. If anything, he hasn't quit on his game and has continued to improve in the setting he has been given, so it will be very interesting to see what he does his second time around with the team.

(h/t to @theshmoes for pointing out the Ridiculous Upside link)

UPDATE: We will apparently be seeing Goudelock tomorrow. From Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears:

Lakers expected to sign their former guard Andrew Goudelock late Sunday morning and could make him available for Spurs game, source tells Y!