Lakers waive Anthony Brown as final cut of training camp

The Los Angeles Lakers announced they cut forward Anthony Brown as their final move to get their roster down to the league maximum of fifteen players. The Lakers had until 2 p.m. on Monday to make their final cut after officially announcing they had cut forward Yi Jianlian after he asked to be released, and their roster is now set for the regular season.

Cutting Brown was a surprising move from Los Angeles for a few reasons. The team’s 34th overall pick just a year ago did not seem to be on the fringes of the roster even in spite of his poor shooting, and his $874,636 contract was fully guaranteed for this season.

However, Brown’s shooting from college (40.3 percent from three while at Stanford) never made the leap to the NBA, where he shot 31 percent from the filed and 28.6 percent from three last season.

Brown made 60 percent of his threes during the preseason, but only shot five of them in his 50 minutes of playing time, hardly a meaningful sample size. The D-Fenders will hold his D-League rights should Brown decide to stay stateside without an NBA team signing him.

Brown’s dismissal means that both Thomas Robinson and Metta World Peace will make the Lakers final roster. Robinson had a strong training camp and preseason that made him a fan favorite for the final spot, and the Lakers valued World Peace’s veteran influence with their young players. Moving on from Brown allows them to retain both.

You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen