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The Los Angeles Lakers captured their Las Vegas Summer League championship in no small part because of the hot shooting of undrafted rookie Matt Thomas. Thomas averaged 9.6 points per game while shooting 60% from deep on 3.5 attempts per game.
The Lakers awarded Alex Caruso with one of their two two-way contracts, but their second won’t be going to the sharpshooter out of Iowa State. Thomas has signed a one-year contract to play overseas for Liga ACB team Obradoiro, reports Sportando. Terms of the contract were not immediately available.
Thomas’ summer league started off slow, scoring just two points in the first three games on limited minutes. As the Lakers’ depth disappeared, he played a larger role. He closed out his time in Las Vegas with back-to-back games of scoring at least 20 points, going 11-of-12 from deep in that span.
He shot lights out and earned a contract to play in Spain, which is the direction many undrafted NBA players go. Two-way contracts were supposed to be a way to minimize how often that occurs, but it’s still not necessarily a strong enough financial commitment compared to what might be offered from overseas teams.
Congratulations to Thomas, who turned it on down the stretch in summer league and was a key reason why the Lakers were able to walk away with the hardware. We’ll always remember.