Lakers Free Agency Rumors: Vander Blue agrees to partially guaranteed deal with Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers and reigning G League Most Valuable Player Vander Blue have agreed on a partially guaranteed deal, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical. According to Chris Reichert of Two-Ways and 10-Days, Blue’s deal has a $50,000 guarantee (the most a team can give to a player and still have them be eligible to play for their G League team) and it’s likely this deal functions as a training camp invite.

Blue had a strong showing during summer league in Las Vegas, taking hold of an extended opportunity with the Lakers’ wing depth being decimated. It turned out to be a great chance for Blue to prove he deserves a longer look.

Vander averaged 15 points, three assists and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40 percent from deep, enough to move the Lakers to lock him up for now. Blue scored 20 points while dishing six assists in the Lakers’ summer league championship win over the Portland Trail Blazers, but peaked in a 27-point outing against the Brooklyn Nets.

The Lakers were expected to leave their 15th roster slot open for a potential training camp invitee, but may have needed to extend an offer to Blue to keep him in-house through the summer. Based on Charania’s wording, it doesn’t appear to be the two-way contract the Lakers still have to use.

This is most likely a make-good contract that guarantees Blue an undisclosed amount of money for staying with the Lakers heading into training camp, giving the team flexibility to decide on whether it’s worth keeping Vander on a small contract once preseason concludes.

If they cut him, Blue still gets whatever money was agreed upon, and the Lakers aren’t on the hook for money they shouldn’t be.