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The Lakers will use their final roster spot to sign a big man on the final day of the season, as they are reportedly set to bring in Tristan Thompson, according to Dave McMenamin. Along with that move, the team will sign Shaq Harrison while waiving Davon Reed.
Sunday is the final day of the regular season and the final day teams can sign players and have them be playoff eligible. Dave McMenamin of ESPN first reported the news.
Lakers just announced the Shaq and Tristan signings pic.twitter.com/tOfTPTh3cu
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) April 9, 2023
The deadline to waive a player on an expiring contract was Thursday (48 hours to clear waivers).
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 9, 2023
The Reed waiver was allowed because he had a second season. https://t.co/Rk3aRBBBxT
The Lakers recently worked out Thompson alongside fellow center Tony Bradley in mid-March. While Thompson reportedly looked good in the workout, head coach Darvin Ham noted the team had no immediate plans to sign the big man. But with an open roster spot and a lack of depth at the center position, it made sense to sign someone in that spot heading into the postseason.
Now, why they waited until the final day of the regular season to sign a player, especially one in Thompson — that has been a free agent for quite a while — and not sign them when, say, they lost a game in Houston because they didn’t have a center is unknown. Would signing Thompson have guaranteed a win in that game — a victory that would be very helpful heading into the final day of the regular season — for the Lakers? No. Would it have made it easier to win the game? Absolutely.
The Laker also swapped out seldom-used Reed for Harrison. The former arrived at the trade deadline but only played in garbage time since joining the Lakers
Harrison was with the Lakers in training camp and spent much of the season in the G League with South Bay. In the G League, he played 32 games, averaging 13.6 points and 8.3 assists while shooting 49.3% from the field but only 24.6% from the 3-point line. He also had a brief cameo with the Blazers, playing in five games and averaging 8.8 points.
Both Thompson and Harrison will be available for the postseason, though neither will likely be available for the team’s game against Utah on Sunday afternoon.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
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