Lakers Add Four New Players, Including Scotty Pippen Jr., to Preseason Roster
Los Angeles Lakers' Preseason Roster Grows with Fresh Talent
In preparation for the impending Los Angeles Lakers’ training camp, the team has made significant roster adjustments, welcoming four fresh talents, including a familiar face.
The official press statement from Los Angeles confirms that Scotty Pippen Jr., a returning point guard, will be rejoining the Lakers. Alongside him, rookie guards Damion Baugh and Bryce Hamilton, as well as rookie forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon, have also secured their spots on the preseason roster, signing Exhibit 10 training camp deals.
At present, the Lakers have already inked 14 players to standard contracts and have three players signed to two-way deals. With one spot remaining on their standard roster, any one of these four players could potentially fill the vacancy. However, it is more probable that after the training camp, all four players will be released and subsequently signed as affiliate players with the club’s NBAGL team, the South Bay Lakers, based in El Segundo. Should they manage to stay with the Los Angeles team for a minimum of 60 days, they could become eligible for a bonus worth up to $75,000.
Scotty Pippen Jr., a 6’3″ guard and the son of Hall of Fame Chicago Bulls small forward Scottie Pippen (note the different spellings of their first names), initially joined the Lakers on a two-way contract in the 2022-23 season as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt. During his short stint with the Lakers, he appeared in just six games, averaging 2.3 points and 0.7 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per game. However, in 19 contests (with only four starts) for the South Bay Lakers, Pippen demonstrated his potential by averaging 21.4 points, with shooting splits of .469/.300/.771, along with 5.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game.
Bryce Hamilton, a 6’4″ shooting guard from UNLV, also played alongside Pippen for the South Bay Lakers after going undrafted in the summer of 2022. In his 29 appearances with South Bay, Hamilton displayed his skills, averaging 14.1 points with a shooting slash line of .514/.385/.679, in addition to 4.6 rebounds per game.
Damion Baugh, recognized as an All-Big 12 Second Teamer during his time with Texas Christian University, put up solid numbers, averaging 12.6 points with shooting splits of .431/.330/.707 during his final season with the Horned Frogs.
Vincent Valerio-Bodon, standing at 6’10” and hailing from Hungary, most recently played for Sopron KC, his homeland team. While there, he recorded averages of 8.2 points, shooting impressively at .503/.412/.879, and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per game.
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