Former Lakers Forward Hoping for Next NBA Opportunity By Playing in G League Invitational

This one-time Los Angeles vet is angling for another shot at the basketball world's top league.

Jan 16, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Juan Toscano-Anderson (95) and forward Troy Brown Jr. (7) react after a three-point basket ba Toscano-Anderson against the Houston Rockets in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

After logging most of his 2023-24 tenure with unaffiliated G League squad the Mexico City Capitanes (he played 11 contests with the Sacramento Kings), one-time Los Angeles Lakers reserve swingman Juan Toscano-Anderson is hoping to return to the NBA in 2024-25.

Toscano-Anderson is suiting up for G League United in the third installment of the annual NBA G League Fall Invitational. The first game of the event took place on Wednesday, the second will transpire Friday. The Santa Cruz Warriors are playing host for the exhibition, during which G League United will play against Serbia's BC Mega MIS.

United will next suit up for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, to be played from September 12-15.

During a new conversation with Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle, the 6-foot-6 combo forward

“I want to show teams that if they were to pick me up, I can enhance the team atmosphere as a player but also as a teammate in the locker room,” Toscano-Anderson said. “I get my basketball fix there. It’s what I play the game for. The adrenaline rush. Enjoying the game. Hitting big shots and getting the crowd involved. I got all that there. … It was incredible. I enjoyed that experience a lot.”

Toscano-Anderson went undrafted out of Marquette in 2015. After not latching on with an NBA squad, he opted for the international route. He suited up for Mexican club Soles de Mexicali in 2015-16, Venezulan team Bucaneros de La Guaira in 2016 and Mexican squad Fuerza Regia de Monterry in 2016-18.

After a local tryout, he made the squad of the Golden State Warriors' G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, for the 2018-19 season. He played for Santa Cruz again the next year, then joined Golden State proper in February 2020. The next year, he was cut, but quickly inked a two-way deal. Late into the season, he saw that agreement converted to a standard deal, just in time to be a reserve role player for the Warriors' most recent title. He joined the Lakers as a free agent in 2022. Los Angeles traded him to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I’ve played with big-time superstars like Steph [Curry] and LeBron (James), and I’m in arenas where people chant their names and it’s incredible,” he said. “But then when I got to Mexico City, I’ve got 16,000 people chanting my name."

After failing to latch on with an NBA club in the summer of the 2023 season, he joined the NBAGL's Capitanes. Toscano-Anderson did spend separate stints with the Sacramento Kings last season.

Across 202 regular season contests (37 starts) with the Warriors, Lakers, Jazz and Kings in parts of five seasons, Toscano-Anderson boasts averages of 4.1 points on .502/.329/.646 shooting splits, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 dimes and 0.6 steals a night.

“Teams know who I am. They’ve seen me play many times,” he said. “At the age of 31, sometimes it’s frowned upon that you’re a little older. But I’ve never seen championship teams be young. I feel like that’s trying to win now. I can definitely round out the end of their bench.”

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