Lakers News: L.A. Waives Dwayne Bacon And Javante McCoy, Adds Shaquille Harrison And L.J. Figueroa

Two new faces for Lakers preseason!

Your Los Angeles Lakers are making some changes along the fringes of their training camp roster. L.A. announced today that it has waived guards Dwayne Bacon and Javante McCoy, essentially making room for new signings Shaquille Harrison and L.J. Figueroa.

A five-year college player at Boston University, the 24-year-old McCoy signed an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with Los Angeles after going undrafted this summer. If McCoy is signed this year to the Lakers' NBAGL affiliate in El Segundo, the South Bay Lakers, he can earn a bonus worth as much as $50,000. The 6'5" guard could have theoretically also seen his contract converted to a two-way deal on the roster, though L.A. seems to prefer its current two-way players, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider, and would have had to cut one to add McCoy that way.

6'6" shooting guard Bacon, 27, inked an Exhibit 9 deal, a non-guaranteed training camp agreement that lacks the two big perks (a two-way contract conversion or a signing bonus if he latches on with the affiliate team) of the Exhibit 10 contract. Exhibit 9 signees are typically competing with an eye on the team's 15-man standard roster, more so than joining a G League affiliate or getting a two-way deal. Bacon has four years of NBA experience since being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 2017. During his best statistical season, with the rebuilding Orlando Magic in 2020-21, the Florida State product averaged 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.6 steals. He posted an underwhelming stat line of .402/.385/.824.  During the 2021-22 season, he signed with top French club AS Monaco.

So why did L.A. decide to move on from these two?

Both McCoy and Bacon rode the pine for the entirety of L.A.'s preseason opener, a blowout 105-75 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Bacon got some decent run during the Lakers' next two preseason contests, suiting up for an average of 17.4 minutes in back-to-back Las Vegas losses to the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Bacon's output across the two games was wildly divergent. In the Suns contest, he shot an efficient 3-of-5 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe for a grand total of 11 points. He also chipped in two rebounds and a steal. During the next night's exhibition against Minnesota, Bacon's scoring abandoned him. He went 0-for-5 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the free throw line. He did pull down six rebounds, dish out three assists, and serve up one block in 20:51 minutes of action. For a Lakers team desperate for shooting on the wing, adding yet another slasher who is merely a 31.4% career three-point shooter always seemed like an uphill battle. 

Sharpshooting swingman Matt Ryan (not that one), signed to an Exhibit 9 at the same time as Bacon, seems to stand a much better shot at making the team. Ryan made 41.3% of his triples while playing for the Grand Rapids Gold and Maine Celtics of the G League in 2021/22. He followed that up by nailing 52.6% of his long-range looks in two games for the Celtics' Summer League squad.

Let's talk about the new guys.

Harrison, 29, is a journeyman combo guard with five years' experience at the NBA level. Across 175 games for the Suns, Bulls, Jazz, Nuggets and Nets, the hyper-athletic Tulsa product holds averages of 5.2 points (on 43.6% shooting from the floor), 2.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a steal per game.

The 6'4" guard spent much of his 2021-22 season with the 76ers' G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. He was honored as the NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts. He averaged 12.6 points (on .427/.368/.767 shooting splits), 5.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds, a whopping 1.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks through 27 games at the G League level. Although he probably is what he is at this point in his career, it's nice to see another Shaq on a Lakers roster in 2022.

After going undrafted out of the University of Oregon in 2021, L.J. Figueroa first signed with Dominican club Leones de Santo Domingo in the summer. The team claimed a league championship that season. Figueroa then joined the Golden State Warriors' G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, for the duration of the 2021-22 season. Across 32 games for Santa Cruz (including 23 starts), the 6'6" small forward averaged 16.7 points on .494/.323/.781 shooting, and chipped in 8.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, a steal, and 0.6 blocks a night. 

Figueroa had recently inked a deal with the South Bay Lakers, so this is a bit of an internal promotion to the main roster. He will most likely return to South Bay prior to the start of the 2022-23 regular season.

Terms of the deals for this new duo have yet to be divulged.