Lakers Add Draft Pick, Veterans in 3-Team Trade for G League Affiliate

The biggest Lakers trade of the offseason so far... technically.

Dec 18, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo outside of Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers' NBA G League affiliate squad in El Segundo, the South Bay Lakers, have announced via a press statement that they've shipped out returning NBAGL player rights to forward Joirdon Nicholas to the College Park Skyhawks, G League affiliate to the Atlanta Hawks, and South Bay's 2025 first, second and international draft selections to the Dallas Mavericks' NBAGL affiliate, the Texas Legends.

In return, South Bay is acquiring the returning player rights to a 2024 NBA G League Draft first round pick, forward Chris Silva and center Jake Stephens.

Pelinka's only transactions this offseason were fairly limited. He re-signed 20-time All-NBA Los Angeles combo forward LeBron James to a lucrative two-year, $101.4 million deal that will make him the longest-tenured NBA player ever in 2025-26, when the four-time MVP will play for a record 23rd season. Pelinka also re-signed deep-bench role player swingman Max Christie, a restricted free agent, to a four-year, $32 million deal. Los Angeles drafted a pair of guards, Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, in June, and more recently inked a trio of two-way players in French forward Armel Traore and centers Colin Castleton and Christian Koloko.

Power forward/center Kylor Kelley, point guard Quincy Olivari, point guard Jordan Goodwin and allegedly guard Sean East II have all been signed to Exhibit 10 training camp contracts, but seem likelier to join South Bay as affiliate players.

Across 41 Showcase Cup and regular season bouts with College Park in 2023-24, the 6-foot-8 Silva notched averages of 17.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 blocks in 27.0 minutes. All told, through four seasons, he has suited up for 112 career G League contests (103 starts) with College Park, the Iowa Wolves (the Minnesota Timberwolves' G League affiliate) and the Sioux Falls Skyforce (the Miami Heat's G League affiliate), while averaging 16.2 points, 8.8 boards, 2.8 dimes and 1.2 rejections.

Last year, the 6-foot-11 Stephens suited up for 41 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Washington Wizards' NBAGL affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, and the Sacramento Kings' G League club, the Stockton Kings. He notched averages of 7.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 16.7 minutes. Most recently, Stephens played for the Charlotte Hornets' 2024 Summer League squad, averaging 11.6 points on .523/.371/.750 shooting splits, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks in eight games (six starts).

More Lakers: LeBron James Claps Back at Kwame Brown's 'No Skill' Slander