Lakers News: Kendrick Nunn Picks Up His Player Option for Next Season

Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn has opted into his player option for next year.

The Lakers have plenty of work to do to round out the rest of their roster beyond the triumvirate of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis. After epically striking out on most of their veteran minimum signings last summer, LA will need to hit on some free agents. On Tuesday, the Lakers received confirmation that at least one of those remaining roster spots will be filled with guard Kendrick Nunn.

On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported that Kendrick Nunn has officially elected to opt in to his $5.25M player option for the 2022-2023 season.

Kendrick Nunn, as expected, has elected to opt in for his contract with the Lakers for next season, sources tell ESPN.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 21, 2022

The "as expected" line is in reference to Nunn labeling opting in as a "no-brainer" during his exit interview back in April.

Nunn missed the entire 2021-2022 season due to a bone bruise in his right knee so to his own point, he wasn't about to cash in on a big free agent contract.

After latching on with the Heat as an undrafted free agent in 2019, Nunn logged 123 games in Miami in his first two NBA seasons. He averaged 15 pointer per game, three assists per game, and converted 36.4% of his three-point shots. 

Including Nunn, the Lakers have five players on guaranteed contracts: Austin Reaves, Talen Horton-Tucker, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.

Similar to Nunn, it's expected that guard Russell Westbrook will also elect to opt in to his player option ($47M) for the coming season before the June 29th deadline. 

The Lakers hold team options for forward Wenyen Gabriel and Austin Reaves.