Lakers Promote Star Preseason Standout, Cut Returning LA Vet

Los Angeles is making some major moves this weekend.

Apr 14, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the Los Angeles Lakers logo on the shorts of forward LeBron James (23) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers front office has clearly been paying attention to the team's preseason, which concluded with a lopsided 132-74 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

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During that game, two intriguing young L.A. guards stood out. The Lakers rested perhaps their top 10 players (among vets, only Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish suited up), along second round draft pick Bronny James and Quincy Olivari, an Exhibit 10 training camp signing, to shine. Bronny James, 20-year-old son of incumbent Lakers superstar combo forward LeBron, scored 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor. The 6-foot-2 point guard out of USC also recorded four rebounds, three steals, a block and an assist.

In 39:01, Olivari scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field (5-of-9 from beyond the 3-point line) and 1-of-1 shooting from the charity stripe. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two assists (against a dicey seven turnovers). Granted, he logged an abysmal -40 and was whistled for four personal fouls, but still, his encouraging offensive performance was enough to intrigue L.A. decisionmakers.

Olivari will be promoted to a two-way roster spot by Lakers brass, his agent his agent Darrell Comer has informed Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN. In a related move, Los Angeles is waiving two-way center Colin Castleton. Castleton, 24, went undrafted out of Florida last year and spent the 2023-24 season as a two-way player for L.A. The 6-foot-10 big man didn't do much for the team this preseason, averaging just 2.4 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor and 75 percent shooting from the foul line, plus 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.8 blocks in 13.7 minutes.

Ahead of the news, Olivari took to his official X account, issuing a message of gratitude that appeared to presage a move along these lines:

Very very very very thankful, Thank u God #41

— Quincy Olivari (@quincyolivari) October 19, 2024

With averages of 8.8 points on elite .522/.571/1.000 shooting splits, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists across just 13.4 minutes in four of six preseason games, Olivari fast emerged as the most notable preseason prospect on the roster not named Dalton Knecht.

The 6-foot-3 guard, a two-time All-CUSA honoree while at Rice, went undrafted out of Xavier (where he had transferred for his final season of NCAA eligibility) this summer. During his last NCAA stint, he averaged 19.1 points on .425/.409/.814 shooting splits, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals. That 40.9 percent 3-point rate arrived on an active 7.6 triple tries a night.

Los Angeles could use all the long range sniping and rebounding help it can get. While Olivari may be fairly raw as a ball handler, he seems likely to get lots of run alongside Bronny James in L.A.'s G League system.

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