Entering Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers only had 10 healthy bodies available to play. Of those 10 bodies, only three qualified as guards. As such, the Lakers signed guard Jabari Brown to a 10-day contract, the team announced late Tuesday morning.
Brown was an undrafted rookie at the Lakers' training camp and a college teammate of rookie sensation Jordan Clarkson. In college, Brown actually averaged more points than Clarkson. Brown averaged 19.9 points on 46.7 percent shooting in his final season at Missouri compared to Clarkson's 17.5 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting.
After going through Byron Scott's tough training camp and featuring in preseason, Brown did not make the Lakers' regular season squad. Staying close to the Lakers, the 22-year-old signed on with the Lakers' NBA Development League affiliate, the LA D-Fenders. With the D-Fenders, Brown averaged 24.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 39 games. Known as a scorer, Brown put up 50 points earlier in the season and also claimed the honor of being a 2015 D-League All-Star.
“Hopefully he’ll be on the bench tonight,” Scott said of Jabari Brown. — Bill Oram (@billoram) March 10, 2015
With Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Julius Randle ruled out for the season, the Lakers only had 12 active roster spots. Point guard Ronnie Price may also be out for the remainder of the season after undergoing elbow surgery, so the Lakers truly only had 11 spots. Recently the NBA granted an exception for the Lakers to add a 16th player to the roster, which allowed for the Lakers to sign Brown on a 10-day contract.
Byron Scott mentioned move has to do with Brown playing well and Nick Young's injury — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 10, 2015
With Brown playing well in the D-League and Nick Young out due to a sore knee, the timing of the 10-day contract should not be surprise.
