July 24: Manon is officially a Laker now as well, according to the team (Twitter link via Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group).
July 23: Koloko has officially been signed to a two-way contract, Dan Woike of The Athletic tweets.
July 21: The Lakers are filling two of their three two-way slots by signing Christian Koloko and Chris Manon, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
L.A. made Koloko a restricted free agent in June when the team gave him a qualifying offer. There was an expectation he’d return to the Lakers, but he drew outside interest as well, tweets Charania.
The 7’1″ center from Cameroon showed promise as a rookie with Toronto in 2022/23 after being selected No. 33 overall in the 2022 draft, but his career was sidetracked by a blood clot issue which sidelined him for the entire 2023/24 season. He was medically cleared to continue playing last fall and wound up with the Lakers on a two-way contract.
Koloko made 37 appearances with the Lakers last season, averaging 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per contest. He also played in 12 G League games with the Lakers’ affiliate (South Bay), averaging 14.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG and 3.3 BPG in 29.6 MPG.
The 25-year-old also made five Summer League appearances in Las Vegas, averaging 7.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.2 SPG and 2.6 BPG in 17.5 MPG.
Manon, a 6’5″ guard/forward, went undrafted out of Vanderbilt last month. He played for the Warriors in both the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, Charania notes.
Manon thrived at creating turnovers in his four-year college career, the first three of which he spent with Cornell. He posted career averages of 9.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.1 APG and 2.0 SPG on .535/.304/.728 shooting in just 19.6 MPG.
The 23-year-old wing made seven total Summer League appearances for Golden State (17.1 MPG), per RealGM, averaging 9.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.6 SPG and 1.4 BPG, with a shooting line of .442/.286/.676.
All three of the Lakers’ two-way spots will be filled once the deals for Koloko and Manon are official, with center Trey Jemison currently the third player on a two-way contract.
The Lakers reportedly agreed to a two-way deal with former Villanova forward Eric Dixon shortly after he went undrafted in June. It’s unclear what will happen with Dixon now that all three spots are occupied, but it’s worth noting that two-way contracts are non-guaranteed and don’t count against the salary cap, so further changes are certainly possible.
Assuming L.A. eventually carries a full 15-man standard roster (the team may open the season with 14), both Koloko and Manon can be active for up to 50 games next season. Each player will earn $636,435 in ’25/26.
Wow! The Lakers are really loading up!!
@ Captain….Is that sarcasm?
He doesn’t even know
Liking that they keep Koloko. It offers them another option on center behind Ayton and Jaxon Hayes.
Certainly as they won’t be able to add a 15th player quickly…
Although trading Vanderbild, Kleber or Vincent would solve that problem.
The lakers center rotation will be Ayton then Kleber then Hayes.
In 2023-24 when the Mavs had both lovely and Gafford, the Mavs were closing games with Kleber cause he had the best plus/minus with him on the floor.
Also, don’t forget that Redick chose to play Kleber in the playoffs instead of Hayes as soon as Kleber was cleared to play.
Kleber playing was matchup based and a desperation move. Hayes is the backup.
Kleber is old & not healthy enough for a significant role.
Two out of their three two-way players are centers, with also Jemison on the Lakers’ roster.
Guess they want to keep their options open in case Hayes or Kleber disappoint or get injured or traded.
If they prove themselves on training, you never know they get some rotation minutes.
And who knows Koloko then gets converted to a standard contract for the 15th roster spot.
Kleber will be playing A Lot more mins than Hayes. I live in SoCal, but had been watching the Mavs the last several years cause of Luka. Kleber’s stats don’t look sexy, but both Redick and Luka know his value on defense.
Hayes will when one if those two guys are sidelined or at times they will play Kleber/Ayton or Kleber/Hayes combo.
Maxi was valuable… in 2022.
He has been healthy for only 46% of his games in the last 3 years.
His production was also BRUTAL last season. He is a PJ Tucker type and not much else at this stage. Defensively he doesn’t move the way he did four years ago.
Maxi’s value is not, and has never been his offense. Again, in 2023-24, the Mavs were closing Rudy him cause they had the best plus/minus with him. (2024 happens to be AfTER 2022).
As you said he was injured last year so we don’t know how he will perform this year, but you don’t know if he is any less good since his injury cause he played for only a few minutes in the playoffs post injury last year.
Maxi is a defensive player. A player needs to contribute on offense for that to be worth it.
Maxi’s production was crap in 25 BEFORE he got hurt (and wasn’t much better the two prior years, finishing + rebounding is nowhere near good enough to play center full-time).
Plus-minus in spot minutes in specific matchups (read: favorable) ain’t the same as Plus-Minus in a regular role.
You can be as stubborn as you want to be and this is the last time O am responding to your silliness.
As I said, with Lively and Gafford in the lineup the Mavs chose to close games with Maxi. Redick chose to bring Maxi into the playoff against the Wolves, on the first day he was cleared to play, instead of Hayes.
Plus, Maxi is a career 35% 3 point shooter. With the overly offensive players the Lakers have they need defense first players on the floor with them.
So, unless you know better than the coaches at the Mavs or the Lakers I would and defer to their expertise and the fact that they have analytics on the different players and the trainers report on their physical capabilities.
Maxi last season:
5.6 PER
49 TS% / 9 USG% (PJ TUCKER)
8 AST% / 1.9 A/T
4.4 ORB% / 12 DRB% (BAD, for PF and esp C)
0.7 STL% / 2.3 BLK% (OK for PF, not for C)
-3.8 BPM (-4.2 OBPM / 0.4 DBPM)
Maxi last 3 seasons:
8.0 PER
56 TS% / 10 USG%
8 AST% / 2.1 A/T
4 ORB% / 13 DRB%
0.8 STL% / 2.8 BLK%
-2.3 BPM (-2.8 OBPM / 0.5 DBPM)
Maxi cratered last season to a degree you aren’t willing to acknowledge. He shot 27% from three, and only 51% (career: 59%) from two – doing so on extremely low volume.
Redick used Maxi because the Lakers were literally using DFS at center, because they only way the Lakers had a prayer of beating Gobert (i.e. A SPECIFIC MATCHUP) was 5-out.
Maxi played all of 5 minutes and was 0-1. It was a desperation move. He hadn’t even practiced with the team.
Gobert had 27 pts & 24 rebs and probably would have gone for 30 & 30 if he got to play against Maxi LOL
Will he be better in 2026? It’s all dependent on his body at Age 34. Asking him to play regular minutes ain’t gonna increase those odds.
Biases aside, will the Lakers finish ABOVE, ON PAR with, or BELOW their playoff seeding of a year ago? Let’s try get at least 10 respondents for this one.
Tough to say. A lot of teams were bunched up within a game or a couple in the West from like the 3 seed all the way down. I’d have to say lower than the 3 seed at the end of this year.
Below
We didn’t get 10 respondents like I had hoped – but that’s OK. Thanks for participating, luvhoops and Cap N Crunch. I’ll side with both of you – BELOW. It’s unanimous. The Lakers will almost assuredly finish worse than 3rd next season.
Could be below 3rd, but could 3rd or even 2nd. It will depend on Doncic’s durability.
Doncic hobbled weirdly in that Minnesota series. Does he have a bad lower back? Or something with his legs?
When that trade happened, I always thought that Doncic either had a chronic health condition that Dallas thought would prevent him from performing at 100%, or maybe something physiological, like gambling addiction. Him not being slim and ripped was not enough to justify the trade.
Everybody is saying that Denver, LAC got a lot better. They did, in a way, but they also have the potential to have just above-average regular seasons. Murray often underperforms. LAC guys are on the older side and can miss games.
Reddick did well late in the season, better than anyone expected.
Keep in mind, 2 games seeds 3-8. Since they are probably going to load manage LeBron, I think lower
They were the 3 seed. I’ll guess below.
Swider played so well in the summer league. He should’ve got a spot. He was the best player in the summer league for the lakers BY FAR.
He’s the best player ever in the history of summer league
This isn’t new
Quad A player
Big score w Koloko
Kinda surprised he couldn’t find a standard contract in the league
He’s the definition of a Two-Way. Pretty much any young player off their rookie contract who isn’t a rotation player has to settle for a Two-Way.
Cap space is way too precious to blow guaranteed $ on low-upside guys.
Disagree, think he has more upsdie than a lot of current C’s.
One on our team as well in Hayes
Woulda been nice fit in Cha over Plumlee currently
Think he’d have a nice run in Wiz too as a starter
You might be Koloko’s biggest fan then. He played 9 MPG last year (342 total) and 1,144 minutes in 3 years.
He’s the definition of a Two-Way until he EARNS an NBA roster spot.
Yes, * coming back from a major blood clot issue you should add
The Lakers were a circus all year last year, CK never got a fair shot. Posting his mins and then the last 3 years (w a blood clot) holds about as much water as a brown bag
Id wager starting 2027 its Koloko with an NBA job somewhere and Hayes in China
Recovering from a blood clot is not an excuse to give an NBA contract. It is all the more reason to give a Two-Way until he proves it. I understand that you personally like him, but it’s a business.
Hayes will be fine. He is an established backup center (only 25) who has PROVEN he can finish + protect the rim, switch, etc. He’s significantly more likely to play another 5 years in the NBA than Koloko.
Hayes: 72 TS% in 2025, 68 TS% Career
Koloko: 62 TS% in 2025, 55 TS% Career
High praise for Hayes that Ive never quite heard before , CK will be a better Rim protector than Hayes if he’s not already given the same opportunities . How many Laker games have you watched the last 2 years ?
Hayes was soaking up lobs from Luka, Ck was playing in scrub lineups here and there with zero rhyme or reason . Comparing stats will get you nowhere again here.
Hayes has proven to be a terrible back up over the years and does better with the starters. He’d shine momentarily when AD was hurt then falter 9/10 bench games. I’m not sure there’s much space for him in the league moving forward, he’s not a playoff teams b/u C and theres not much left too tap into for a rebuilding team. Poor rebounder, cant stay on the ground, zero shot, poor rim protector, poor defender
Hayes has proven to be a backup.
Koloko has proven nothing.
Hence why he took his Two-Way Qualifying Offer.
What’s the word on Mannon Gsw fans ?
How’s his game
He only played in the Summer League. He was there leading scorer, for what it’s worth.
Good thing their wasting a roster spot on Jebron James’s kid.
Bronny had a pretty good Summer league. What are you complaining about?
Cole was better. In fact, in the Summer League rankings, Cole has by far the highest rank Laker
Cole is also 26 years old. Bronny is 20.
He sucks. His best game had 8 turnovers and a very dad like minus 3. Team was better when he didn’t play.
He’s complaining about LeBron not being mentioned in this article. Makes him not want to read it, so he fixed it. C’mon fan behavior lol