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!!
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.
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
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
What’s the word on Mannon Gsw fans ?
How’s his game