The Los Angeles Lakers are currently stacked at the guard position after bringing in Lou Williams and drafting D'Angelo Russell with the second overall pick. Despite the overload at the position, the Lakers have reportedly decided to bring in another guard for training camp, and that will be former Florida Gator Michael Frazier, according to Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.
This is the Lakers' second signing in the past couple of weeks after they reportedly agreed to a deal with Jonathan Holmes that had a significant guarantee. Frazier's deal does not have a very significant guarantee, as the deal is reported to be for $1.4 million over the course of two years, but only $50,000 is guaranteed on the first year of Frazier's deal. Frazier's guarantee is reportedly half of the guarantee that Holmes got.
Frazier becomes the 16th player under contract for the Lakers and is now one of four players, along with Holmes, Tarik Black and Jabari Brown, to have a non-guaranteed deal. Because the Lakers only have 12 guaranteed contracts for the 2015-16 season so far, they will likely have some strong competition in training camp for those final three spots. Look for the Lakers to bring in a few more players to training camp so that they have as many options as possible.
Frazier's guaranteed money being so small would indicate that he is unlikely to make the roster out of training camp, but if he impresses enough, there is room for him. If Frazier were to make the team, his salary this season would be a little more than $500,000, whereas Black and Brown's salaries would be close to $850,000, so if the competition between them is close, the Lakers could potentially choose Frazier to save a little bit of money. If Frazier doesn't make the team out of camp, he will likely be assigned to the Lakers D-League affiliate.
Frazier is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard that played three seasons at Florida before going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft. Frazier has always been viewed as a player with a lot of potential, but he was never really able to live up to that hype in his college career much like his team as a whole. In his three seasons, Frazier averaged 9.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game on 44 percent shooting from the field, but one thing he has always been able to do is light it up from long range.
As a freshman, Frazier shot 47 percent from three, that went down to 45 percent as a sophomore and 38 percent as a junior, but for his college career he made 43 percent from beyond the arc. Frazier was considered by many to be the best shooter in the NBA Draft but still wasn't selected by anyone. The Lakers may have signed the next Wesley Matthews, as Frazier's shooting ability should give him a chance to be a key contributor at the NBA level.
