One of the corresponding moves the Lakers made when they traded for star guard Luka Doncic last month was to also add guard Jordan Goodwin to the roster on a two-way contract. And right away, the Goodwin decision paid off, as his on-ball defense has earned him an immediate spot in the Lakers’ rotation.
But Goodwin, who has averaged 22.1 minutes per game with the Lakers, will need to be converted to a full roster spot if the Lakers want to keep him going forward. The same goes for the other Lakers’ two-way players, Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison.
While all three could have some use in the postseason, only Goodwin is a sure bet to get a full contract. That’s because the Lakers would have to cut a player from the roster to create a new spot for each two-way player they want to keep for the playoffs.
Team beat reporter and insider Jovan Buha addressed the situation on his podcast this week and noted that only Cam Reddish and Alex Len are candidates to be cut, and that the Lakers could keep Goodwin and one other two-way player if they did so.
“I think the only two obvious players to cut on the roster are Cam Reddish and Alex Len,” Buha said. “Shake Milton has two more years of a non-guaranteed contract, which could be a valuable trade chip. And then Markieff Morris is a beloved leader in the locker room, he is an internal leader. Luka loves him, LeBron loves him.
“The roster is going to remain the same outside of potentially waiving Len and Reddish and again, they have to waive one of them for Jordan Goodwin. And I think they should waive another one for Jemison and Koloko. I think it is probably going to be two, not three because I just don’t see an obvious third guy.”
