Official announcement is reached! The Lakers intercept the Rockets and sign a talented shooter as they wish

Signed, signed! The Lakers finally signed again! And this time I signed a particularly young talented shooter! As the preseason is about to begin, Lakers general manager Pelinka, who has been creating surprises for fans this summer, successfully intercepting the Rockets, bringing the talented shooter with a career three-point shooting percentage back to Los Angeles as he wished!

On September 30, the Los Angeles Lakers officially announced that the team has officially signed a two-way contract with full free agent and scorer Nick Smith Jr., and he will start a new chapter in his career wearing the Lakers No. 20 jersey in the new season!

Previously, the Charlotte Hornets announced the layoff of Nick Smith Jr. Subsequently, the young shooter with the 27th pick in the first round of 2023 immediately aroused strong interest from teams such as the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls. Although Nick Smith's performance in the first two years of his career was not satisfactory, he is still worth looking forward to! Therefore, this is probably the fundamental reason why many teams are eager to sign him.

It is worth mentioning that after the Houston Rockets were reimbursed in advance due to injury, they are currently extremely eager to sign a shooting guard with the minimum cost to fill the vacancy of Van Jordan's injury. Therefore, Nick Smith Jr. is undoubtedly an ideal candidate for the Rockets! Unfortunately, the Rockets were eventually successfully intercepted by the Lakers, which missed the opportunity to bring the 21-year-old talented shooter back to Houston. In the 2024-25 season, Nick Smith Jr. played a total of 60 regular season games for the Charlotte Hornets, averaging 22.8 minutes per game, contributing 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.3 breaks and 0.1 caps, shooting percentage of 39.1%, three-point shooting percentage of 34%, and free throw shooting percentage of 93.5%.

So far in his NBA career, Nick Smith's three-point shooting percentage is as high as 36.9%! It can be seen that Nick Smith, who is only 21 years old, is a young shooter with great potential.

The Lakers can stand out among many competitors and successfully bring Nick Smith back to Los Angeles as they wish! Perhaps, many people will be curious why the Lakers have to sign Nick Smith Jr. when they already have two major shooters, Knector and Laravia. What medicine is Pelinka selling?

Little do I know that this is most likely related to the Lakers' plan to brew a big deal before the trading deadline arrives. Because after the Lakers successfully renewed their contract with Luka Doncic this summer, they have now improved their ultimate goal for next season to strive for the championship with all their might! By then, Kneckett is likely to become a bargaining chip in trading, so the Lakers' move is a precaution. Besides, just one two-way contract can bring the first-round pick genius scorer with unlimited potential back to Los Angeles, why not do it! What do you think about this?