Hold up D’Angelo Russell! As it turns out, the Lakers won’t just give you the starting position. You just might have some competition.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Los Angeles Lakers has signed Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas.
Free-agent guard Marcelo Huertas – one of the Euroleague’s most accomplished playmakers – has agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
“There’s so much more space in the NBA,” Huertas told Yahoo Sports in April. “It’s not like Europe now, where you have one guy full-time in the paint. Space is harder to come by. One of my strengths is playing in the pick-and-roll, finding open guys and making shots in the mid-range game off the dribble.
“I think that part is harder to find now, because you mostly have guys who get all the way to the hole, or they’re three-point shooters. And if I’m open, and I can get my feet set, I’m going to make a lot of those kind of shots.”
Now this has been coming for months. Woj reported four months ago that Huertas was looking for a move into the NBA, so this was coming. But it wasn’t until today when Ismail Senol of NTV SPOR (Turkish TV outlet) reported that Huertas was signing with a Western Conference team (via Sportnado). Turns out it was the Lakers.
Now the Lakers has something on their hands. Who are they starting? The young upstart with bundles of talent? Or the Brazilian point guard that knows how to get the job done? And what about Jordan Clarkson? Because we all know that Kobe is starting. The Lakers now have some choices to make, which is a good thing.
