{"id":176327,"date":"2026-02-05T15:20:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=176327"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:19:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:19:38","slug":"could-lakers-g-league-pair-earn-opportunities-post-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/05\/could-lakers-g-league-pair-earn-opportunities-post-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Lakers’ G League Pair Earn Opportunities Post-Deadline?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the trade deadline having come and gone, the <\/span>Lakers\u2019<\/span><\/a> focus now shifts to filling their vacant roster spot. While there are several ways to approach that dilemma, there\u2019s a case for some South Bay talent to prove their worth in the big leagues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Could Lakers’ G League Pair Earn Opportunities Post-Deadline?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Lakers\u2019 Current Situation<\/h3>\n

The Lakers lost their true backup point guard by trading <\/span>Gabe Vincent<\/span><\/a> for <\/span>Luke Kennard<\/span><\/a> Thursday morning, a move that addresses shooting but leaves critical questions unanswered. They already have some notable ball-handlers who could lead the second unit (e.g. <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a>, or <\/span>Marcus Smart<\/span><\/a>), but they could also browse the buyout market in search of a true floor general.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Lakers prepare for the rest of the season, they can\u2019t ignore two young guards hiding in plain sight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kobe Bufkin<\/h3>\n

The G League\u2019s scoring leader has wasted no time turning heads. <\/span>Kobe Bufkin<\/span><\/a> may not have found his footing in the NBA yet, but he\u2019s torched opponents while playing for the South Bay Lakers this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 13 regular-season contests, Bufkin is <\/span>averaging<\/span><\/a> a league-best 27.6 points while shooting 53% from the field, 42.7% from three and 87.5% from the free-throw line. He dropped <\/span>41 points Wednesday night<\/span><\/a> while going 8-of-13 from deep, days after a 36-point outing where he went 7-of-12 from three. It\u2019s worth noting that he started both games <\/span>perfectly from beyond the arc<\/span><\/a>, only reinforcing his value as an elite perimeter scorer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Bufkin never got a fair shake when <\/span>LA signed him to a ten-day contract<\/span><\/a> in January, that could change this year with the team\u2019s guard depth in flux. Between his offensive firepower and defensive potential, it\u2019s clear Bufkin deserves another audition sooner than later.<\/span><\/p>\n

RJ Davis<\/h3>\n
\"Jul
Jul 10, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard RJ Davis (26) dribbles against Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard (9) in the first quarter of their game at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another scintillating scorer with playmaking chops to boot, <\/span>RJ Davis<\/span><\/a> has also made a name for himself in the G League. The former North Carolina Tar Heel just earned <\/span>Player of the Week<\/span><\/a> honors Tuesday, with an excellent run that included a <\/span>career-high 45 points<\/span><\/a>. Across 17 regular-season games, Davis is averaging 20 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists on .461\/.462\/.864 splits.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the older side of the rookie class at 24 years old, Davis, like Bufkin, offers an offensive spark with his three-level scoring. What sets him apart (in addition to his passing) is his activity on the glass, a trait he showed last week in his <\/span>first career triple-double<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers fans could get a glimpse of Davis\u2019s talent soon, as he\u2019s among the rising stars playing in the <\/span>Next Up Game<\/span><\/a> at All-Star Weekend (Feb. 15, 11:30 a.m. PT).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/h3>\n

The Lakers are no strangers to giving late call-ups to rising talent, from <\/span>Jordan Goodwin<\/span><\/a> last season to <\/span>Andre Ingram<\/span><\/a> back in 2018<\/span><\/a>. Even though such opportunities are typically reserved for the end of the year, Bufkin and Davis have shown they could help if given the chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

For fans who want to see what this duo can do, the <\/span>South Bay Lakers<\/span><\/a> face the Capital City Go-Go tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the trade deadline having come and gone, the Lakers\u2019 focus now shifts to filling their vacant roster spot. While there are several ways to approach that dilemma, there\u2019s a case for some South Bay talent to prove their worth in the big leagues. Could Lakers’ G League Pair Earn Opportunities Post-Deadline? Lakers\u2019 Current Situation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":176342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62],"tags":[4055,4848,769,49554],"class_list":["post-176327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-drew-timme","tag-kobe-bufkin","tag-luke-kennard","tag-rj-davis"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176327"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176422,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176327\/revisions\/176422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}