{"id":188690,"date":"2026-04-12T12:18:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=188690"},"modified":"2026-04-13T02:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T06:02:49","slug":"lakers-promote-sharpshooting-guard-nick-smith-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/12\/lakers-promote-sharpshooting-guard-nick-smith-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"From Two-Way to Two Years: Lakers Promote Sharpshooting Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, that was quick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two days after <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/10\/lakers-two-prime-candidates-replace-kobe-bufkin\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">waiving<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> G League standout <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bufkiko01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kobe Bufkin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Lakers have converted <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nick Smith Jr.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s two-way contract into a two-year guaranteed deal, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/2043352702764097673\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In 29 games this season, Smith Jr. has averaged 6.0 points and an assist per game while shooting 43% from the field and 40% from three.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>From Two-Way to Two Years: Lakers Promote Sharpshooting Guard<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite limited opportunities, Smith has shown he can light up the scoreboard. He recorded a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/05\/lakers-two-way-nick-smith-jr-breakout-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">season-high 25 points<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against the Portland Trail Blazers in November, doing so on 10-15 shooting from the field and 5-6 from three. That was one of his seven double-digit scoring performances in 2025-26, proving his worth as an efficient scorer who\u2019s a constant long-range threat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What may have sealed the deal for Lakers executives and coaches was Smith\u2019s fourth-quarter heater against the Golden State Warriors Thursday. He dropped 12 points on 4-5 shooting from three in the period. Though it may have been garbage time as the Lakers routed the Warriors, it was a golden opportunity Smith capitalized on, and it seems to have paid off for him\u2014literally.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nick Smith Jr. vs Warriors:<br \/>12 PTS 4\/5 FG 120 TS% <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CUIEscyYXO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/CUIEscyYXO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Laker Performances (@LALPerformance) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LALPerformance\/status\/2042461803368546326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>How Nick Smith Jr. Can Help the Lakers\u2019 Bench<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 800px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBnMUCbiEG\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 4845px; aspect-ratio: 4845\/3230;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith\u2019s promotion comes at a perfect time with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reaveau01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> out for extended periods. His microwave scoring off the bench will be crucial in the postseason, especially if <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennalu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luke Kennard<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> keeps holding down the fort in the starting five. The team\u2019s second unit has notoriously <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?StarterBench=Bench&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=PTS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">struggled to find the bottom of the net<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ranking second-to-last in points per game <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?SeasonSegment=Post%20All-Star&amp;StarterBench=Bench&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=PTS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">post-All-Star break<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (15.8 PPG)\u2014even after the demotion of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hachiru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rui Hachimura<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the acquisition of Kennard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If head coach JJ Redick gives Smith Jr. a fair shake, then perhaps the Lakers\u2019 bench can find some light at the end of the tunnel. Given how recent injuries have strained LA\u2019s depth, the purple and gold need all the help they can get to avoid another first-round exit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lakers face the Utah Jazz today at 5:30 p.m. PT.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a9 Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, that was quick. Two days after waiving G League standout Kobe Bufkin, the Lakers have converted Nick Smith Jr.\u2019s two-way contract into a two-year guaranteed deal, according to ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania. In 29 games this season, Smith Jr. has averaged 6.0 points and an assist per game while shooting 43% from the field and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":188693,"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":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4556,2279,1133,769,4757,1749],"class_list":["post-188690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-austin-reaves","tag-jj-redick","tag-luka-doncic","tag-luke-kennard","tag-nick-smith-jr","tag-rui-hachimura"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188690","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=188690"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188896,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188690\/revisions\/188896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}