{"id":61104,"date":"2024-01-08T19:57:53","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T00:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=61104"},"modified":"2024-01-09T11:29:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T16:29:41","slug":"lakers-bring-in-promising-point-guard-on-two-way-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/08\/lakers-bring-in-promising-point-guard-on-two-way-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Bring in Promising Point Guard on Two-Way Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lakers have made marginal yet necessary improvements over the course of their recent struggles. A day after <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/06\/lakers-sign-g-league-record-breaker-to-two-way-contract\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">signing<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/windldy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Dylan Windler<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to a two-way deal\u2014and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HoopsRumors\/status\/1743764027136733366\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">waiving two young players in the process<\/a>\u2014LA filled its final two-way spot with a fourth-year guard who has shown plenty of potential: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mayssk01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Skylar Mays<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Free agent G Skylar Mays has agreed on a two-way deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, Mark Bartelstein of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PrioritySports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@PrioritySports<\/a> tells ESPN. He\u2019s spent parts of the past four seasons with Portland and Atlanta. He gives the Lakers some point guard depth. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4KGrbaQgD6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/4KGrbaQgD6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1744480939760075218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><b>Lakers Bring in Promising Point Guard on Two-Way Contract<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Background<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A four-year starter from LSU, Mays was drafted 50th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2020. He played sparingly his rookie year, and made one appearance for the G League\u2019s College Park Skyhawks, scoring 23 points. After another uneventful season with Atlanta, Mays was signed and waived by the 76ers in 2021. He then found himself in the G League again, this time with the Delaware Blue Coats Mexico City Capitanes. In 16 games (13 starts) for Mexico City, Mays put up 19.2 points and 6.1 assists while shooting 46% from the field and 34% from deep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mays\u2019s return to the NBA came in March with the Portland Trail Blazers\u2014first to a ten-day contract, then for the rest of the season. He flourished in Rip City in six games, averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 assists on .500\/.462\/.923 splits. He logged a career-high <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/iYAW9dwIdXs?si=ibfu93Buj_rk0Q5P\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">24 points<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014including four triples\u2014in an April loss to the Grizzlies. Mays was on a two-way contract with the Blazers this season, and remained efficient despite limited opportunities (6.3 PPG, 3.6 APG in 21 games). One of his best performances came against the Lakers on Nov. 12, where he recorded <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/dRXoPmLe-68?si=89U6SDrluHLbmYpS\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">15 points (7\/13 FG)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and tied a career-best 12 assists.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Skylar Mays in two games against the Lakers this season:<\/p>\n<p>15 PTS, 4 REB, 12 AST<\/p>\n<p>15 PTS, 5 REB, 9 AST<\/p>\n<p>Clearly made an impression. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/99MGTxdXQb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/99MGTxdXQb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DStarkand\/status\/1744487602483548553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><b>What Skylar Mays Brings to the Lakers<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mays is a smart player and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbadraft.net\/players\/skylar-mays\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">relentless defender<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who can <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/422RZbHiivA?si=KTwCguPWORc6Q_33\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">soar for highlight plays<\/a>. He\u2019s able to score at all three levels and facilitate very well, all while remaining a defensive pest. Mays has collected 41 steals over 68 games\u2014good for an average of 0.7 swipes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evidenced by his previous success, Mays has shown up whenever his number was called. In five starts this season, he averaged 12 points and eight assists on 42% shooting from the field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mays is an ideal addition for the Lakers given the absence of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vincega01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Gabe Vincent<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the team&#8217;s shifting rotations. His high-level play has kept Portland in the fight against some top-level competition. Being able to lead and succeed in his fourth season is equally impressive. Though he will likely start out with the South Bay Lakers, Mays could impact LA\u2019s bench sooner than later with his talents on both ends of the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Could Mays Replace Jalen Hood-Schifino?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In spite of Mays\u2019s potential, he could complicate matters for rookie point guard <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hoodsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Jalen Hood-Schifino<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The Indiana product has struggled since his return from a back injury, averaging 2.3 points in eight appearances. Though he wasn\u2019t expected to contribute right away, fans have expected more out of the 17th pick of the 2023 Draft\u2014especially when players picked after him (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jaqueja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Jaime Jaquez Jr.<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/podzibr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Brandin Podziemski<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) have thrived with the Heat and Warriors, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is certainly not time to label JHS a \u201cbust.\u201d However, adding another point guard to a team with three facilitators raises some concern. If one of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>LeBron James<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reaveau01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Austin Reaves<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> misses time, Darvin Ham would be wise to give minutes to the experienced Mays instead of the rookie Hood-Schifino. JHS still has plenty of potential despite recent setbacks, but his development has been hindered with Mays coming on board.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lakers have made marginal yet necessary improvements over the course of their recent struggles. A day after signing Dylan Windler to a two-way deal\u2014and waiving two young players in the process\u2014LA filled its final two-way spot with a fourth-year guard who has shown plenty of potential: Skylar Mays. Free agent G Skylar Mays has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":61106,"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":[4907,202,1912],"class_list":["post-61104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-jalen-hood-schifino","tag-nba-news","tag-skylar-mays"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61104","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=61104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}