The Los Angeles Lakers have trimmed their roster to 17 with roughly a week to go before the 2015–16 NBA season kicks off.
The Los Angeles Lakers have decided to waive two young players in Robert Upshaw and Michael Frazier II, opting to keep instead old hand Robert Sacre.
Of Upshaw and Frazier, waiving the former comes a bit of a surprise for National Basketball Association (NBA) critics, considering he went undrafted but was seen as a potential first-round candidate. But it seems that there were other factors the Lakers looked into, including the fact the he had been dismissed from Fresno State and Washington. The rumored reason behind his dismissal was drug use, according to FoxSports.com.
Upshaw did show some promise for the Lakers during the preseason, but the team eventually decided that Sacre would be a better fit as a reserve center. The Lakers have Roy Hibbert and Tarik Black.
Upshaw struggled with offense Lakers like Sacre's locker-room presence. And, of course, Sacre has guaranteed contract of almost $1 million
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 20, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">The waiving of Upshaw temporarily puts his NBA dream on hold, although the Lakers are waiting for him to clear waivers as they try to place him in their D-League. But this is assuming no other team would get to him first.
Upshaw was seen as a shot-blocking demon, although he did struggle on the defensive end for the Lakers. So it all boiled down to going for someone who has been around, not to mention who could make the locker room light with his offbeat humor.
The move doesn't seem to be much of an impact to the Lakers' chances this season, although taking a chance on Upshaw would have been a safe gamble in the eyes of many. Regardless, it is back to business in a week's time as the Lakers start their journey and try to leave memories of two forgettable seasons that saw them at the bottom half of the standings.
