One, though, was the infectious presence of Kendall Marshall, whose rapid ascension from failed lottery pick and D-League standout to one of the NBA's top passers gave fans clad in purple and gold reason to smile.
Over the course of 54 games (including 45 starts), Marshall averaged 8.8 assists (No. 2 overall behind Chris Paul) while recording an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.18, a mark that ranked No. 5 among all qualified players last season, per ESPN.com.
A 39.9 percent conversion rate from beyond the arc was icing on the cake for the emerging Marshall, but those surface-level numbers weren't indicative of much more than prosperity in Mike D'Antoni's run-and-gun offense, which is prone to statistical inflation.
As a result, the Lakers decided to waive Marshall on Thursday afternoon, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:
In a corresponding move, the Lakers proceeded to lock up shooting guard Xavier Henry to a one-year deal at the veteran minimum, according to ESPN Los Angeles' Dave McMenamin:
And as Forum Blue and Gold's Darius Soriano mentions, waiving Marshall was a move the Lakers had to make from a monetary standpoint:
Marshall’s salary for this upcoming season – $915,243 — was not guaranteed, so the Lakers take no hit for waiving Marshall and open up that amount of cap space. This may not seem important, but, in reality, it was a needed move if the team wants to keep Ryan Kelly while also signing Nick Young to his reported deal.
As we have discussed, the Lakers, due to various cap holds and the fact that Jordan Hill had some cap space to spend. Most of that space was earmarked for Young who agreed to a 4 year, $21.3 million deal. However the Laker...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
