Every year following the NBA Draft, a number of undrafted players sign Exhibit 10 deals with teams that will get them in Summer League and training camp, and also allows the franchise to keep them around on their G League squad should they fail to make the main roster. For the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the intriguing names to receive one of those contracts was point guard Augustas Marciulionis.
Those following the NBA back in the early 1990s will be familiar with the last name as his father Sarunas Marciulionis had a seven-year NBA career in which he averaged 12.8 points per game. But Augustas had a very good college career himself at Saint Mary’s where he was the WCC Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons.
Unfortunately, Lakers fans didn’t get a chance to see Marciulionis during Summer League as he suffered a broken foot prior to the draft and the guard admitted that he suffered his first injury at the worst possible time, but is now nearly back to full strength, via Vaidas Jukavičius of BasketNews:
“I probably got injured at the worst possible moment. The strangest thing is that I never had a single injury in college and never missed a game. … Now, I’m almost ready to play. At first, it seemed like it would take forever, but time flew by.”
Marciulionis is continuing to rehab in his native Lithuania and has been watching the Lithuanian National Team as they prepare to take part in FIBA EuroBasket 2025. For Marciulionis, however, the goal is to be ready for when Lakers training camp kicks off and he is on his way to doing that.
The point guard has some tools to work with as a real floor general that had nearly a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in his senior season with the Gaels. There are some concerns about his shooting as he was just a 30.4% shooter from deep in his collegiate career, though he did improve in his final two seasons shooting just under 35% from 3-point range.
The opportunity will be there for Marciulionis to make an impact for the Lakers once camp begins as long as he’s healthy and it will be up to him to show that his game can translate to the NBA level.
Rob Pelinka compares Lakers rookie Adou Thiero to OG Anunoby
The Lakers do have one rookie who they drafted in Adou Thiero, a hyper-athletic forward who projects as an elite defender at the next level. And Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka believes he can eventually grow into a player like New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
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