The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that they have signed guard Quincy Olivari and center Kylor Kelley. Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but reports say both are Exhibit 10 contracts.
This means that both Olivari and Kelley will be part of the Lakers’ training camp and preseason roster. If they don’t make the regular team, which is likely to be the case, then the Exhibit 10 contract allows them to join the organization’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, for the 2024-25 season.
Olivari was originally signed by the Lakers as an undrafted free agent out of Xavier. The 23-year-old appeared in five Summer League games for the Lakers between the California Classic and Las Vegas, averaging 5.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game while shooting 28.6% from the field and 26.7% from 3-point range. Given the lack of consistent playing time, it’s hard to draw too much from these stats.
After beginning his college career at Rice for four years, Olivari transferred to Xavier for his senior year, where he averaged 19.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals and shot 40.9% from 3-point range on 7.6 attempts.
Standing at 6’3″ and weighing 200 pounds, Olivari has a solid build for an NBA-level guard and has excellent long-range shooting skills.
Kelley, on the other hand, went undrafted in 2020 after spending two seasons at Oregon State. Since then, he has bounced around between different organizations, playing primarily in the G League. His first destination was the San Antonio Spurs, where he played for the Austin Spurs after signing an Exhibit 10 contract as an undrafted free agent. He then spent one season with the Raptors 905 (Toronto Raptors) and was with the Maine Celtics (Boston Celtics) last season.
Kelley averaged 8.4 points and 2.9 blocks per game for Maine last season, shooting 68.6% from the field. He has the skills of a typical center and is by no means a floor spacer, spending most of his time in the zone on both ends of the court. It’s no secret that the Lakers could use some size on the interior, so perhaps Kelley will get an extended spell during the preseason to show what he can do.
Lakers host Timberwolves on opening night
Once training camp and preseason are over, it was announced that the Lakers will begin the regular season by hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves on NBA Opening Night.
The Lakers are undefeated in their first regular season game since 2016 and will look to end that streak against Anthony Edwards and a strong Timberwolves team.
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