Very little was made of it when the Lakers went out and signed Wenyen Gabriel to a two-way contract. Coming off of a silent trade deadline, the move just seemed to be a minor one. And it was. But there is going to be much more to that signing over time with Los Angeles.
Gabriel played for 13 minutes during Friday's win over the Wizards, by far the most game action he has seen with the Lakers. He shot 2 of 5 from the field and sunk 1 of his 2 three-point attempts. But it was the pure athleticism that caught the attention of everyone.
After the win, Frank Vogel spoke about Gabriel and why the Lakers played him so much. Vogel saw a good opportunity to get him some time and could not pass up on it.
"Wenyen is some that we're intrigued with. He's got an interesting skill set, he's very young and inexperienced, so as a coach with a veteran group you're a little nervous about it, but we want to see what he can do. And this was a game where we felt like we could throw him in there and just evaluate. He's got the ability to shoot the three, credit to him for having the guts to step up and make a big three down the stretch. ...he's interesting to us, and we're going to spend some time putting him in here and evaluating him."
At 6-foot-9, it's impressive what Gabriel is able to do on the court already. He's very fast and has the ability to keep up with the wings and defend them with his long reach. He also plays with a little bit of fire underneath him, always looking like he's fighting for playing time when he's on the court.
Gabriel is just 24 years old, and he very well could be a big part of the Lakers next year. Spending time playing with and learning from Lebron James will only help that progress.
More must-reads: