Lakers' Jake LaRavia has thrived since Grizzlies gave up on him

One year, the Memphis Grizzlies declined the fourth-year option on former No. 19 pick Jake LaRavia's rookie deal. Maybe the disrespect lit a fire under LaRavia, who has scored 25 points in two of his last three games for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Memphis traded the No. 22 and No. 29 picks in the 2022 draft to move up and select LaRavia out of Wake Forest. But injuries limited LaRavia in his first two seasons, where he only played 35 games each year, averaging 6.9 points and shooting only 38.9 percent overall and 33.9 percent on threes. The Grizzlies decided not to keep LaRavia at a modest $5.19M for 2025-26, only to see him blossom in his third year with the team.

Jake LaRavia showed huge improvement last season

LaRavia looked like a different player almost immediately after the Grizzlies declined his option. He shot over 44.4 percent from three-point range in the season's first three months and averaged almost a steal per game. The Grizzlies were 8.2 points per game better than their opponents with LaRavia on the floor, thanks to his improved offense and above-average defense.

The problem was that Memphis only had LaRavia signed through the season, having forfeited his bargain fourth-year salary and losing his "Bird rights," which would have allowed them to exceed the salary cap to resign him. The Grizzlies were also planning to cut their payroll so they could renegotiate and extend Jaren Jackson, Jr., so they traded LaRavia to the Sacramento Kings for a second-round pick in 2028.

The Lakers didn't expect this level of performance from Jake LaRavia

When LaRavia became a free agent, inking him to a two-year, $12M deal was the Lakers' first move of the 2025 offseason. He was seen as a depth piece to help make up for Dorian Finney-Smith's departure to the Houston Rockets. The Lakers saw the upside of locking in the 23-year-old at a bargain price, but they probably never thought he'd be this much of a scorer.