The Los Angeles Lakers, who were informed by guard Avery Bradley that he would not participate in the rest of the 2020 season thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have reportedly settled on his replacement for the remainder of the season.
Los Angeles will reportedly ink veteran shooting guard JR Smith to a deal for the remainder of the year.
The 34-year-old scorer, the 2013 NBA Sixth Man of the Year and NBA Championship winner with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, will have the chance to come back to the league after he was waived by his former team last summer.
He has not appeared in an NBA game since November 2018.
Smith, who had spent the past five seasons as a volume-shooting sixth man for Cleveland, will reunite with former teammate LeBron James as he looks to play a part on the bench for a Lakers team that has NBA title aspirations.
The former Hornet, Nugget, and Knick will be expected to provide bench depth for the Lakers along with Dion Waiters, Alex Caruso, and Rajon Rondo as the team looks to continue the success that has propelled them to a title contender this year.
The contract is expected to be finished and announced by the middle of the week.
