Lakers’ Two-Way Players Nearing Active Game Limits

The Mavericks aren’t the only team whose three players on two-way contracts are all nearing their active game limits for the 2024/25 season. The Lakers find themselves in a similar boat.

There are 14 games left on Los Angeles’ regular season schedule, but the team’s two-way players – all of whom have emerged as contributors – won’t be able to suit up for all of those games as long as they remain on their current contracts.

Here are the details on their limits:

• Jordan Goodwin: Four active games remaining.
• Christian Koloko: Nine active games remaining.
• Trey Jemison: Nine active games remaining.

When a player signs a two-way contract before the start of the season, he’s eligible to be active for up to 50 regular season games. That amount becomes prorated if a player signs a two-way deal during the season.

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Koloko is the only one of the Lakers’ three two-way players who opened the year with the team, so he has a full 50 games available — he’s used 41 of them so far, with 34 appearances and seven additional DNPs. Jemison, who signed in January, has used 17 of his 26 available games (15 appearances, two DNPs), while Goodwin, signed in February, has used 15 of 19, appearing in all 15 of those games.

Unlike the injury-plagued Mavericks, the Lakers won’t find themselves at risk of not being able to deploy the minimum required eight active players if and when Goodwin, Koloko, and/or Jemison reach their limits. Los Angeles has more than enough healthy players to get by.

The Lakers also aren’t right up against their hard cap in the same way that the Mavericks are, so if they want to promote one or more of their two-way players to their standard 15-man roster, that’s an option. In that scenario, the player would no longer be subject to these restrictions and would also become playoff-eligible, putting him in position to play in any and every regular season and postseason game for L.A. this spring.

It seems likely the Lakers will go that route before season’s end. Goodwin, in particular, has become a regular rotation player, appearing in 15 of the team’s last 19 games and averaging 21.5 minutes per night during that stretch. His playing time has been trending upward as of late — he has started L.A.’s past four games and averaged 30.3 MPG in those contests.

Jemison and Koloko haven’t seen as much action as Goodwin, but one or the other has generally been serving as the Lakers’ backup center since the All-Star break. Jemison has been something of a good-luck charm — Los Angeles won the first 13 games in which he played.

The Lakers are currently operating about $894K below their hard cap. As of today, a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract for any of their two-way players would count against the cap for approximately $300K. A multiyear deal for Jemison or Koloko would carry the same first-year cap hit, while a multiyear contract for Goodwin would have a slightly higher cap charge ($311K).

In other words, while the Lakers don’t quite have enough room to give standard contracts to Goodwin, Jemison, and Koloko today, they could easily max out those players’ two-way games and then promote them before the end of the regular season while staying below their hard cap.

Of course, the Lakers currently have a full 15-man standard roster, so they can’t promote any of their two-way players to a standard contract without waiving at least one of those 15.

Forward Cam Reddish, who has barely played since a trade agreement sending him to Charlotte fell through, and center Alex Len, a buyout market addition who hasn’t been very effective in a limited role, look like the top candidates to be waived if the Lakers need a roster spot.

Beyond those two, there aren’t a ton of great release candidates. Only three other players on the 15-man roster aren’t owed any guaranteed money beyond this season. Jaxson Hayes is the Lakers’ starting center and won’t be cut; Markieff Morris is valued for his veteran leadership; and Shake Milton has been pretty solid when given the opportunity to play.

In my opinion, the most likely scenario in Los Angeles is that Goodwin gets a promotion after reaching his active-game limit, replacing Reddish on the 15-man roster. The team could then decide during the last week or two of the regular season whether to promote Jemison or Koloko (or both) in place of a veteran like Len or Morris.

While a Jemison/Len swap would make some sense to me, it’s worth noting that Jemison is the only one of L.A.’s three two-way players whose contract runs through next season, so the club would be giving up that guaranteed extra year of two-way control by converting him this season. If the Lakers really want Jemison available in the postseason, that won’t stop them from promoting him, but if they’re deciding between him and Koloko, it’ll be a factor they take into account.