UNLV forward Stephen Zimmerman Jr. watches his team warm up before facing San Jose State at the Thomas & Mack Center, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016.
Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017 | 10:16 a.m.
It took a month, give or take, but Stephen Zimmerman is back in the NBA after signing a partially guaranteed deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
ESPN reported the signing on Wednesday morning:
Zimmerman, a native of Las Vegas and a former UNLV Runnin' Rebel, was a second-round draft pick of the Orlando Magic in 2016. The 7-foot center spent most of his rookie season in the D-League and logged just 19 games for the parent club, averaging 1.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 5.7 minutes per contest.
The Magic released Zimmerman on July 4. He then hooked on with the Milwaukee Bucks for the Las Vegas NBA Summer League and posted 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.5 minutes. That was apparently enough to impress the Lakers, who will now bring Zimmerman into training camp to compete for a backup role.
Zimmerman was one of the most hyped prospects to ever come out of Las Vegas after leading Bishop Gorman to four state championships. He battled through an injury-plagued one-and-done season at UNLV, averaging 10.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the Rebels.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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