Los Angeles Lakers Will Release Matt Ryan

Los Angeles Lakers Will Release Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan

Shooter Matt Ryan is being released by the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic via Twitter. Los Angeles' usual 15-man roster will now have a space available, and the organization has no imminent plans to fill it.

Matt Ryan, who expressed interest in working as a Door Dash driver after graduating from Chattanooga undrafted in 2020, subsequently joined the Grand Rapids Gold of the G League in 2021–2022, and this past spring made his NBA debut with the Celtics. In September, he signed a non-guaranteed minimum-wage contract with the Lakers and was given a berth on the team's roster for the regular season.

Matt Ryan has shown the ability to make three-pointers, making 13 of 35 (37.1%) for Los Angeles this season, but he only hit two of fourteen two-point attempts. He appeared in 12 games, averaging 3.9 points per game (10.8 MPG).

The Lakers waived Ryan in order to give themselves more roster flexibility when several of their players become trade-eligible on December 15 and they begin to seriously evaluate potential trades, according to both Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN Twitter link.

Ryan's full-season salary wouldn't have become guaranteed for another six weeks, so the Lakers could have dismissed him at any moment prior to January 7 if they needed his roster space to accommodate a trade, as noted by Bobby Marks of ESPN and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.

Marks notes (via Twitter) that the Lakers will save $61K a day without Matt Ryan on the roster given their tax situation. According to Pincus, the 25-year-release old's may have been decided logistically because the club is set to leave on a six-game road trip and presumably decided it didn't make sense to bring Ryan along if he was already on the outs.

Matt Ryan will have made $442,439 for the 45 days he spent on the Lakers' roster and the two he will spend on waivers if he is officially released on Thursday.