Despite their current struggles, the Lakers have made a few significant but incremental advancements. Skylar Mays, a fourth-year guard with a lot of promise, was added by LA to fill its lone two-way spot the day after the team waived two young players and signed Dylan Windler to a two-way contract.
The Atlanta Hawks selected Mays, a four-year starter from LSU, with the 50th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. In his lone game as a rookie, he scored twenty-three points for the College Park Skyhawks of the G League. In 2021, following another dull season with Atlanta, Mays signed a contract with the 76ers but was later waived. He later found himself back in the G League, this time with the Mexico City Capitanes of the Delaware Blue Coats. Mays averaged 19.2 points and 6.1 assists in 16 games (13 starts) for Mexico City, shooting 34% from beyond the arc and 46% from the field.
Making his NBA comeback in March, Mays signed a ten-day contract and then played for the Portland Trail Blazers for the rest of the season. He was very impressive in Rip City, averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 assists on.500/.462/.923 splits in six games. He had a career-high 24 points, including four threes, in an April game against the Grizzlies. With just 21 games played this season and a two-way contract with the Blazers, Mays was productive despite having limited opportunities (6.3 PPG, 3.6 APG). He had one of his best performances on November 12 against the Lakers, tying a career-high 12 assists in addition to scoring 15 points (7/13 FG).
Leave a Reply