Lakers News: Stanley Johnson, Wenyen Gabriel Contract Options Exercised for 2022-23

Ahead of the start of the NBA's free-agent negotiating period, the Los Angeles Lakers kept a pair of rotation players from hitting the open market.

The Lakers exercised their $1.9 million team option for Wenyen Gabriel and their $2.4 million team option for Stanley Johnson on Wednesday to retain them for the 2022-23 season.

Spotrac's Keith Smith first reported the team's decisions.

Smith added that Johnson's contract is fully guaranteed, but Gabriel's pact has converted to non-guaranteed. It would become guaranteed if he's still on the roster at the leaguewide guarantee date in January.

The eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Detroit Pistons, Johnson had a bit of a career resurgence in his first season with the Lakers. He initially joined the team in December on a 10-day contract, which ended up getting renewed twice before he was signed for the remainder of the season with a team option for 2022-23.

Johnson appeared in 48 games and made 27 starts for Los Angeles, averaging 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game while shooting a career-best 46.6 percent from the field.

He scored in double figures 13 times, putting up a season high 21 points in the second-to-last game of the year. It was also his first time playing over 20 minutes per game since 2017-18, which was his final full season in Detroit.

Gabriel joined the Lakers on a two-way contract in March. The Kentucky product averaged 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19 games. He had also spent time with the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers during the 2021-22 season.

While retaining Johnson and Gabriel gives the Lakers some frontcourt depth, the team still has some holes to fill if it wants to improve on last season's disappointing 33-49 finish.