Lakers News: Juan Toscano-Anderson Agrees to Contract After 3 Seasons with Warriors
Fresh off winning an NBA championship, Juan Toscano-Anderson is ready to take the next step in his career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Toscano-Anderson has agreed to a contract with Los Angeles.
The writing appeared to be on the wall for Toscano-Anderson with the Golden State Warriors when they declined to extend him a qualifying offer for $2.1 million. They are already deep into the luxury tax and paid a combined $346 million between player salaries and repeater tax last season.
No one is suggesting the Warriors are going to start cutting payroll, but at some point, the front office has to find some ways to save a little bit on the margins.
Toscano-Anderson had a long climb just to make it to the NBA. He went undrafted out of Marquette in 2015 and spent three years bouncing between Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional in Mexico and Liga Profesional de Baloncesto in Venezuela.
The Golden State Warriors signed Toscano-Anderson to their G League team in October 2018. The Oakland native spent two seasons with the Santa Cruz Warriors before making his NBA debut at 26 years old in February 2020.
Head coach Steve Kerr has used Toscano-Anderson primarily off the bench during his three seasons with the Warriors. He's been an efficient scorer in limited minutes, shooting 52.3 percent from the field.
The 2020-21 season was Toscano-Anderson's best season as a shooter. He made 40.2 percent of his three-pointers on 1.7 attempts per game.
Losing Toscano-Anderson won't put much of a dent in Golden State's quest to repeat as NBA champions. He was a solid player off the bench, but never carved out much of a role on a strong roster.
On the other hand, a team like the Lakers that is starved for depth can take advantage of the things that Toscano-Anderson can do.
Toscano-Anderson has the versatility to play shooting guard and small forward. He provided a burst of energy for the Warriors, particularly during the 2020-21 campaign. His shooting could get better with LeBron James commanding so much attention from opposing defenses.
Lakers fans are accustomed to getting the marquee names, but one reason things fell apart for them last season was the lack of depth because of a series of injuries. Toscano-Anderson is exactly the type of competent glue guy this roster needs.
