As a former No. 15 pick, the 22-year-old is still looking for an opportunity after struggling to carve out a role with the Atlanta Hawks. Sometimes finding confidence in the G League helps and it appears Bufkin took advantage of that opportunity.

Notably, he was signed to a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies back on Nov. 26, but he did not see any playing time.

L.A. noticed his production and decided to give him a chance. The former Michigan Wolverine appeared in four games for the Lakers, but it looks like he will not be receiving a second 10-day and will be returning to South Bay:

The South Bay Lakers have re-acquired guard Kobe Bufkin.

In a related moved, the team has waived guard James Reese.

— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) January 23, 2026

Reflecting on Bufkin’s short tenure with Los Angeles, he averaged 3.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists on 36.4% from the field and 28.6% from distance. On Jan. 17 against the Portland Trail Blazers, it was his most significant opportunity by receiving 22 minutes, but he did struggle offensively.

Bufkin put up nine points on 3-for-8 from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Unfortunately, his South Bay production did not transfer to the Lakers and perhaps that played a factor in Los Angeles not offering another 10-day right now.

Whether general manager Rob Pelinka decides to give Bufkin another shot in the future remains to be seen, but there is a chance for him to sign another 10-day as teams are allowed to sign players to two. Until then, the lefty guard needs to continue dominating in the G League and hopefully, another opportunity presents itself, whether it be with the Lakers or elsewhere.

Kobe Bufkin was acquired by South Bay Lakers earlier in season

For a former first-round pick to fall quickly out of favor with his incumbent team is unfortunate and Kobe Bufkin was a salary dump in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. However, Brooklyn did end up waiving him and it resulted in Bufkin entering the G League player pool.

Dating back to the 2023 Draft, the Lakers did have interest in the young guard, but he was selected ahead of their pick. Seeing now that he was available to bring into their G League system, the South Bay Lakers jumped on the opportunity to acquire Bufkin.

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This season has been more of the same as Knecht has had a couple of strong outings, but recently found himself outside of head coach JJ Redick’s rotation. In order to keep Knecht ready and get him some on-court reps, the Lakers recently sent him down to their South Bay G League affiliate.

And in his first ever contest in the G League, Knecht immediately showed that he has plenty to offer. Knecht was outstanding in his G League debut, knocking down six 3-pointers and finishing with 30 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in South Bay’s victory over the San Diego Clippers.

30 PTS 5 REB 6 3PM 59% FG

Dalton Knecht SHINES in his G League debut dropping 30PTS for the @SouthBayLakers with 6 3PM and knocking down 59% from the field pic.twitter.com/4vX1Swkrsj

— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 17, 2025

If there is one thing Knecht has proven it is that he can score at the NBA level. Whether it is from deep, the midrange, or finishing in the paint, Knecht can flat out put the ball in the basket. It is the development of his other skills that will determine what kind of NBA career he has.

Knecht wasn’t alone in leading South Bay to victory as two-way guard Nick Smith Jr. knocked down four 3-pointers of his own to finish with 20 points and the Lakers’ latest two-way signing, big man Drew Timme, finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. Second-round pick Adou Thiero was also solid as he contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Jarred Vanderbilt kept focused to help Lakers

Knecht could do well to follow the lead of veteran forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who found himself outside the rotation before Redick turned to him in the Lakers’ victory over the Phoenix Suns. And Vanderbilt made it clear that he always knew his chance would come and that he just had to stay ready when it did.

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Bufkin struggled considerably in finding a role with the Atlanta Hawks through two seasons and this past offseason, they traded Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets. He was waived at the end of training camp and was now hoping to reinvent himself in the G League, where Bufkin looked impressive through two games with South Bay.

He appeared in two Tip-Off Tournament games for the team this season, averaging 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 28.7 minutes. The 22-year-old scored in double figures in both contests, including a season-high 28 points at Salt Lake City Nov. 18.

This ultimately caught the attention of the Memphis Grizzlies, who have been hampered by injuries at the guard position. Due to their injury luck, they were granted a 10-day hardship exception and opted to sign Bufkin, via Shams Charania of ESPN:

The Memphis Grizzlies plan to sign guard Kobe Bufkin via 10-day hardship exception, sources tell ESPN. Bufkin, the No. 15 pick in the 2023 draft, gets called up from the Lakers' South Bay G League team and enters his third NBA season.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 23, 2025

It is worth noting that the Lakers were intrigued by Bufkin leading up to the 2023 Draft, but opted to go with Jalen Hood-Schifino after he was taken by the Hawks.

Memphis needed a guard with Ja Morant sidelined due to a calf strain and Ty Jerome similarly dealing with a calf injury, so Bufkin will get a look.

There are minutes to be had and it will be intriguing to monitor how much playing time Bufkin gets upon his arrival in Tennessee. Ultimately, through two games with the South Bay Lakers, the 6’4″ guard averaged 22 points, 6.5 rebounds and four assists on 44.4% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.

As far as the Lakers go, there are too many guard options at head coach JJ Redick’s disposal right now. With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart and to a lesser extent Nick Smith Jr. and Bronny James, it was hard to imagine any immediate opportunity for Bufkin like Memphis has. Depending on how things go in Memphis though, it is possible that he winds up back with South Bay after his contract expires.

Kobe Bufkin was among prospects Lakers met with at Combine before 2023 Draft

Revisiting previous drafts is always interesting to see which teams made great or poor picks. Leading up to the 2023 Draft, the Lakers met with prospects who have had moments in the NBA, with Kobe Bufkin being one of those.

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Thiero is not expected to be a major contributor at the NBA level this season, but his combination of athleticism, defensive prowess and finishing at the rim are all intriguing skillsets that could help him become a legitimate rotation player sooner than the average second-round pick.

But while he still gets his legs under him from all the time he missed, Thiero is going to have some runs with the South Bay Lakers in the G League. He was sent down earlier this week with the Lakers having four full days off and South Bay having a game against the Santa Cruz Warriors on Friday night.

Thiero started for South Bay in that game — alongside some other familiar names in Bronny James, Nick Smith Jr., Christian Koloko and Drew Timme — and impressed in all phases. He finished with 19 points, four rebounds and three steals on 5-of-9 shooting in only 19 minutes of action:

Adou Thiero tonight doing it all:
19 PTS | 4 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL pic.twitter.com/V6lEzo3o6P

— Laker Performances (@LALPerformance) November 22, 2025

Timme, Smith and James all had strong performances of their own as South Bay got the big win to move to 4-1 on the season. But Thiero’s was truly the standout. To lead the team in scoring despite playing less than 20 minutes — and significantly less minutes than the other double-digit scorers — shows an efficiency that he can bring when playing within his game.

The Lakers could arguably use more wing defense and more high-energy players. They have struggled in transition so far this year on both ends of the floor, and their defense looks to be about as expected, which doesn’t bode well for a deep playoff run.

While Thiero may not be a total fix, he could provide some assistance once he gets some more minutes under his belt. Over the course of the regular season, it may not be surprising to see Thiero get some meaningful run in some of these Lakers games after the way he has started the year.

JJ Redick: Lakers must clean up turnover issues

The Lakers have gotten off to a strong start this season, due in large part to what has been a very good offense. Led by Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have consistently gotten excellent looks and for the most part, have executed the system designed by head coach JJ Redick and his coaching staff.

The Lakers have been extremely efficient, leading the NBA in field goal percentage and true shooting percentage while ranking second in effective field goal percentage. But despite their overall efficiency, the Lakers are just outside of the top 10 in offensive rating and Redick knows the culprit and the thing this team needs to fix most is their turnovers.

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Timme led South Bay to a 3-0 start to the year while averaging 30 points, seven rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. He dropped 34 in the team’s season opener.

The 25-year-old is looking to carve out a career for himself in the NBA after an exceptional career at Gonzaga from 2019-23 where he won two West Coast Conference (WCC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Year awards in 2022 and 2023, as well as the WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 2023.

Timme went undrafted in 2023 and has since spent time in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd, Stockton Kings and Long Island Nets. He signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets in March of 2025 and finished out the NBA season with them, averaging 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game across nine contests.

After being waived by the Nets in October, Timme was picked up by South Bay and is off to an outstanding start to the 2025-26 G League season. If Timme can keep up this level of production, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers or another team gives him a two-way contract to give the big man another chance in the NBA.

LeBron James enjoyed practicing with South Bay Lakers

As LeBron James worked his way back from a sciatica issue, he practiced with the South Bay Lakers a couple of times while the parent team was on a road trip. That was James’ first time doing that, and he enjoyed his experience.

It was great. I appreciate the coaching staff and the players allowing me to, one, kind of change the practice detail a little bit. They usually go at 11. I’m an early bird. I was like, can we go at 10? I wanted to go out like 8, but little pull and tuck and tuck and pull. But it’s very humbling. I mean, to go out there, that’s the benefit of having a farm system, basically,” James said.

“The guys were going on that long road trip. I got cleared to play some five-on-five for the first time since, shit, hurting my MCL versus Minnesota. And that was the blessing. They was here preparing for their games and I got an opportunity to get a couple of runs in with them, a couple of practices in. So it’s a blessing.”

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