The Lakers had recently given Bufkin a 10-day contract after he dominated for the South Bay Lakers in the G League. And now he has the opportunity to be around the team for the remainder of the season and potentially next year as he was signed to a two-year deal with a team option.

Bufkin was a first-round pick of the Atlanta Hawks just two years ago, and having the chance to prove that he is an NBA-caliber player with the Lakers really means a lot to him.

“It means a lot,” Bufkin said after his first career start Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs. “Me and Rob (Pelinka) have history, obviously him being a Michigan guy. The support has always been there, so for him to pull the trigger on me was real special.”

Bufkin spent two years at Michigan, Pelinka’s alma mater, but his NBA future was in question after he was traded this past offseason and then waived by the Brooklyn Nets. But his play in the G League turned heads to the point that the Lakers felt good about signing him, and he feels his time with South Bay has been very beneficial.

“I think it’s been great steps,” Bufkin added. “I think the system is very similar, so just being able to be in the system has helped me a lot.”

Bufkin has averaged 27.7 points, 4.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks with South Bay this year and while he obviously won’t be putting up those numbers on the main roster, he believes his two-way play, particularly his defense, is what can get him minutes.

“Just continuing to be a defensive presence,” Bufkin responded when asked what he has to do to earn minutes. “And then being able to knock shots down when they come my way, however that may look.”

Head coach JJ Redick has proven he will play whoever he feels can help the team win, as was the case last year when the Lakers signed another standout from South Bay, Jordan Goodwin, who would become a trusted member of the rotation.

Tuesday not only marked Bufkin’s first game since signing, but also his first career start, which he acknowledged was a nice moment.

“I think that was my first career start, so it was cool. It was cool with it being with the Lakers.”

Bufkin has an excellent opportunity to potentially carve out a rotation spot for himself on this Lakers team. He has already put in the work to get back to this point, now he has to deliver when his number is called.

Rookie Adou Thiero felt ‘back to normal’ in return for Lakers

Another young player looking to carve out a role on this Lakers team is rookie Adou Thiero, who made his return from a sprained MCL and said he felt back to normal in his first game back on the court.

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The Lakers have done well in the latter parts of the NBA Draft and undrafted free agency, but they’ve also been good about utilizing their G League affiliate South Bay to take swings on players.

Several good NBA players have come through South Bay, including guard Kobe Bufkin. A former first-round pick, Bufkin earned his keep in the league after he signed a two-year NBA contract with the Lakers.

Head coach JJ Redick explained why they signed Bufkin instead of a player off the buyout market and how they feel about him on the roster.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into that, you know, the buyout market, I’ll just be frank because I did this when I was working in media, very rarely produces a player that impacts a team’s playoff chances. It just — it very rarely does,” Redick said. “The second part of that is you gotta make sure if you get a buyout player, you gotta make sure that guy is healthy, ready to play. Kobe has certainly earned a spot in the NBA with the way he’s played this year for us in South Bay. There’s also factors of are we going to be able to keep him in our program? So there’s a lot that went into it. We feel really happy that we got him on a roster spot.”

Redick also explained what Bufkin brings to the table and how he can help the purple and gold.

“I think the thing that Zach (Guthrie) has really challenged him on this year and he’s gotten better on is just his defensive activity and engagement. I think he’s got the positional size to be a plus defender and obviously his ability to shoot the ball consistently, particularly on our team, would provide great value.”

Bufkin lit up the G League with South Bay, but now has an opportunity to carve out a role back in the NBA with the Lakers. It might be hard for him to earn minutes the rest of the season given the playoff race, but long-term he’s an intriguing prospect worth monitoring.

Lakers aggressively shopped Dalton Knecht at trade deadline

While Kobe Bufkin is officially on the roster now, the Lakers spent most of the trade deadline reportedly aggressively shopping Dalton Knecht. Knecht has fallen out of the rotation and likely needs change of scenery to get his NBA career back on track, but that will have to wait until the summer.

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This is well-deserved for Bufkin as he has been tearing it up with the Lakers’ G League affiliate South Bay Lakers this season. The guard is averaging 26.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 51.3% from the field and 43.1% from 3-point range in 21 games.

Originally drafted 15h overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2023 out of Michigan, Bufkin only played in 27 games in his first two NBA seasons. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets this past offseason and then waived, eventually landing with South Bay.

Bufkin has worked extremely hard to get his career back on track and has done exactly that. He signed 10-day contracts this season with both the Memphis Grizzlies and Lakers, and now he lands a deal for at least the remainder of this season.

The Lakers have been looking for young 3-and-D players for a while now and Bufkin fits that billing. The 22-year-old will get an opportunity to impress for the rest of this season, and then L.A. will decide if it wants to pick up his team option to keep him on the roster for 2026-27 as well.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka could have turned to the buyout market for the team’s final roster spot, but he instead decided to reward Bufkin instead of likely losing him to another team as plenty currently have open roster spots to hand out.

Rob Pelinka: Lakers were aggressive at trade deadline

The Lakers’ only moves at the trade deadline were swapping Gabe Vincent for Luke Kennard in a trade with the Hawks that also involved a 2023 second-round pick, and now using their 15th roster spot to sign Bufkin.

Despite that though, Pelinka feels the Lakers were aggressive in their trade talks.

“I would say we were aggressive,” Pelinka began. “And one form of being aggressive is saying no to moves that come your way that might not be best for the short- and long-term future. That’s being aggressive, even though you end up doing nothing, because it’s hard to say no sometimes to getting a good player that could be a quick short-term fix, but could have implications for the long term where it doesn’t fit into the overall vision you have for the team.”

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After only making one move though, the Lakers left themselves with an open roster spot to add a player via the buyout market, as they have in the past with guys like Markieff Morris, Andre Drummond and Spencer Dinwiddie.

There are some intriguing options on the buyout market again this year, but it appears the Lakers are going in-house for their final roster spot.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers are signing Kobe Bufkin to a two-year standard NBA contract with a team option in 2026-27:

The Los Angeles Lakers are signing guard Kobe Bufkin to a two-year deal, with a team option for the 2026-27 season, sources tell ESPN. Bufkin has starred for L.A.'s South Bay affiliate and now rejoins the Lakers in his third NBA season to fill their 15th roster spot. pic.twitter.com/Z1m3M4KvTM

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 8, 2026

Bufkin has been with the Lakers’ G League affiliate South Bay Lakers this season and has been exceptional, averaging 26.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 51.3% from the field and 43.1% from 3-point range in 21 games.

The Lakers gave him a call-up earlier this season, signing him to a 10-day contract, although he only played sparing minutes before that expired. With him playing so well in the G League though, the former first round pick was bound to get signed by someone, and it’s good to see that it will be with the Lakers for at least the remainder of this season.

If Bufkin impresses to end the year then the Lakers will likely pick up his team option for 2026-27 as well.

Lakers coach JJ Redick plans to tell Luke Kennard to shoot more

While Luke Kennard is one of the best shooters in the league, he has never been the most high-volume shooter averaging just 4.4 attempts from deep per game. But Lakers coach JJ Redick plans on pushing him to shoot even more.

“Excited about Luke,” Redick said. “I’ve known him, I guess for about 12 years now and I think he’s one of the best shooters in the NBA. I’m gonna highly encourage him to shoot more and not turn down shots. Because I think one of the underrated part of his game is his ability to move and create second actions and move the basketball. You’ve seen that now at a number of his stops where you can initiate the offense through an off-ball movement and he will just make the right play and sort of get the offense going. So he’ll be a corner threat and he’ll be an off-ball threat and we’re excited to have him.”

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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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