The Los Angeles Lakers have been incredibly aggressive during the 2026 NBA Draft, as they made a trade in the first round in order to move up to select guard Cameron Carr, and ahead of the second round, they acquired the No. 56 overall pick for cash from the Chicago Bulls.
However, the second-round pick didn’t amount to much, as they eventually traded the No. 56 overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks for cash, which might be a move that gets more detail later.
Once the NBA Draft officially came to an end without the Lakers bringing in another rookie, the team quickly signed Vanderbilt product AK Okereke to a two-way contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Okereke spent three years at Cornell before transferring to Vanderbilt for his senior season, where he saw more minutes on the basketball floor, but also saw some of his numbers dip.
The California native averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 59.5 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from beyond the arc in his junior year at Cornell.
Then, Okereke averaged 9.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in his lone season at Vanderbilt, but did develop more of a three-point shot at 40 percent for the 2025-26 campaign.
Regardless of his college averages, Okereke did do something to pique the Lakers’ interest, as he was the first undrafted player to agree to a two-way deal with an NBA team.
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