Did the Lakers Land Their Next Glue Guy in Jake LaRavia?

Monday, as NBA free agency began, the Lakers made their first addition by signing Jake LaRavia. With the main priority still being both a starting caliber and a backup big, the news came as a surprise to some fans.

LaRavia and the Lakers have been connected for about a week now. In a recent interview with Trevor Lane and Keith Smith, LaRavia ended the interview by showing the driver of the car he was being driven in. The driver was Austin Reaves, his friend.

At just 23 years of age and with no massive accomplishments in the league, it makes sense that he’s largely unknown. Lakers fans will soon get to know the name Jake LaRavia.

Who is Jake LaRavia?

Even though LaRavia is a relatively unknown player to most casual fans, the Lakers secured a nice piece of the puzzle today.

At 6’8 235 lbs, LaRavia mixes size and finesse to produce a really well-paced and intelligent player.

This past season, LaRavia started by playing for the Grizzlies and ended the season in Sacramento. Over those 66 total games played, LaRavia averaged 6.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.4 APG while shooting 48% from the field and 42% from three.

He’s still very young and has a higher ceiling than he has reached to this point. With high-IQ players like LaRavia, that development often has a higher hit rate than others.

Potential Dorian Finney-Smith Replacement

Before the news of Jake LaRavia signing with the Lakers broke, LA made headlines by losing Dorian Finney-Smith to Houston. With the Lakers lacking perimeter defenders outside of Finney-Smith, his loss struck a nerve for many Lakers fans.

Luckily, the unknown Jake LaRavia may not only be able to supplement his loss but replace him entirely.

9 years younger and $9M cheaper 👀

The Lakers secured GREAT value on the Jake LaRavia signing 💯 pic.twitter.com/9EmXbjLxBS

— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) June 30, 2025

Many would look at LaRavia’s large frame and frankly, skin tone, and assume that he doesn’t move well on the defensive end, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. LaRavia is a skilled defender on the perimeter.

Per Bball-Index.com, LaRavia ranked as a B+ in ball screen navigation and off-ball chaser defense. He also ranked as an A or higher in passing lane defense, perimeter isolation defense, and pickpocket rating. His overall defensive playmaking grade in 2025 was an A.

As great as Finney-Smith was from three last year, LaRavia outshot his 41% with a whopping 42%. He’ll slot into the role just fine.

Jake LaRavia’s Fit with the Lakers

Speaking of his role, he will need to fill quite a dire team need. Even with his signing, there is still a lack of perimeter defenders. The team can’t be finished in FA either, because, despite his talents, LaRavia isn’t a number-one point-of-attack defender-level player.

Even so, he will make a drastic impact on that side of the ball and will surprise many Lakers fans on that end.

His offensive game is what ultimately leads me to believe he’ll be a glue guy for the team. He isn’t a flamethrower, although he did score 32 against Cleveland on April 10th. He is, however, a very smart player on that side of the ball.

LaRavia capitalizes on open threes and uses his frame and footwork to get downhill to the basket.

In addition to his shooting, according to CraftedNBA, he ranked in the 53rd percentile in offensive creation, compared to Finney-Smith’s 13th percentile ranking. That means that per 100 possessions, LaRavia creates open shots for his teammates at a much higher rate.

It will be nice to have another larger shot creator on the floor outside of LeBron and Luka.

One of the only question marks is how LaRavia and Dalton Knecht will mesh on the floor together. Seeing as how neither of them will start (unless Knecht takes a massive year-two leap), they’ll both be coming off the bench.

Same roles for LaRavia this past season as Dalton Knecht had in LA pic.twitter.com/0SZph3bI6C

— Cranjis McBasketball (@Tim_NBA) July 1, 2025

With both of them playing not only eerily similar roles on both ends, but also producing at eerily similar numbers, it begs the question of whether or not they can cohabitate. On the chance that they can share the court, they will be a fun duo to watch.

All in all, the Lakers landed a fantastic role player and one who is on Luka’s timeline. People will look back at this move and view it as a steal.