Before their final preseason game, the Lakers made minor waves (well, for some) by waiving undrafted big man Robert Upshaw in favor of keeping Tarik Black and Robert Sacre. Upshaw tantalized with his inherent talent and upside, but ultimately a combination of his checkered past and not showing as much as the coaches or front office would have liked during training camp and the preseason got him waived.
After he was cut, however, head coach Byron Scott mentioned the team was hopeful Upshaw would clear waivers and sign with the D-Fenders. Well, Scott’s hopes have come to fruition.
Center Robert Upshaw cleared waivers and will sign with Lakers' D-League affiliate (LA D-Fenders), league source informs @Clevelanddotcom.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 24, 2015
The Lakers do not retain any rights to Upshaw — by waiving him they relinquished any hold they had on him in that regard. However, because he was in camp with them, the team can name him an affiliate player where he can play on the D-Fenders where the Lakers have organizational control and oversight of his development.
While this isn’t what Upshaw would have liked — surely he’d prefer to have a final roster spot — this was always the most likely result of his camp invite. Further, it’s likely the place he would have spent the majority of the season even if he did make the final roster. Based on his play in summer league and during preseason, he simply did not look to be adjusted enough at the pro level to earn any sort of role on the regular roster.
This isn’t to diminish his talent at all. Upshaw clearly has some game and massive potential. But, if we’re really evaluating him on what he did while on the floor, his timing was off defensively and his offense was choppy and sporadic. Getting minutes with the D-Fenders should enable him to get meaningful on court action for the first time since getting dismissed from the University of Washington in February.
As an aside, the fact that Upshaw cleared waivers should serve some notice to those claiming the Lakers made a massive error by waiving him. Teams are clearly hesitant to take a chance on him; his past transgressions have been hard to escape. Proving himself in training camp is one thing, doing so over the course of a season is something teams seem to have serious doubts on. Hopefully, though, Upshaw can prove folks wrong by finding his way. As a person and then, hopefully, as a player too.
Lakerdreams says
What is the minimum action that the Lakers can take in the next month or two to sign Upshaw while still keeping him on the Defenders? In other words, if we like his progress and want to keep him from being signed by another team, what is the next small step the FO can take? You’ve talked about possibilities of this in the past, Darius, but now we have an actual situation to deal with.
pat oslon says
Good for Robert, now sign Holmes & Frazier, Then I’m good.
Fern says
This is the best for him and the team, right now he is not NBA ready, plus he was a massive knucklehead in the past that no team claimed him off waivers is really telling , some people here just freak out for any minutae , he haven’t proved anything yet. My hope is that he get some burn in the D-League so the team can evaluate if he is viable, if not? No loss there :/
Michael says
Since the Lakers can’t move Young and Sacre yet, signing Upshaw to the Defenders isn’t a terrible idea. Maybe by mid-season the unwanteds can be traded. That is, if Upshaw has improved as well as Young proves he’s not a cancer.
Everclear says
Rookie question: What exactly does it mean to “clear waivers”?
rr says
It means no other team claimed him, so the Lakers could bring him back. During the season, I think the waiver period is 48 hours–might be different in preseason. The Lakers waived their rights to Upshaw, in effect, but no one wanted him.
Darius Soriano says
Everclear,
After a player is waived, there is a 48 hour period where any team can claim him to add him to their roster for the contract he was under when he was waived. Those 48 hours passed & no team claimed him. Thus, he has “cleared” waivers. As an aside, the Lakers have Tarik Black because they claimed him off waivers when the Rockets released him last year.
Vic Rufes says
Upshaw is a beast! If given the chance, more playing time, he will prove everybody’s wrong. And Sacre will be cut from the team.
The Dane says
I have been a coach for some 10 years, leading youth teams to national championships in my country, and I always value character, personality, effort in training, consistency in training and coachability. Especially numbers 10 to 15 on your roster. Hopefully they will not even have to play much, and their most valuable contribution comes while they are not playing (on the plane, in the gym, on the bench, in the bus, in the locker room etc.)
I think Sacre and Metta are guys you want around for those reasons. Do not underestimate this part of the equation.
Fern says
Well said The Dane, Sacre is a stiff but he looks like he is liked in the locker room and is a good character guy, always look happy and motivated, every team need guys like that at the end of the bench. Upshaw have to prove his issues are in the past.
Chearn says
@Dane-Excellent observation.
Robert Upshaw was not going to overcome not playing basketball and training in three months. Within that timeframe, the most anyone could ask of him was consistency in his training regime. Anything beyond that is non-awareness of what constitutes the best athletes in the world. Three months is not enough time to get physically fit to run up and down the floor for 20 minutes a game with no one on the court. Add to that supremely attuned athletes scoring and defending against Upshaw ratcheting the intensity level up to the point that he’s only able to run on offense and defense for less than 20 minutes. NBA basketball mandates that a player plays the game in shape. Otherwise, the player becomes a draft pick that can’t get in the game to showcase his skills, similar to the 2013 no. 1 draft pick Anthony Bennett.
Hopefully, Robert will use the D-league to get into playing shape, regain his timing on both sides of the floor, and develop one or two offensive weapons. This is a positive move for his future career. If his objective is wearing a Lakers uniform, he’ll get the opportunity in 2016 to make the roster. At that point, his agent will be able to forge a more lucrative contract with the team.
J C says
Great take Dane.
Agree 100%.
For the record, I’ve already stated I hope MWP is retained.
What we don’t know is how Metta looks in practice compared to Brown. Maybe Brown looks really promising and Metta looks ancient. I don’t know but I would have assumed they would have made this decision by now. It probably puts both players on edge.
In fact I read that Byron said it ‘may come down to Sunday’s practice’ (which player they retain).
I thought that was an irresponsible comment on Byron’s part. One of many that demonstrates his intellectual ceiling, which I find exasperating.
Hale says
Flip is gone. Condolences to his family.
I passed by Michael Cooper on Friday but didn’t feel comfortable inquiring about his health. He looked good. It had me thinking about Kareem also. I was pulling for Flip to make it through.
Oldtimer says
Metta, Sacre, Jabari, and Upshaw, they are all good and have special fortes but Lakers need more talents to get over the last 8 teams in the West. The objective of Byron is to win games or his job may be in peril by the end of the season. As you can see, they could not pass the Jazz, Sacto, Raptors and their victory against Dubs was not counted in the preseason. True, it is just practice games but it is a good sample of what the season will be. I guess this team is exciting this year but they will have problem of winning against the Western teams.
Gene says
So the Lakers can develop him and when he shows improvement another team can sign him….bad rule….
Craig W. says
Gene,
Upshaw was not only not selected in the draft, but – after summer league – the Lakers didn’t sign him to a training camp invite until September. Any other team could have signed him to their training camp during this time. The fact that they didn’t means it wasn’t a complete surprise that he wasn’t signed this time around, either.
While – yes – anyone can sign him off the Defenders, the Lakers will have the earliest and most complete look at his progress. He will be playing in all the games with the Defenders and his development will be closely monitored. Under the circumstances, this would seem to put the Lakers in the most advantageous position – not guaranteed, but still good.
Remember, all the other teams have roster limitations and their own ‘minor league’ players also.
Rolokovich says
One a upon a time basketball players went to college for 4 years and got plenty of experience. Now-a-days, many don’t go at all or only for 1 year. This is why the NBA has started the D-league. What gets me, is in this system only 3 players are protected (against other teams signing their player) as “affiliate” players. Baseball never was never popular on the college level, so they had to create their own minor leagues. Although in baseball, they have the more detailed system of “options.” They are able to protect their developing players from being taken while they are learning.
NBA teams need to learn from their baseball counterparts.
http://www.purplerow.com/2014/3/18/5520036/options-baseball-explanation-mlb
Rod says
It’s interesting to me that no other team claimed Upshaw off wavers. Not so much because of his choppy play during preseason, but because folks are still hung up over his transactions in the past. The same folks that moan and groan about not getting another chance to make good are the same hypocrites that feel the need to hold a person’s past mistakes against him. Hypocritical much?
matt says
Delembert was waived he’s better than sacre
Mitch says
Blue and Gold? Are you serious?