The Los Angeles Lakers have a unique reason to keep Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison around.
With the 2025 NBA playoffs around the corner, the top-six seeds in both conferences have confirmed their 15-man roster for the postseason.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, two exciting two-way players in Trey Jemison and Christian Koloko’s deals weren’t converted to standard contracts.
As a result, they won’t be in head coach JJ Redick’s rotations during the playoffs. Despite that, the two big men still have access to the team’s training.
Trey Jemison and Christian Koloko won’t play, but will travel with the team
There is no doubt that the NBA features the most talented basketball players in the world. Evidently, earning a roster spot on any of the 30 NBA franchises takes an immense amount of talent.
In this scenario, two-way deals help the organizations in keeping their options open. Coming back to Jemison and Koloko, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin confirmed on X that the Lakers haven’t converted their contracts, but they are expected to travel with the team.
“Lakers two-way players Trey Jemison III and Christian Koloko were not converted to full-fledged NBA contracts before the regular season ended, so they are ineligible to play in the playoffs,” McMenamin wrote.
He added: “However, both practiced with the team today and will be with the team for the playoff run.”
Now, that’s a unique situation, but the Purple and Gold reportedly have a solid reasoning behind it.
LA Lakers ‘liked the chemistry of the group’
There has been debate about Jemison or Koloko’s place on the final roster, but at this point, it won’t change the Lakers’ decision.
However, McMenamin reported that the Lakers do not want to destroy the team’s chemistry by totally cutting off the two players ahead of the playoffs.
“The Lakers ‘liked the chemistry of the group’ during the regular season and wanted to keep that dynamic together for the playoffs,” the ESPN insider added.
Depending on how well the Lakers play in the playoffs could help Jemison and Koloko earn a permanent spot on the roster next season.
Until then, Lakers fans will continue to see them on the team’s videos from practice sessions throughout the playoffs.
