Former KU guard Newman officially a member of Lakers, courtesy of two-way contract

The Los Angeles Lakers, who reached an agreement with former Kansas guard Malik Newman late on the evening of the June 21 NBA Draft, announced Newman's signing on Sunday — the first day of NBA free agency.

Newman, a 6-foot-3 rookie guard out of Jackson, Miss., was not selected in the 60-player draft. He received a two-way contract, which will have him play for the Lakers’ G-League team, the South Bay Lakers, as well as the parent club. The G-League team is also in Los Angeles.

NBA teams are permitted to have up to two players on two-way contracts on the roster in addition to the official 15-player regular season roster. Two-way players are allowed to be on the main roster for 45 days, with the remainder of the time spent in the G-League.

Newman, 21, averaged 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals a game for KU last season. The Big 12’s newcomer of the year was named MVP of both the Big 12 postseason tournament and the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional.

Newman has joined former KU guard Svi Mykhailiuk on the roster of the Lakers’ summer league team, which will play July 6-17 in Las Vegas after competing in three games in the California Classic starting Monday in Sacramento, Calif. The Classic is an event featuring summer teams of the Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat.

Eager to get started, Newman has been in L.A. working out the past two weeks.

Mykhailiuk, the Lakers’ second-round pick selected at No. 47 overall, met the media after the Lakers’ first summer practice on Friday.

“I think every player coming to a new team, especially coming into the NBA, we’ve got to figure a lot of stuff out,” Mykhailiuk said. “We will have to work hard and learn from other players, from other teammates, from other guys and try to be a great teammate.”

The Lakers won the Las Vegas summer league title last July.

“All that matters is winning games. All of us are trying to win as many games as we can,” Mykhailiuk said. “That was the main point (at first practice), to win it again. We’re doing all we can to win it.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2018 at 9:34 PM.