Los Angeles Lakers Sign JSU's Trey Johnson

EL SEGUNDO, CA (April 13, 2011) - The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Trey Johnson, it was announced today.  Johnson rejoins the Lakers after spending the 2010 preseason with the team before being waived on October 21, 2010. In five preseason games, he averaged 2.8 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 8.8 minutes.

A 6’5” guard out of Jackson State, Johnson has spent the last four seasons playing for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League. A 2011 D-League All-Star West Team selection, Johnson did not play in the game after being called up to the Toronto Raptors and signing a pair of 10-day contracts with the team. In seven games with the Raptors this season, Johnson averaged 4.0 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 11.6 minutes.

Lakers sign Trey Johnson and recall Derrick Caracter from Bakersfield Jam

In a move to address their depleting roster, the Lakers signed Trey Johnson and recalled Derrick Caracter from the Bakersfield Jam and will be available to play in the team's season finale Wednesday against the Lakers.

These movies coincide with a number of absences that began plaguing the Lakers before their 102-93 victory Wednesday over the Spurs. The Lakers are without Lakers reserves Steve Blake (chicken pox) and Matt Barnes (sore right knee) for an undetermined amount of time, while center Andrew Bynum plans to have an MRI today after hyperextending his right knee.



Lakers adding D-Leaguer Johnson

The two-time NBA champ Los Angeles Lakers are shorthanded. Steve Blake(notes) is out indefinitey with the chicken pox. And the right knee of Matt Barnes(notes), which has undergone surgical repair in the past, is so sore that when he woke up Tuesday he couldn't move easily, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Plus, it's unclear if Andrew Bynum(notes) and his knee will be ready to go when the playoffs start. Not a great way to finish out the season and start the postseason, right?

Lakers Call-Up Trey Johnson From NBA D-League's Bakersfield Jam

Trey Johnson spent the preseason with the Los Angeles Lakers and, after playing the regular season with the NBA Development League's Bakersfield Jam, it looks like he'll spend the postseason with the Lakers as well.

Johnson will be signed for the remainder of the season by the Lakers, a source close to the situation told Ridiculous Upside, after averaging 25.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 39 games for the Jam during the regular season. In Bakersfield's lone playoff game so far this season, Johnson scored 29 points to lead the Jam to a 110-105 upset victory over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

This will be his second call-up of the season after...

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Tennessee State center likes chances with Lakers

Photo: #44, Former TSU's Larry Turner

By MIKE ORGAN, The Tennessean

Larry Turner didn't exactly bounce right from college basketball to the NBA.

There was plenty of unfinished business the 6-foot-11 Turner needed to tend to after graduating last spring from Tennessee State University.

Eventually he signed a two-year free agent contract with the Lakers. He arrived in Los Angeles just this week, and Wednesday went through his first workout, a one-on-one session with Lakers' forward-center Kwame Brown.

"I'm excited and looking forward to it,'' Turner said. "It's always been my dream to play in the NBA."

Hearing that Turner, who averaged 5.8 points and 6.1 rebounds for TSU, had signed with the Lakers came as a surprise for some. The 2005 transfer from Oklahoma was never a consistent contributor for the Tigers and didn't even stay in the starting lineup.

After leaving TSU, Turner relied on a local training facility, Velocity Sports Performance in Cool Springs.

When Turner showed up, he was 233 pounds and determined to get bigger and stronger, according to Mick Weber, Director of Sports Performance at the facility. Working two-hour sessions, five times a week, Turner increased his bench press from 300 to 335 pounds, and bulked up to 255 pounds. Turner worked feverishly to improve his game. He worked one-on-one with Pistons star Nazr Mohammed and the Celtics' Rajon Rondo, and played in the NBA Summer League.

Under the deal, Turner will have to play well in next month's camp to make the team, said his agent Holman Harley. He'll be guaranteed his yearly salary — which Harley refused to disclose — if he can stick until Jan. 10.

"I was able to run the floor pretty well in the summer league,'' Turner said. "I led the Lakers in blocked shots and they liked that."

"He's a big guy that runs the floor, plays hard, listens, blocks shots, rebounds the basketball," Lakers assistant coach and former player Kurt Rambis told Lakers.com. "He's big and strong and has a big body."
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From Lakers sources...

In August of last year, the Star ran a story on Turner, who had been sent by TSU to the Philippines for six weeks of training under Kirk Collier, the skills coach of San Miguel Beer and Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA. He is the first ever player signed by the Los Angeles Lakers that trained in the Philippines.

I’m very happy for Larry, he’s a really good person," Collier told The Star. "If he stays with the team beyond Jan. 10, then his contract will be binding."

Collier worked with Turner on his post moves and perimeter game, and believes the former Oklahoma player will be a good fit with the league’s superstars, like Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom.

"He has a long way to go, but he’s earned this opportunity," says Collier, who originally came to the Philippines to train the players of Red Bull. "What he has to do now is fit in, and not try to be a big scorer right away."