Lakers add Anton Watson on Exhibit 10 deal. Image via: David Gonzales-Imagn Images Anton Watson gets another shot at sticking in the league with a team built around Luka Doncic. The Lakers announced Thursday that they’ve added the 6-foot-8 forward on an Exhibit 10 deal, a low-risk move that hands him a runway into training camp.It’s the kind of signing that barely makes a ripple on its own, but for a roster still shuffling pieces before opening night, every training camp body matters. Watson now gets to make his case in front of a coaching staff building around Doncic’s leadership.
Lakers sign Anton Watson to Exhibit 10 contract
The move became official when Los Angeles confirmed it through a press release Thursday, bringing Anton Watson aboard on an Exhibit 10 contract. It’s a standard tool for teams at this point in the calendar, minimal financial commitment, but a real invitation to compete. For Watson, it means a spot in camp and a shot at landing one of the team’s two-way slots once the roster gets trimmed down.The 25-year-old forward isn’t walking in as an unknown. He spent last season carrying real weight for the South Bay Lakers, the franchise’s G League affiliate, and the front office clearly noticed. Across 50 games there in 2025-26, he averaged 11.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals in just over 27 minutes a night. Those aren’t gaudy numbers, but they’re steady, well-rounded production from a guy who’s been fighting for a foothold since he left college.
Watson’s road through Boston and New York leads back to LA
The Gonzaga product went 54th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, landing with the Boston Celtics, and spent that rookie season bouncing between Boston’s system and, later, the New York Knicks after a trade sent him across conferences. Most of that year was logged in the G League with both organizations’ affiliates, though he did get a small taste of NBA minutes, appearing in nine games for the Knicks for a combined 22 minutes.Before any of that, Watson built his name at Gonzaga, where he closed out his college career as a First-team All-WCC selection. That two-way toughness, the kind that shows up more in rebounding numbers and hustle plays than in scoring totals, is part of what’s kept him in NBA circles despite not yet carving out a steady rotation role.Now, the Lakers can bring as many as 21 players into training camp, but that number has to shrink to a 15-man roster plus three two-way spots before the regular season tips off. Watson will be fighting for one of the smaller number of openings, competing against a crowded camp roster for a chance to finally get consistent NBA minutes.