NBA contract update: Los Angeles Lakers sign 6-foot-3 ex-Bulls star extending Luka Doncic-led roster

Collin Sexton is officially a Laker. Los Angeles announced Sunday that it has signed the veteran guard to a two-year, $19 million contract, using the team's room exception to close out a busy stretch of free agency moves.

The deal includes a player option for the second season, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.Sexton joins the Lakers after splitting last season between the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls, and his arrival gives Los Angeles another shot creator to lean on in the backcourt now that the post-LeBron era has officially begun.

Los Angeles Lakers sign Collin Sexton

The Lakers wrote on X that they were "bringing the energy to LA," welcoming Sexton to the roster as their latest bench addition.

The deal caps off a flurry of offseason moves that also included a trade for center Walker Kessler and free agent signings of Quentin Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili.

Sexton appeared in 68 games between Charlotte and Chicago last season, averaging 15.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc. His numbers spiked after a February trade sent him to the Bulls, where he averaged 17.5 points and 1.5 steals over his final 26 games.

He'll wear No. 10 in Los Angeles.

Collin Sexton's NBA career in a nutshell

Cleveland selected Sexton eighth overall in the 2018 draft after a single standout season at Alabama, where he earned First Team All-SEC honors. He started all 82 games as a rookie, becoming the first Cavaliers rookie to do so since the 1999-2000 season, and picked up NBA All-Rookie Second Team recognition.His best statistical season came in 2020-21, when he averaged a career-high 24.3 points per game with Cleveland.

Sexton later spent three seasons in Utah before moving to Charlotte and then Chicago last year. Across 475 career games, he carries averages of 18.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists on 47.2 percent shooting from the field and better than 38 percent from three.

How does Collin Sexton's new signing impact the Lakers?

The signing gives Los Angeles a reliable scorer for stretches when Doncic sits, and his improving 3-point shooting suggests he could also play alongside the Slovenian star in select lineups.

Sexton has shot at least 40 percent from deep in each of the past two seasons, a skill set that fits a roster trying to surround Doncic and Austin Reaves with more perimeter shooting and shot creation.The move also closes the book on the Lakers' spending power this offseason. NBA journalist Trevor Lane wrote on X that the Lakers are "above the cap now with the Collin Sexton signing," adding that any further additions would have to come through trades or veteran minimum deals.

In a nutshell, the room exception used on Sexton left Los Angeles without further cap flexibility, meaning general manager Rob Pelinka's roster building for training camp is effectively done unless a trade materializes.

That leaves the Lakers heading into training camp with their guard rotation largely set, and it will be up to new head coach JJ Redick's staff to figure out how Sexton's scoring punch fits alongside Doncic and Reaves once the games start to count.