In news this morning it became official that Cavaliers utility Antawn Jamison has signed on with the Lakers for the 2012/13 season on a veteran’s minimum 1 year deal. Jamison could have signed elsewhere for more money, but instead decided he only wanted to play for a contender. Last season at the Cavs he averaged 17PPG and 6 rebounds per game and was a solid force for Cleveland. He will be an asset to the Lakers bench who last season registered a league low 20PPG collectively, and mostly on the back of Matt Barnes who is now an unrestricted free agent. This pick up should help bolster the bench’s production and fill the void left by Lamar Odom at the start of last season, whilst providing good back up in the forwards for Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace. The Lakers continue to hunt Dwight Howard, but it is also good to see them addressing the issues that plagued them last season such as the bench, and a championship quality point guard.

As reported earlier:

Amidst the barrage of Dwight Howard rumors, the Los Angeles Lakers’ bench has been a second priority after the acquisition of the Orlando super star. But today, news of 36 year old Cleveland Cavaliers forward Atawn Jamison being signed to the Lakers has ignited talk of management beginning to pull triggers on other free agency options before a potential deal for Dwight Howard is reached.

David Aldridge of ESPN broke the news this morning that the Lakers and Jamison both had mutual interest in a deal being reached which would see the veteran and former 6th Man of The Year suit up in the purple and gold next season. Previous to this news, the Lakers had expressed interest in other free agents to help their high turnover rating, low-producing bench and names such as O.J. Mayo and Grant Hill.

No deal has been formerly reached but it would appear that the Lakers are intent on improving in areas where they struggled last season and put the strung out Dwight Howard deal on the ropes.

We will continue to keep you updated.

Nick C.