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Terms of the deal were not released.
The Lakers and Smith reportedly discussed a deal since starting
guard Avery Bradley opted out of the season restart in order to
stay with his family.
"In terms of what he brings to the table, just the experience
factor," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Wednesday. "I mean, this
guy is a big-time player. He's proven it over the course of his
career. We know he can help us.
"We almost added him earlier in the year when we added Dion
Waiters and now we have the luxury of having both. We're not
going to ask him to come in and be Avery Bradley. He's going to
come in and be JR Smith. He's going to just fill that position,
more than fill that role."
Smith, 34, has not played in the NBA since an 11-game stint with
the Cleveland Cavaliers at the start of the 2018-19 season, when
he accused the team of tanking before eventually parting ways.
His last full season came in 2017-18 with the Cavaliers, when he
averaged 8.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 80 games (61 starts) in
LeBron James' final season before he left to join the Lakers. In
Game 1 of the NBA Finals that year, Smith infamously lost track
of the score in a gaffe that ultimately led to Cleveland losing
to Golden State in overtime.
Across 14-plus seasons, Smith has career averages of 12.5 points
and 3.2 rebounds in 971 games (395 starts).
NBA teams will travel to Orlando between July 7-9 to begin
training camps before restarting the season July 30.
The Lakers will play their first game that day against the Los
Angeles Clippers. When the season was halted on March 11 because
of the coronavirus pandemic, the Lakers held a 5.5-game lead
over the Clippers in the Western Conference standings.
--Field Level Media
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