Kendrick Nunn became an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday afternoon after the Miami Heat opted to pull his qualifying offer. While Nunn has been an effective member of Miami’s rotation in recent years, the team has been quite busy in free agency and seemingly decided that there just wasn’t room for Nunn on the roster.
It didn’t take long for Nunn to land somewhere else. According to multiple media reports, Nunn has decided to head to Los Angeles and suit up alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and the Lakers.
Free agent guard Kendrick Nunn has agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, source tells ESPN. Deal includes a player option. Nunn turned down significantly more money to chase a title with the Lakers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 3, 2021
The terms of the deal came out shortly after, with Nunn getting two years from L.A. for $10 million.
Kendrick Nunn has agreed to a two-year, $10M deal with the Lakers, his agent Adam Pensack tells @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 3, 2021
Can confirm reports that Lakers agreed to a deal with guard Kendrick Nunn for 2 years, $10-million, with player option for second season. Nunn turned down more money from the Knicks, per source.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) August 3, 2021
Nunn joined the Heat in 2019 after a stint with the Golden State Warriors’ G League team. He came in second place in Rookie of the Year voting during the 2019-20 campaign and carved out a role as one of the team’s starting guards. While the Lakers have largely sought out more veteran players on cheap deals as they push for a championship next season, Nunn and the recently-signed Talen Horton-Tucker give them a pair of younger players who, at the very least, should help them get through a slog of a regular season next year.
In 56 games last season, Nunn averaged 14.6 points per game while connecting on 38.1 percent of his attempts from three.