Lakers waive Jahmir Young hours after signing him, make Tait-Jones official

The Los Angeles Lakers have made New Zealand wing Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones official and, in a corresponding move, waived guard Jahmir Young — hours after Young himself had been added on an Exhibit 10 deal in place of Cole Swider.

More from Lakers – The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones. In a corresponding move, the team has waived guard Jahmir Young.

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 15, 2026

Dan Woike reported the club’s announcement overnight. The team listed Tait-Jones as a guard in the release. Sources had already pointed to an Exhibit 10 agreement for the 25-year-old earlier Wednesday; the corresponding cut of Young supplies the open camp slot and keeps Los Angeles under the 21-player preseason maximum.

A camp deal that lasted hours

Young, 26, had just joined the Lakers on Wednesday night after time with Miami and Chicago and a strong G League run with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Swider was waived to make room. That sequence barely settled before the club flipped the same slot again for Tait-Jones, who starred at UC San Diego, went undrafted in 2025, and recently took Latvian-Estonian League Finals MVP honors with Valmiera Glass VIA.

Exhibit 10 deals are built for this kind of late-camp churn. A player waived before opening night who then spends at least 60 days with the affiliate can earn a bonus of up to about $91,000 on top of G League pay. Young remains eligible for that path with another organization; Tait-Jones now gets the final preseason look and the cleaner Coachella Valley runway if Los Angeles does not convert him.

What the Oct. 19 deadline still decides

Regular-season rosters must be set by Monday, October 19 at 5 p.m. ET: 15 standard contracts and three two-way spots. Many teams will still make non-guaranteed cuts by Saturday, October 17 to avoid even a couple days of salary once the regular season tips. Los Angeles has used the last 24 hours to sample ball-handling depth (Young) and wing size (Tait-Jones) without locking either into the opening-night 15.

Availability for Friday’s preseason finale depends on paperwork timing. Watch the waiver wire through next week for Young’s next stop, any further Lakers camp cuts, and claim activity on earlier league-wide moves such as Cam Christie and Trey Jemison III, whose 48-hour windows run toward October 16.