Former Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell talks with media after he worked out with Lakers on Monday, June, 8. (Photo by Stephen Carr/Daily Breeze)

Lakers rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell and rookie power forward Larry Nance Jr. signed their contacts on Friday just in time to appear in the team’s summer league opener against Minnesota on Friday in Las Vegas.

The NBA moratorium ended late Wednesday night, and the Lakers made most of their free-agent and draft signings on Thursday. But the delay stemming Russell and Nance Jr. simply involved the Lakers timing their moves with salary cap implications.

Russell and Nance Jr. took of $5.2 million of cap space with just cap holds. Considering Russell signed for $5.1 million and Nance Jr. signed for $1.2 million, the Lakers had an additional $1.2 million in cap space by delaying their contracts becoming official.

But the Lakers made those official so both players could play. The Lakers would not allow any player to compete on their summer league team without a signed contract to prevent any liability issues.

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