Lakers sign 7-foot center Robert Upshaw

The Lakers have signed Robert Upshaw after five games of summer-league play to a multi-year contract. (Photo by Getty Images)

The Lakers have signed Robert Upshaw after five games of summer-league play to a multi-year contract. (Photo by Getty Images)


The Lakers ended a couple months of speculation and announced the signing of center Robert Upshaw to a multi-year contract.

General Manager Mitch Kupchak announced the deal Monday in a press release, but terms of the deal were not revealed.

The 7-foot Upshaw played five games for the Lakers’ summer-league team, averaging 1.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 11.5 minutes per game.

Upshaw, 21, entered the NBA draft after stints at Fresno State and Washington but went undrafted. He was dismissed from both schools for violating team rules.

As a sophomore last season at Washington, Upshaw led the nation with 4.5 blocks per game in just 24.9 minutes in 19 appearances. He averaged 10.9 points on 59.3 percent shooting and 8.2 rebounds.

The Upshaw signing comes five days after the Lakers signed 32-year-old Brazilian guard Marcelo Huertas to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal. Huertas averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 assists last season for FC Barcelona in Spain, where he has played in the past four years.

The Lakers have 18 players under contract, including non-guaranteed deals to Tarik Black and Jabari Brown. They can have up to 20 players during training camp before trimming to a league-maximum 15 to open the 2015-16 season in late October.