The Los Angeles Lakers have two days to trim their roster from 16 players on standard contracts to 15 such players, as required by NBA rules. They have completed their five-game preseason schedule and are now preparing to meet the Golden State Warriors for their regular-season opener this Wednesday.
In the meantime, they did conduct a little bit of business on Saturday. Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers waived Rafael Castro and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, two players they recently brought in during the preseason.
Castro, a 6-foot-11 center, went undrafted in June out of George Washington University. He appeared in two preseason games with Los Angeles and totaled two points on 1-of-3 shooting, five rebounds, one assist and one block in 16 minutes.
The Lakers have waived Rafael Castro and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, the team announced. LAL has a couple more training camp practices remaining before opening the regular season against GSW on Wednesday.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 17, 2026
Last season, Castro averaged 15.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game while at George Washington University. Shortly after the draft, he signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, and in late August, he signed another one with the Houston Rockets.
Tait-Jones, a New Zealand native, spent last season in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League with Valmiera Glass VIA. While there, he won a league championship and the league's final MVP award. The 6-foot-6 man went undrafted in 2025 after two seasons at the University of California, San Diego and three seasons prior to that at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
This article originally appeared on Lakers Wire: The Lakers have cut two players from their roster