Los Angeles Lakers sign their replacement for Avery Bradley for the remainder of the season.

Last week, Avery Bradley announced his non-availability for the league’s restart inside a bubble in Orlando citing family concerns. Bradley had been a regular starter for the Lakers in what had been a successful season until the league’s suspension.

On Tuesday, Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka talked in a conference call with the reporters saying it was a big loss to lose Bradley.

“It’s tough to lose Avery. His toughness, his defensive tenacity, he was a starter. But we completely understand his decision,” he said.

He also announced they will be signing a replacement a day later.

“We will sign a replacement player,” Pelinka continued. “That’s the plan. And with the restart protocol, I’m sure you guys are aware that July 1 is the first date that we would be allowed to do that. There should be more updates then, we can’t really talk about forward-looking transactions under the NBA rules, but we are planning on signing a replacement player tomorrow.”

As Pelinka announced, the Lakers completed signing a replacement on Wednesday. They signed JR Smith who was being linked to a Lakers move since Bradley’s announcement of his unavailability. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported via his Twitter on Wednesday saying JR Smith to Lakers was a done deal.

He will, reportedly, wear No. 21 jersey.

Los Angeles Lakers restart their season with Los Angeles Clippers

The Lakers, like all other teams, will have to initially play eight regular-season games before the playoffs. Lakers, who kickstarted the 2019/20 NBA season, will also play the first game after the restart. Interestingly, they will also face the same opponents whom they played on the opening night.

They later play Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz before games against Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. They finish their regular season with games against Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings.

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• July 30: Clippers, 6 p.m. Pacific
• Aug. 1: Raptors, 5:30 p.m.
• Aug. 3: Jazz, 6 p.m.
• Aug. 5: Thunder, 3:30 p.m.
• Aug. 6: Rockets, 6 p.m.
• Aug. 8: Pacers, 3 p.m.
• Aug. 10: Nuggets, 6 p.m.
• Aug. 13: Kings, TBD