He was a two-way Lakers player but was waived, the Heat could be his new 'home'

In the last season, the Los Angeles Lakers had the rookie Max Christie and two players with two-way contracts Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider.

Out of the three rookies, Max Christie, who was the only 2022 NBA Draft pick for the Lakers remains to be on the team's roster. Scotty Pippen Jr. had a great year with the South Bay Lakers but wasn't resigned, and is looking to have one last shot with the team as he is currently signed with an exhibit-10 deal in LA.

But the one that recently was waived is Cole Swider who was the third two-way contract for the Lakers this season until the team waived him to sign Alex Fudge with that same deal.

The 24-year-old appeared in just seven games with the Lakers proper last season. Across 27 contests (19 starts) with LA's NBA GL affiliate in El Segundo, the South Bay Lakers, he averaged an encouraging 17.1 points on .506/.436/.838 shooting splits, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.8 steals a night.

Cole Swider is looking for an opportunity with the Miami Heat

“It was a big part of my decision-making process,” Swider explained. “There were a lot of interested teams. And a lot of ’em were interested in the same thing the Heat were interested in, an Exhibit 10 (tryout contract) and the opportunity to earn a two-way or a roster spot. But the success with the Heat with those guys gave me an easy decision, in terms of they’re going to give you a real opportunity in training camp, they’re going to give you real opportunities to get on the floor and play through mistakes and make the team. Because of the type of guys like me in the past, they know how to use guys like me,” he said. “When I do something in a pickup that looks like [undrafted Heat finds] Duncan [Robinson] or Max [Strus] or Gabe [Vincent], they know how to use me in a game. It’s not like, ‘Oh, this only works in pickup.’”