Former Texas Longhorn Arthur Kaluma Earns Lakers Contract After Summer League Breakout

Arthur Kaluma's NBA Summer League breakout has officially paid off.

After emerging as one of the top performers in Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Lakers have signed the former Texas Longhorns forward to a two-way contract, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

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Kaluma averaged 17.3 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3-point range across six Summer League games, guiding Los Angeles to the Summer League semifinals.

The move shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

Kaluma spent the past two weeks answering the one question that followed him throughout the pre-draft process.

His athleticism and defensive versatility were never in doubt.

At 6-7 with the ability to guard multiple positions, Kaluma always looked the part of an NBA wing. The concern was whether the offensive side of his game would ever catch up.

In Vegas it did.

Kaluma scored in double figures in every Summer League appearance, highlighted by a 34-point outburst against the Dallas Mavericks in which he buried six three-pointers.

He also turned in an 18-point performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field while adding four rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Suddenly, the idea of another full season in the G League didn't make much sense.

After going undrafted in 2025, Kaluma signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers and spent his rookie season with the South Bay Lakers, averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and shooting 54.8 percent from the floor.

His development there laid the foundation, but his Summer League performance finished the job.

For Los Angeles, Kaluma is exactly the type of player every franchise hopes to uncover.

And given the amount of money and draft capital the Lakers have exhausted building around Luka Dončić, finding overlooked talent like Kaluma is vastly important.

He wasn't a first-round pick or a highly touted free agent. He was an undrafted forward who continued to develop until his offensive game matched the defensive potential that made him intriguing in the first place.

Now, he'll have an opportunity to prove that growth translates to the NBA. It's also another win for Texas.

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Just nine days after former Longhorn teammate Tre Johnson exploded for 26 points in his Summer League debut with the Washington Wizards, Kaluma has earned an NBA contract of his own.

For a program looking to establish itself as one of college basketball's premier NBA pipelines to attract future recruits, that's the type of momentum Texas fans want to see.