Lakers assign rookie guard/forward Anthony Brown to D-Fenders

The Lakers have assigned Stanford rookie guard/forward Anthony Brown to the D-Fenders.

Brown, taken by the Lakers with the 34th overall pick in June’s NBA draft, will be available on Tuesday night when the D-Fenders visit the Bakersfield Jam. The game will be broadcast on the NBA Development League’s YouTube channel.

Despite starting for the Lakers throughout the preseason in games Kobe Bryant sat out with a leg injury, Brown has made just three regular-season appearances for the team and has taken two shots, making one.

The D-Fenders are 2-0 on the season with a roster featuring five former Lakers including Robert Upshaw, Michael Frazier, Manny Harris, Vander Blue and Malcolm Thomas. While Harris and Blue were on the Lakers’ regular-season roster in previous seasons, Upshaw, Frazier and Thomas (in 2011) were preseason invites who were cut before opening night.

Through two their two wins this season, Harris has averaged 31 points a game to lead the D-Fenders. Frazier,recovering from strep throat, hasn’t played thus far, and neither has Thomas, who is working his way back from a hand injury.

Brown is still part of the Lakers’ 15-man roster, and will likely return to the team for a game at Staples Center against the Toronto Raptors on Friday instead of traveling with the D-Fenders to visit the Santa Cruz Warriors the same night.

While any other player on the D-Fenders can sign with another NBA franchise, Brown remains a Lakers player, unavailable to another team outside of a trade.

Last season, the Lakers sent Jordan Clarkson to the D-Fenders for five games, Xavier Henry for two (before he was ultimately waived by the Lakers) and both Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly for one.

Guard Jabari Brown spent most of the year with the D-Fenders, averaging 24.4 points a game before the Lakers called him up for the remainder of the season. Brown was the Lakers’ final cut before the 2015-16 season. He has since moved on to play overseas in China.

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus