Western Notes: Calderon, Miller, Durant

With D’Angelo Russell out of the Lakers‘ lineup due to knee woes, Jose Calderon has assumed the role of starting point guard and has pleased coach Luke Walton with his play, Mark Medina of The Orange County Register writes. “He helps stabilize the first unit that has been a different lineup way too many times this year already,” Walton said. “Just having a veteran that knows how to play and can run an offense and knock down open shots, it’s been nice to have him to lean on when D’Angelo is out.”

While he’s happy with his recent bump in playing time, Calderon was content being a mentor to his much younger teammates, Medina adds. “I’m happy with the way things have been going. I’m comfortable out there every day and I’m feeling more comfortable with my teammates. I’m ready for whatever role,” Calderon said. “I’m here to help this team to win. It doesn’t matter what. If I’m on the bench, it’s the bench. If I’m playing five or 30 minutes, I’m good.”

Here’s more from out West:

• Mike Miller, 36, is happy with his role as an older veteran on the Nuggets and says he’s still having too much fun playing to walk away from the game, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. “I think the one thing you’ve got to learn in this league as you get older, is there’s different roles and responsibilities and you’ll be asked to do different things,” Miller said. “For me, I’m just thankful to be in a position to still be playing this game, and still get to practice against these guys every day, still get in the games, still a lot of fun for me.“
• In a piece by Michael Pina of RealGM, the scribe examined what Eric Gordon brings to the Rockets, his value as a player and what he can do to successfully resurrect his career in Houston this season.
• Warriors offseason signee Kevin Durant is finally getting used to his new home in Golden State, and the forward chatted with Chris Haynes of ESPN.com about a number of the issues and difficulties he faced in relocating from OKC to the West Coast.