Pacific Notes: Lakers, Ball, Cousins, Warriors

While the Lakers‘ agreements with free agents like Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee drew plenty of confusion and some criticism, the deals represent the rollout of the plan that Magic Johnson outlined to LeBron James when they met late Saturday night, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne.

As Windhorst and Shelburne detail, James’ Cavaliers squad was heavily on shooters and offensive-minded players, but lacked genuine play-makers and strong defenders. By contrast, Johnson pitched LeBron on the idea of stocking the Lakers’ roster with “tough-minded play-makers” who can free up James to work in the post and finish in the lanes, rather than having to generate all the team’s offense himself. According to Windhorst and Shelburne, some league executives are fans of the approach.

“I know some people are rolling their eyes but I like what the Lakers have done,” one rival Western Conference exec told ESPN. “You can find shooters. They’ve taken some in the last few drafts. Play-makers matter and are harder to find.”

While the Lakers haven’t focused on shooters with their first round of free agent moves, “all parties agree” that the roster could use more outside shooting, so that need still figures to be addressed, ESPN’s report notes.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Addressing news of Lonzo Ball‘s torn meniscus, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on his podcast that Lakers management didn’t want that information out there. According to Wojnarowski, there’s a belief that Ball’s camp leaked word of the injury in an effort to discourage teams from trading for him. Woj adds (via Twitter) that there’s a chance the second-year point guard will require surgery.
  • With a Warriors notebook, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes that Golden State will have an “intriguing escape hatch” if the DeMarcus Cousins experiment doesn’t work out. If Cousins is healthy by the trade deadline but isn’t fitting in with the Warriors, his modest salary and expiring contract would make him a fascinating trade chip, Slater observes.
  • In case you missed it on Wednesday, we relayed several Clippers updates, writing that the team has signed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, met with Kyle O’Quinn, and remains interested in bringing back Montrezl Harell.
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