Pacific Notes: Lakers, Clippers, Hiatus, Harper

A potential championship run for the Lakers has officially been put on hold with the NBA suspending its season over coronavirus concerns, Bill Oram of The Athletic writes.

The Lakers were one of the most formidable teams of the season, dominating through 63 games and holding the best record in the Western Conference at 49-14. They only trailed the Bucks (53-12) for bragging rights of the NBA’s best record.

“Even if we’re out for a month, even if we’re out for six weeks, we can still restart the season,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said this week, clarifying that the season isn’t necessarily lost. “It might mean that then the Finals take place in July or late July. Just my feeling was that it was way premature to suggest that we had lost the season.”

The Lakers made several moves in order to build its current group. The franchise made a blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis, signed two-time champion Danny Green and made a pivotal decision to bring in Dwight Howard after DeMarcus Cousins‘ ACL tear, signifying its willingness to go all-in for a championship.

The organization knows its clock is ticking, with Davis expected to enter free agency this summer and LeBron James set to turn 36 in December. Given everything that has happened to this point, it’s safe to assume the Lakers hope Silver’s reminder turns into reality.

There’s more out of Los Angeles this evening:

• Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines the biggest questions facing the Lakers if the NBA season doesn’t restart. Pincus examines the likelihood of several Lakers players opting in (including Davis), along with what value they could acquire for players such as Quinn Cook.
• Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times details how potential championship runs for both the Clippers and Lakers remain in limbo, with the NBA naturally undecided on when (or if) the season will be resumed. The league is expected to be postponed for at least one more month as the country copes with the widespread outbreak of the coronavirus.
• The Suns have officially waived point guard Jared Harper, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic confirms. “The G League season is over,” general manager James Jones said. “Jared’s on a one-year deal. For him to explore opportunities was something that we considered and at the end of the day, we just thought we could help him.”