Year: 2024

2021 NBA Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Lakers

October 18th, 2021 at 8:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves, examine what still needs to be done before opening night, and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Free agent signings:

Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here.

Talen Horton-Tucker: Three years, $30.78MM. Third-year player option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
Kendrick Nunn: Two years, $10.25MM. Second-year player option. Signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
Carmelo Anthony: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Trevor Ariza: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Kent Bazemore: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Wayne Ellington: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Dwight Howard: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
DeAndre Jordan: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Malik Monk: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Rajon Rondo: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Austin Reaves: Two-way contract. Later signed to two-year, minimum-salary contract. First year partially guaranteed. Second year non-guaranteed.
Sekou Doumbouya: Two-way contract.
Jay Huff: Two-way contract.

Trades:

Acquired Russell Westbrook, the Bulls’ 2023 second-round pick (from Wizards), either the Wizards’ or Grizzlies’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Wizards), and the Wizards’ 2028 second-round pick in a five-team trade in exchange for Kyle Kuzma (to Wizards), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (to Wizards), Montrezl Harrell (to Wizards), and the draft rights to Isaiah Jackson (No. 22 pick; to Pacers).
Acquired the draft rights to Wang Zhelin from the Grizzlies in exchange for Marc Gasol, the Lakers’ 2024 second-round pick, and cash ($250K).

Draft picks:

None

Contract extensions:

None

Waiver claims:

Avery Bradley: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed.

Departing players:

Kostas Antetokounmpo
Devontae Cacok
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Alex Caruso
Andre Drummond
Jared Dudley
Marc Gasol
Montrezl Harrell
Kyle Kuzma
Wesley Matthews
Alfonzo McKinnie
Ben McLemore
Markieff Morris
Dennis Schröder

Other offseason news:

Trevor Ariza underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his right ankle and will miss the start of the season.
Talen Horton-Tucker underwent right thumb surgery and will miss the start of the season.
Signed head coach Frank Vogel to a one-year extension.
Hired David Fizdale and John Lucas III as assistant coaches; lost assistant coaches Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins.
Mark Walter and Todd Boehly bought a 27% stake in the franchise.

Salary cap situation:

Remained over the cap and above the tax line.
Carrying approximately $154.5MM in salary.
$890,000 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($5MM used on Kendrick Nunn).
One traded player exception ($2,692,991) available.

The Lakers’ offseason:

Shortly after the Lakers’ 2020/21 season came to a disappointing early end, general manager Rob Pelinka stated that his goal was to keep the majority of the team’s core together, suggesting that he believed last season’s group would have made a deeper postseason run with some better injury luck.

Four-and-a-half months later, no team has overhauled its roster more than the Lakers, who have just three players from last year’s squad returning for the 2021/22 season. Either Pelinka’s plans changed, he wasn’t telling the full truth when he spoke to reporters in June, or his definition of the team’s “core” was much narrowed than originally believed.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be back, of course, as will up-and-coming guard Talen Horton-Tucker, the only one of the Lakers’ many free agents to get a new deal from the team. Los Angeles essentially chose to invest in Horton-Tucker over fellow guards Dennis Schröder and Alex Caruso, betting on the 20-year-old’s upside and ability to continue improving. The three-year, $30.78MM deal he received as a restricted free agent was, by far, the largest deal the Lakers handed out this offseason.

Horton-Tucker’s new contract wasn’t the Lakers’ biggest transactions of the summer. That honor belongs to the five-team blockbuster trade that sent Russell Westbrook to his hometown of Los Angeles, with L.A. surrendering Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the No. 22 overall pick in this year’s draft.

It was a fascinating decision for a team that had other options. The Lakers were reportedly far down the road with the Kings in discussions on a potential Buddy Hield trade that wouldn’t have had such a significant price tag. Reports at the time suggested the Lakers would’ve been able to hang onto Caldwell-Pope and possibly even the No. 22 pick if they’d been willing to send Kuzma and Harrell to Sacramento for Hield, whose cap hit is about half of Westbrook’s.

On paper, Hield – who is one of the NBA’s most talented shooters – would seem to be a better complementary piece for a team that could have prioritized surrounding its stars with floor spacers who don’t need the ball much. Westbrook is a far more ball-dominant player and a far less effective three-point shooter.

However, the Lakers weren’t interested in a complementary piece. They wanted another star who could take some of the play-making workload off of James and Davis and who could give the team some insurance in the event that either LeBron or AD deals with injuries again. You’d rather have Hield than Westbrook taking an open three with the game on the line, but the Lakers believed Westbrook’s ability to push the pace, attack defense, get to the rim, and make plays for his teammates will ultimately benefit the team more.

Having sacrificed some depth to acquire Westbrook – and having let all of their free agents except Horton-Tucker walk – the Lakers focused on finding reliable depth on the cheap. Young point guard Kendrick Nunn received a two-year, $10MM commitment using most of L.A.’s taxpayer mid-level exception, but every other veteran signed by the team this summer got a minimum-salary deal.

That list of minimum-salary veterans consists of Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan, Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Trevor Ariza, and Wayne Ellington, with undrafted rookie Austin Reaves filling out the roster on a minimum deal of his own.

Anthony, Howard, and Rondo are potential Hall-of-Famers who have accepted limited roles in recent years. Their willingness to buy in and be complementary players is great, but they’re all 35 or older and shouldn’t be leaned on for big minutes.

Ariza is another player in that 35-or-older group, and he’s already dealing with an ankle injury that will sideline him for several weeks to open the season. Jordan is still a solid rebounder and a decent defender in certain matchups, but will be played off the court in others. Ellington is a great shooter who doesn’t contribute a whole lot else.

Bazemore and Monk are two of Los Angeles’ more intriguing additions. Bazemore has been up and down in recent years, but if the Lakers get the good version of the three-and-D wing, he could end up playing a pretty major role. Monk, meanwhile, finally had a modest breakout year in 2020/21, knocking down 40.1% of his three-pointers in Charlotte. He’ll get the chance to prove the progress he made was for real.

The Lakers have constructed one of the more top-heavy rosters in the NBA, with James, Davis, and Westbrook earning nearly $121MM this season, while nine of the team’s 11 other players are on minimum-salary contracts. That will make it difficult for the team to complete in-season trades, so L.A. will have to hope that this group stays healthy and that four or five of those minimum guys can be relied upon for productive regular minutes.

The Lakers’ upcoming season:

Any team with James and Davis on its roster is a legitimate championship contender, though I’m not convinced that this year’s supporting cast is better than last year’s. The answer to that question will largely hinge on whether Westbrook’s fit is a comfortable one or an awkward one.

If the Lakers can make their Big Three work and keep those three stars relatively healthy, they should be able to get enough out of the other 11 guys to make this work. If the addition of Westbrook creates some spacing issues, or if Davis doesn’t adjust well to playing more at the five instead of the four, there could be cause for concern.

The Lakers won’t be my pick to win the 2022 Finals, but they’re a solid playoff team and one of the few NBA clubs with enough talent to compete for a title.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post.

Nate Bjorkgren Back With Raptors As Assistant

October 18th, 2021 at 7:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors are listing Nate Bjorkgren as an assistant coach, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca tweets.

Bjorkgren was at Toronto’s training camp as a consultant and it seems the club has rehired him in his previous capacity. Bjorkgren was on Nick Nurse’s staff until he was hired as the Pacers’ head coach prior to last season. His tumultuous one-year stint ended in June when the team fired him.

Bjorkgren reportedly had major communication issues with players and coaches alike in Indiana and the front office opted to bring back Rick Carlisle for a second stint. Bjorkgren had one more guaranteed year on his contract.

He was an assistant on Nurse’s Team Canada staff this summer.

Timberwolves Pick Up Options On Edwards, McDaniels

October 18th, 2021 at 6:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves have picked up their third-year options on Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Both options are for the 2022/23 season.

The moves were a mere formality as Minnesota guaranteed the contracts of two of the team’s key players from last year’s draft.

Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick, averaged 19.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.9 APG in his stellar rookie season. He pumped in 23.8 PPG after the All-Star break.

McDaniels, the No. 28 pick, averaged 6.8 PPG and 3.7 RPG. He also ramped up his production after the All-Star break and is expected to start at power forward this season.

Edwards’ salary for 2022/23 will be $10.73MM, while McDaniels will get $2.16MM.

Ayton, Sexton Among Players Who Don’t Agree To Extensions

October 18th, 2021 at 6:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

While 11 players received rookie scale extensions this offseason, many notable players didn’t reach an agreement with their respective teams prior to Monday’s deadline.

As we detailed earlier, the Suns couldn’t come to terms with the No. 1 pick of the 2018 draft, Deandre Ayton. Phoenix was unwilling to offer Ayton a full max contract, which short-circuited any hopes of an agreement.

The Suns raised the concept of a shorter maximum contract — presumably for three or four years instead of the full five years — but never formally made the offer or broached the idea again with Ayton’s reps, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst report. Ayton is unhappy with the franchise’s consistent stance that it simply doesn’t view him as a max player, the ESPN duo adds.

That adds an intriguing subplot to Phoenix’s drive to make the Finals again. Ayton will be headed toward restricted free agent next summer. Will he be motivated toward proving the front office wrong or will his unhappiness create a major distraction? Ayton could be the most attractive free agent on next year’s market and receive a giant offer sheet, which would force the Suns to decide to match it or let their franchise center walk away.

Ayton has some company among his peers. The Cavaliers and guard Collin Sexton were unable to reach an agreement and he’s headed toward restricted free agency, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Even though Sexton posted impressive offensive stats last season (24.3 PPG, 4.4 APG), his name was frequently mentioned in trade rumors this summer, a signal that the Cavs aren’t sold on the eighth pick of the 2018 draft as their long-term floor leader.

Sexton was hoping for a $100MM+, multi-year deal that aligned with his production over the first three years, Fedor reports. At one point this offseason, Sexton used De’Aaron Fox‘s five-year, $163MM extension in 2020 as a baseline. The Cavs were unwilling to go anywhere near that number and optimism waned in recent days about reaching an agreement.

The Hornets and swingman Miles Bridges also couldn’t come to terms, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets, nor could the Spurs and Lonnie Walker, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News tweets. Bridges averaged 12.7 PPG and 6.0 RPG last season, while Walker contributed 11.2 PPG in his third year.

Donte DiVincenzo, a key member of the Bucks’ rotation last season until he suffered a torn ligament in his ankle in July, is also headed to restricted free agency. DiVincenzo averaged 10.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 3.1 APG last season. Some of the other notables who didn’t sign an extension or were not offered one include the Kings’ Marvin Bagley III and the Magic’s Mohamed Bamba.

The list of players who did and did not receive rookie scale extensions can be found here.

Hawks, Kevin Huerter Complete Four-Year Extension

October 18th, 2021 at 5:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

5:54pm: Huerter has officially signed his extension, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

4:31pm: The Hawks and Kevin Huerter have agreed to terms on a four-year rookie scale extension worth $65MM, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal is fully guaranteed, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).

This continues Atlanta’s trend of locking up its young core. Trae Young signed a five-year max extension in August. John Collins inked a five-year extension this summer and Clint Capela received a two-year extension.

Overall, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link), the franchise has handed out more than $400MM in contracts this offseason — Young’s $172.5MM, John Collins’ $125MM, Huerter’s deal and Capela’s $46MM. Atlanta could certainly be confronted with luxury tax issues in future years but the ownership group appears willing to do whatever it takes to keep their top players in the fold.

Huerter, 23, is one of the team’s key wing pieces. He’s a 37.6% 3-point shooter over the first three years of his career. He averaged 11.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 3.5 APG last season in 69 regular season games, including 49 starts. During the Hawks’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals, he started 10 of 18 games and averaged 11.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 2.8 APG.

Huerter’s extension is similar to the one the Clippers wing Luke Kennard received last winter.

Pacers Sign Malcolm Brogdon To Two-Year Extension

October 18th, 2021 at 5:53pm CST by Luke Adams

5:53pm: The Pacers and Brogdon have officially completed their new deal, according to the transactions log at NBA.com.

2:14pm: The Pacers and guard Malcolm Brogdon have agreed to a two-year, $45MM extension, agent Austin Brown of CAA Sports tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Brogdon’s current contract covers the next two years, so his new deal will begin in 2023/24 and will lock him up through 2025. The 28-year-old is earning $21.7MM in ’21/22 and $22.6MM in ’22/23, for a total of $44.3MM over the next two seasons, so his new two-year extension figures to look pretty similar to the remainder of his current deal.

Brogdon, who will turn 29 in December, has spent the last two seasons in Indiana and enjoyed perhaps the best statistical season of his career in 2020/21. He averaged a career-high 21.2 PPG to go along with 5.9 APG and 5.3 RPG in 56 games (34.5 MPG), posting a shooting line of .453/.388/.864.

There had been some whispers throughout the offseason that Brogdon could be a trade candidate, and his name – as well as Caris LeVert‘s – surfaced in rumors related to the Ben Simmons trade talks between the Sixers and Pacers. However, subsequent reports suggested that Philadelphia wasn’t that enamored by the idea of a package centered around Brogdon and/or LeVert.

Now that he’s signing an extension, Brogdon won’t be a trade option for the Sixers or any other team this season. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Brogdon’s new deal exceeds the extend-and-trade limits in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, meaning he won’t become trade-eligible for six months. This season’s trade deadline is on February 10.

As we noted this morning, if Brogdon hadn’t finalized an extension today, he wouldn’t have been eligible to sign one until the 2022 offseason, since he still has multiple years left on his current deal.

Bucks Sign Grayson Allen To Two-Year Extension

October 18th, 2021 at 5:52pm CST by Luke Adams

5:52pm: The Bucks have officially signed Allen to his extension, per NBA.com’s transactions log. The deal’s overall base value is lower than $20MM, according to Jim Owczarksi of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who reports that it can be worth up to $19.5MM if certain team and player incentives are met.

4:16pm: The Bucks have reached an agreement on a two-year, $20MM rookie scale contract extension with wing Grayson Allen, agent Mitch Nathan of CAA tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Allen, who is entering his fourth NBA season, had the best year of his career for the Grizzlies in 2020/21, starting 38 of 50 games and averaging 10.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.2 APG. The former Duke star has knocked down 39.5% of his 3-point attempts over the last two years while steadily increasing his volume.

The Bucks acquired Allen from Memphis over the summer in exchange for Sam Merrill and a pair of future second-round picks. He’ll play a rotation role on the wing in Milwaukee this season and would have been eligible for restricted free agency in 2022 if he hadn’t worked out a deal with the team today.

Allen’s two-year contract will give the Bucks some insurance in the event that they can’t complete a new contract with Donte DiVincenzo, who is also on track for potential restricted free agency next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension today. Allen’s new deal will pay him approximately the equivalent of the full mid-level exception.

Allen will earn just over $4MM this season before his extension goes into effect in 2022/23.

Suns Sign Landry Shamet To Four-Year Extension

October 18th, 2021 at 5:49pm CST by Luke Adams

5:49pm: Shamet’s extension is official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The deal will include a team option in year four, says Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

4:20pm: The Suns are signing guard Landry Shamet to a four-year, $43MM rookie scale contract extension, agent George Landberg tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The deal is almost identical to what a four-year deal using the full mid-level exception is projected to look like in 2022/23.

Shamet has yet to appear in a regular season game for Phoenix, having been acquired from Brooklyn in an offseason deal. However, as Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter), head coach Monty Williams pushed for that trade and is planning on having Shamet play a big role for the Suns.

The 24-year-old has bounced around the NBA since entering the league as the 26th overall pick, having already spent time with the Sixers, Clippers, and Nets. However, he has been considered a positive asset each time he has been traded — the Suns gave up Jevon Carter and the No. 29 pick for him this summer.

Shamet has also been a reliable outside shooter for each one of his teams so far, knocking down 39.7% of his career three-point attempts in 193 games. In 2020/21, he averaged 9.3 PPG in 61 games (23.0 MPG) for the Nets.

Even though the Suns were said to be high on Shamet, it’s still a little surprising that the team completed rookie scale extensions with two players this offseason and former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton wasn’t one of them. Mikal Bridges also received a four-year deal from Phoenix, but extension negotiations with Ayton stalled and ended.

Outside of Ayton, the Suns now have their entire core locked up for multiple seasons. Devin Booker is under contract for the next three years, while Chris Paul‘s contract covers four seasons.

Warriors Claim Dowtin, Make Him Two-Way Player

October 18th, 2021 at 5:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Warriors have claimed Jeff Dowtin and converted his Exhibit 10 deal to a two-way contract, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets.

The Magic waived Dowtin on Saturday.

Dowtin, a 6’3” shooting guard, played for G League’s Lakeland Magic last season and was also a member of Orlando’s Summer League team. Dowtin, who went undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020, averaged 6.5 PPG and 2.5 APG in 15 games (19.7 MPG) for Lakeland last season and 7.2 PPG in five games at Las Vegas.

He also saw action in three preseason games this month. Golden State’s other two-way deal is held by another guard, Chris Chiozza.

Rockets Claim Garrison Mathews, Waive Anthony Lamb

October 18th, 2021 at 5:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have made a change to one of their two-way contract slots, waiving forward Anthony Lamb and replacing him with guard Garrison Mathews, reports Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Iko, Houston claimed Mathews off waivers and converted his Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal.

Mathews, who was on a two-way contract with Washington for each of the past two seasons after going undrafted out of Lipscomb in 2019, emerged as a regular rotation player for Washington in 2020/21, averaging 5.5 PPG in 64 games (16.2 MPG). The 24-year-old shooting guard has displayed a reliable outside shot since entering the NBA, making 38.9% of 244 total three-point attempts.

The Celtics signed Mathews to a training camp contract this offseason and he was a candidate to be converted to a two-way deal in Boston, but he reportedly asked the team not to do so. According to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Mathews thought it was unlikely he’d be promoted to the Celtics’ standard roster during the season if he were on a two-way deal with the team. There’s a better path to a 15-man roster spot in Houston, where the Rockets will likely try to trade some veterans this season.

As for Lamb, he played in the G League bubble with the Canton Charge and Rio Grande Valley Vipers earlier this year after going undrafted out of Vermont in 2020. His solid showing for Houston’s G League affiliate (the Vipers) earned him a two-way deal with the Rockets in March. He averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 24 games (17.3 MPG) for Houston, then accepted his two-way qualifying offer this offseason. He’s a candidate to return to the Vipers.

The Rockets also completed another minor transaction, quietly signing and waiving big man Mfiondu Kabengele, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The sign-and-waive move ensures that Houston can make Kabengele an affiliate player for Rio Grande Valley, assuming he signs a G League contract.

Kabengele, 24, was the 27th overall pick in the 2019 draft, but barely played for the Clippers in his rookie year and had his rookie scale team option for the 2021/22 season turned down. He was traded to the Kings at the 2021 deadline, then caught on with the Cavaliers after being cut by Sacramento. The 6’9″ Canadian played in 16 games for the Cavs down the stretch, averaging 4.3 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 11.6 minutes per contest.

Because Kabengele signed his Exhibit 10 contract with Houston on Sunday and wasn’t cut until Monday, he’ll still be on waivers when the regular season begins. That means the Rockets will take on a small cap hit for a couple days worth of his minimum salary.

Load More Posts