Pacific Notes: Ham, Monk, Lakers, Kings

New Lakers coach Darvin Ham is confident he can lead the team back to contention, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. As Washburn notes, Celtics coach Ime Udoka recently guided Boston to the NBA Finals in his first season with the team, which is something Ham hopes to do.

“Coming from Milwaukee, I’ve seen alignment between ownership, front office, and head coach and coaching staff, and the one thing (Lakers VP of basketball operations) Rob (Pelinka) and I decided is we needed a team that was more athletic and we need more shooting,” Ham said about the team’s offseason additions.

“So far, so good, in my opinion. We still have a long way to go. Every team, not just us, are always looking for ways to improve their roster. We’re definitely trying to get our resources together to put the best possible team on the court for 2022/23.”

To this point, the Lakers have added Lonnie Walker IV, Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones, Troy Brown Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson this offseason. The team also drafted Max Christie at No. 35 overall. Los Angeles still has one open spot on its 15-man roster.

Here are some other notes from around the Pacific:

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