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2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Boston Celtics

May 15th, 2019 at 5:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After making the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018 without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in their lineup, the Celtics were widely viewed as the favorites to come out of the East in 2019. Instead, Boston struggled all season to live up to those preseason expectations, with fit and role concerns plaguing the team’s veterans and young players alike. Bringing back the same group seems unpalatable, so it could be a summer of change in New England.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Celtics financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000

Offseason Cap Outlook

  • Realistic cap room projection: $0
  • With less than $65MM in guaranteed money on their books, the Celtics have a path to cap room, but unless they clean house, it’s hard to imagine them getting there. If Horford exercises his player option, that would make Boston an over-the-cap team. The team also must consider Baynes’ player option, Rozier’s cap hold, cap holds for three draft picks, and a new salary for Irving. Perhaps Rozier and/or Irving depart, but it seems likely that at least one of them is retained.
  • If we account for the Celtics’ six players on guaranteed contracts and their three first-round picks, the team could create up to $33.1MM in cap room. But that figure wouldn’t include any of Horford, Irving, Baynes, Rozier, Morris, or Ojeleye, making it a real long shot.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Trade exception: $450,000 (expires 7/23/19) 3
  • Trade exception: $1,349,383 (expires 2/7/20) 3
  • Mid-level exception: $9,246,000 4
  • Bi-annual exception: $3,619,000 4

Footnotes

  1. Ojeleye’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 1.
  2. Larkin’s cap hold remains on the Celtics’ books because he hasn’t been renounced after going unsigned in 2018/19. He can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
  3. The Celtics will lose these exceptions if they go under the cap to use room.
  4. These are projected values. If the Celtics are at risk of going into tax territory, they may forfeit the bi-annual exception and have to use the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,711,000) rather than the full mid-level exception. In the event they use cap room, they’d lose these exceptions and would instead would gain access to the $4,760,000 room exception.

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2019 NBA Draft Picks By Team

May 15th, 2019 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Sixers and Celtics suffered disappointing losses in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and face uncertain futures, both teams can at least fall back on the fact that they’re still loaded with draft assets. Philadelphia and Boston are two of only three NBA teams – the Hawks are the other – that possess at least four picks in the 2019 NBA draft.

As our full 2019 draft order shows, there are five other teams that more than two selections in this year’s draft. On the other end of the spectrum, nine teams own just one pick in 2018, while two teams – the Nuggets and Rockets – don’t have any selections.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2019 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

  • Atlanta Hawks (5): 8, 10, 35, 41, 44
  • Philadelphia 76ers (5): 24, 33, 34, 42, 54
  • Boston Celtics (4): 14, 20, 22, 51
  • New Orleans Pelicans (3): 1, 39, 57
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 12, 36, 52
  • Brooklyn Nets (3): 17, 27, 31
  • San Antonio Spurs (3): 19, 29, 49
  • Sacramento Kings (3): 40, 47, 60

Teams with two picks:

  • New York Knicks: 3, 55
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 5, 26
  • Phoenix Suns: 6, 32
  • Chicago Bulls: 7, 38
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: 11, 43
  • Detroit Pistons: 15, 45
  • Orlando Magic: 16, 46
  • Indiana Pacers: 18, 50
  • Utah Jazz: 23, 53
  • Golden State Warriors: 28, 58
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 48, 56

Teams with one pick:

  • Memphis Grizzlies: 2
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 4
  • Washington Wizards: 9
  • Miami Heat: 13
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: 21
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 25
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 30
  • Dallas Mavericks: 37
  • Toronto Raptors: 59

Teams with no picks:

  • Denver Nuggets
  • Houston Rockets
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Poll: Were NBA’s Draft Lottery Changes Effective?

May 15th, 2019 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

Two weeks before Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, we took a closer look at four lottery scenarios that – based on the odds – were more likely than not to happen. As we cautioned in that story, not all of those scenarios would actually play out. For instance, the Knicks technically defied the odds by landing in the top three (40.1% chance) rather than fourth or fifth (59.1%).

However, the first scenario we outlined in that story did, in fact, play out. As we explained, there was a 45.5% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would land the No. 1 overall pick, as opposed to just a 42% chance that one of the NBA’s three worst teams – the Knicks, Cavaliers, and Suns – would win the lottery.

The Pelicans, who won the first overall pick, were seventh in the lottery standings, while the Grizzlies (picking No. 2) were eighth.

Neither New Orleans nor Memphis had a great chance to move up. The Pelicans only had a 6.0% chance at the No. 1 pick, and the Grizzlies’ odds of moving into the top two were just 12.3%. But those odds would’ve been substantially lower under the NBA’s old lottery format (2.8% and 6.1%, respectively).

In other words, by smoothing out the odds and giving middle-of-the-pack teams a greater chance to move up, the NBA got the chaos it expected, with three teams moving way up in the draft order and bottom-of-the-pack clubs like the Cavs, Suns, and Bulls getting pushed out of the top four. The league’s new lottery format worked as designed, writes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

“One year doesn’t tell the whole story,” NBA executive VP of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe told ESPN’s Zach Lowe after the lottery. “But the intent was to make it a little more random. It certainly doesn’t solve everything, but I think it was a good move by the Board of Governors.”

A common refrain in the wake of last night’s results was that the outcome should discourage tanking going forward. One team executive told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that “the war on tanking was a success,” while Rudy Gobert declared on Twitter that “we just witnessed the end of tanking.”

Still, others pushed back against that idea. After all, even if it wasn’t a great night for the Knicks, Cavs, Suns, and Bulls, teams like the Pelicans and Lakers intentionally held their stars out of action down the stretch, and were ultimately rewarded for it. Given how many mid-lottery teams benefited, is it possible that borderline postseason contenders in future years will wave the white flag on the playoff chase earlier than anticipated in an attempt to move into a similar position?

What do you think? Were the NBA’s new lottery changes effective, or do you think they’ll end up creating more issues (related to tanking or anything else) going forward?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Full 2019 NBA Draft Order

May 14th, 2019 at 8:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Now that the NBA’s draft lottery results are in, the full 2019 draft order has been set.

We’ll likely see some of these picks change hands on June 20, or in the days leading up to draft night — we’ll be sure to update the list below if and when picks are traded.

Here’s the full 2019 NBA draft order:

First Round:

  1. New Orleans Pelicans
  2. Memphis Grizzlies
  3. New York Knicks
  4. Los Angeles Lakers (will be traded to Hawks via Pelicans)
  5. Cleveland Cavaliers
  6. Phoenix Suns (will be traded to Timberwolves)
  7. Chicago Bulls
  8. Atlanta Hawks (will be traded to Pelicans)
  9. Washington Wizards
  10. Atlanta Hawks (from Mavericks)
  11. Minnesota Timberwolves (will be traded to Suns)
  12. Charlotte Hornets
  13. Miami Heat
  14. Boston Celtics (from Kings)
  15. Detroit Pistons
  16. Orlando Magic
  17. Brooklyn Nets (will be traded to Pelicans via Hawks)
  18. Indiana Pacers
  19. San Antonio Spurs
  20. Boston Celtics (from Clippers)
  21. Oklahoma City Thunder
  22. Boston Celtics
  23. Utah Jazz (will be traded to Grizzlies)
  24. Philadelphia 76ers
  25. Portland Trail Blazers
  26. Cleveland Cavaliers (from Rockets)
  27. Brooklyn Nets (from Nuggets)
  28. Golden State Warriors
  29. San Antonio Spurs (from Raptors)
  30. Milwaukee Bucks (will be traded to Pistons)

Second Round:

  1. Brooklyn Nets (from Knicks)
  2. Phoenix Suns (will be traded to Pacers)
  3. Philadelphia 76ers (from Cavaliers)
  4. Philadelphia 76ers (from Bulls)
  5. Atlanta Hawks (will be traded to Pelicans)
  6. Charlotte Hornets (from Wizards)
  7. Dallas Mavericks
  8. Chicago Bulls (from Grizzlies)
  9. New Orleans Pelicans
  10. Sacramento Kings (from Timberwolves)
  11. Atlanta Hawks (from Lakers) (will be traded to Warriors)
  12. Philadelphia 76ers (from Kings)
  13. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Heat)
  14. Miami Heat (from Hornets via Hawks)
  15. Detroit Pistons
  16. Orlando Magic (from Nets)
  17. Sacramento Kings (from Magic)
  18. Los Angeles Clippers
  19. San Antonio Spurs
  20. Indiana Pacers
  21. Boston Celtics
  22. Charlotte Hornets (from Thunder)
  23. Utah Jazz
  24. Philadelphia 76ers
  25. New York Knicks (from Rockets)
  26. Los Angeles Clippers (from Trail Blazers)
  27. New Orleans Pelicans (from Nuggets) (will be traded to Hawks)
  28. Golden State Warriors
  29. Toronto Raptors
  30. Sacramento Kings (from Bucks)
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Five Key Offseason Questions: Sacramento Kings

May 14th, 2019 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have the NBA’s longest postseason drought, having not appeared in the playoffs since 2006. Still, while they were unable to snap that streak in 2018/19, it represented the team’s most promising season in years — in fact, Sacramento’s 39-43 record was its best mark since that ’05/06 campaign.

While breakout years by young building blocks like De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield bode well for the Kings going forward, it’s not clear that the dysfunction plaguing Sacramento for years is totally behind the organization.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Did the franchise make the right call hiring Luke Walton?

That dysfunction I mentioned in the introduction surfaced during the 2018/19 season in large part due to tension between head coach Dave Joerger and the front office — specifically assistant GM Brandon Williams. There was a disconnect between the two sides on how much playing time veterans and prospects should receive, and Joerger made some comments hinting that he might not have been entirely on board with the Kings’ decision to draft Marvin Bagley over Luka Doncic.

By parting ways with both Joerger and Williams, the Kings made an effort to remove that potential discord from the equation entirely going forward. They quickly replaced Joerger with Luke Walton, a coach who received some praise for his work with young players during his early days with the Lakers.

However, the Kings perhaps moved too quickly to lock up Walton. Just a week after they announced his hiring, word broke that he was being sued and accused of sexual assault.

The Kings now found themselves in a tricky situation. Hiring Walton and then dismissing him before he coaches a single game would be a bad look for the franchise, but it would arguably be an even worse look if the team retains him despite finding the claims against him to be credible.

Before determining whether he’s the right fit on the court, the Kings will have to do their best to determine whether there’s truth to the off-court allegations against Walton, and whether that would disqualify him from keeping the job. The Kings and the NBA are currently investigating the allegations.

Read more

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2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Utah Jazz

May 14th, 2019 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

For a second straight year, the Jazz finished the regular season with a strong home stretch after an up-and-down first half. And for a second straight year, they ran into the Rockets in the playoffs, unable to mount a serious threat against James Harden‘s squad. With the current squad having perhaps reached its ceiling, the Jazz will likely look to make some changes to their roster this summer.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Jazz financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000

Offseason Cap Outlook

  • Maximum cap room projection: $38.9MM
  • This projection takes into account Utah’s seven players on fully guaranteed salaries, O’Neale’s non-guaranteed salary, and the cap hold for their first-round pick. It also assumes that Korver is waived and stretched.
  • The Jazz could end up with significantly less cap room. If Favors is retained, for example, his cap hit would reduce Utah’s cap space by nearly $17MM. Retaining other non-guaranteed players like Neto and Niang would further cut into that space. If the Jazz were to waive-and-stretch Korver but retained Favors, Neto, and O’Neale, they’d have $20.8MM in cap room.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Room exception: $4,760,000 6

Footnotes

  1. Favors’ salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 6.
  2. Korver’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 7.
  3. Neto’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 6.
  4. The salaries for two-way players don’t count against a team’s cap, but their cap holds do during the offseason.
  5. McCree can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
  6. This is a projected value. In the event the Jazz remain over the cap, they’d instead have access to the full mid-level exception ($9,246,000), the bi-annual exception ($3,619,000), and their lone trade exception ($3,976,515; expires 11/29/19).

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2019 NBA Draft Lottery Primer

May 14th, 2019 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

The 2019 NBA draft lottery will take place on Tuesday night in Chicago before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The half-hour event will be broadcast on ESPN beginning at 7:30 pm central time.

As Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com outline, there’s a ton at stake in the 2019 lottery, as many of the teams involved could badly use a player like Zion Williamson or Ja Morant. The results could also have an impact on the offseason’s Anthony Davis sweepstakes, since whichever club lands the No. 1 pick will immediately have a viable AD trade chip.

Here’s what you need to know heading into tonight’s lottery:

Pre-Lottery Draft Order:

The top 14 picks in the 2019 NBA draft would look like this if tonight’s lottery results don’t change the order:

  1. New York Knicks
  2. Cleveland Cavaliers
  3. Phoenix Suns
  4. Chicago Bulls
  5. Atlanta Hawks
  6. Washington Wizards
  7. New Orleans Pelicans
  8. Memphis Grizzlies
    • Note: The Celtics will receive this pick if it falls out of the top eight.
  9. Atlanta Hawks (from Mavericks)
    • Note: The Mavericks will keep this pick if it moves up into the top four.
  10. Minnesota Timberwolves
  11. Los Angeles Lakers
  12. Charlotte Hornets
  13. Miami Heat
  14. Boston Celtics (from Kings)
    • Note: The Sixers will receive this pick if it moves up to No. 1.

For the full pre-lottery draft order, click here.

Draft Lottery Odds:

The Knicks, Cavaliers, and Suns have the best odds to land the No. 1 pick. Each team has a 14.0% chance to pick first overall, and a 52.1% shot at a top-four pick.

From there, the Bulls (48.0%), Hawks (42.1%), and Wizards (37.2%) have the best odds at a top-four selection, with no other team above 26.3%.

For the full draft lottery odds for all 14 spots, click here.

Trades Affecting The Draft Lottery:

Three trades will have an impact on Tuesday night’s lottery results. They are as follows:

Celtics/Grizzlies

The Celtics own the Grizzlies‘ top-eight protected first-round pick, so they’ll receive that selection if it’s No. 9 or lower. There’s a 42.6% chance that happens.

Memphis also has a 26.3% chance of moving up into the top four. The worst-case scenario for the Grizzlies, who wouldn’t mind conveying their pick this year so it doesn’t become even more attractive in a future draft, would be for the pick to land at No. 8 — there’s a 31.1% chance of that.

If the Grizzlies keep the pick this year, they’d owe the Celtics their top-six protected first-round pick in 2020.

Hawks/Mavericks

The Hawks own the Mavericks‘ top-five protected first-round pick, so they’ll receive the selection if it’s No. 6 or lower. Technically, the Dallas pick can’t fall between 5-8 due to the team’s place in the lottery.

There’s a 26.3% chance that the Mavericks’ pick will move up into the top four, in which case Dallas would keep it. Atlanta has a 73.7% chance to end up with the selection, including a 46.4% chance that it’s at No. 9.

If the Mavericks keep the pick this year, they’d owe the Hawks their top-five protected first-round pick in 2020.

Kings/Celtics/Sixers

The Celtics own the Kings‘ first-round pick, which has a 95.2% chance to land at No. 14. However, there are two scenarios that could shake up the draft.

The pick has a 3.8% chance of moving up to the 2-4 range, in which case it would stick with Boston, giving the C’s a chance to draft a top-four player after appearing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

If the pick moves all the way up to No. 1 (1.0% chance), the Sixers would acquire the pick, sending their own first-rounder (No. 24) to Boston. In that long-shot scenario, Philadelphia would be in position to draft Williamson after playing in the Eastern Semifinals themselves.

Draft Lottery Representatives:

The representatives for each of this year’s lottery teams are as follows, according to a press release issued by the NBA:

  1. New York Knicks
    • On stage: Patrick Ewing (former player)
    • Lottery room: Allan Houston (special assistant to the GM)
  2. Cleveland Cavaliers
    • On stage: Nick Gilbert (son of team owner)
    • Lottery room: Brock Aller (senior director of basketball operations)
  3. Phoenix Suns
  4. Chicago Bulls
    • On stage: Horace Grant (special advisor to president/COO)
    • Lottery room: Joey Reinsdorf (son of president/COO)
  5. Atlanta Hawks
    • On stage: Jami Gertz (co-owner)
    • Lottery room: Michelle Leftwich (VP, salary cap administration)
  6. Washington Wizards
    • On stage: Raul Fernandez (vice chairman)
    • Lottery room: Tommy Sheppard (senior VP of basketball operations)
  7. New Orleans Pelicans
    • On stage: Alvin Gentry (head coach)
    • Lottery room: David Griffin (executive VP of basketball operations)
  8. Memphis Grizzlies
    • On stage: Elliot Perry (minority owner / director of player support)
    • Lottery room: Zach Kleiman (executive VP of basketball operations)
  9. Dallas Mavericks
    • On stage: Cynthia Marshall (CEO)
    • Lottery room: Keith Grant (assistant GM)
  10. Minnesota Timberwolves
    • On stage: Gersson Rosas (president of basketball operations)
    • Lottery room: Brad Ruiter (VP of communications)
  11. Los Angeles Lakers
    • On stage: Kyle Kuzma
    • Lottery room: Rob Pelinka (GM)
  12. Charlotte Hornets
    • On stage: James Borrego (head coach)
    • Lottery room: Buzz Peterson (assistant GM)
  13. Miami Heat
    • On stage: Alonzo Mourning (VP, player programs)
    • Lottery room: Andy Elisburg (senior VP of basketball operations / GM)
  14. Boston Celtics
    • On stage: Rich Gotham (president)
    • Lottery room: Mike Zarren (assistant GM)
  15. Philadelphia 76ers
    • On stage: Chris Heck (president)
    • Lottery room: Ian Hillman (VP, strategy & analytics)

First Year For Current Lottery Format:

This will be the first year that the NBA uses its new lottery system, which reduces the odds that the league’s very worst teams will land a top pick and makes the top four selections available via the lottery, instead of the top three.

As we outlined when we took a closer look at four potential lottery results, the new format could create a little more mayhem on lottery night.

For instance, in past years, there was a 60.5% chance that one of the league’s bottom three teams would secure the No. 1 pick, and only a 27.6% chance that a team in the 5-14 range of the lottery standings would do so. This year, those odds are 42.0% and 45.5%, respectively.

For full details on the new lottery format, click here.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2019 NBA Offseason Salary Cap Digest: Indiana Pacers

May 13th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers proved in the early going this season that their 2017/18 success was no fluke, then proved they were capable of winning games without their star player after Victor Oladipo went down with a season-ending quad injury. Ultimately, the Oladipo-less Pacers couldn’t make any noise in the playoffs, but there’s plenty of reason for optimism as they enter an important offseason.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Pacers financially, as we continue our Offseason Salary Cap Digest series for 2019:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

  • None

Team Options

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • Alize Johnson ($655,316) 1
  • Total: $655,316

Restricted Free Agents

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $109,000,000
Projected Tax Line: $132,000,000

Offseason Cap Outlook

  • Maximum cap room projection: $44MM
  • This cap projection assumes the Pacers keep their seven players with salary guarantees (including Johnson, since waiving him would mean eating his guarantee and replacing him with an empty roster charge) and their first-round pick.
  • In reality, if the Pacers plan on re-signing two or three of their free agents, it’s possible they’ll have much less cap room. They could even operate as an over-the-cap team if they bring back a few players. For what it’s worth, retaining Bogdanovic’s cap hold along with their other seven players and their pick would result in about $31.3MM in cap space.

Cap Exceptions Available

  • Room exception: $4,760,000 3

Footnotes

  1. Johnson’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after July 15.
  2. The salaries for two-way players don’t count against a team’s cap, but their cap holds do during the offseason.
  3. This is a projected value. In the event the Pacers remain over the cap, they’d instead have access to the full mid-level exception ($9,246,000) and the bi-annual exception ($3,619,000).

Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are estimates based on salary cap projections and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Poll: NBA Conference Finals Predictions

May 13th, 2019 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

After a pair of dramatic Game Sevens on Sunday, the matchups for this year’s NBA Conference Finals are set. The Warriors will face the Trail Blazers in the West, while the Bucks and Raptors will square off in the East.

While the Warriors’ presence in 2019’s final four is no surprise, the teams joining them there historically haven’t made a ton of deep postseason runs.

The Blazers, led by a backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, have made the playoffs for six straight years, but this is the first time this group has advanced to the Western Finals, and the first time any Portland team has made it that far since 2000. The last time the Blazers appeared in the Finals was in 1992, when Clyde Drexler‘s squad fell to Michael Jordan‘s Bulls. The franchise hasn’t won a title since 1977.

Like Portland, the Bucks haven’t appeared in the Eastern Finals in nearly two decades. In fact, coming into these playoffs, Milwaukee hadn’t won a single postseason series since 2001, when the club fell in the Eastern Finals to Philadelphia. The Bucks last appeared in the NBA Finals in 1974 and won their last – and only – championship in 1971.

While those title droughts are lengthy, Portland and Milwaukee can at least say they’ve won a championship. That’s not the case for the Raptors, who have never even appeared in the NBA Finals since entering the league in 1995. Toronto appeared in the Eastern Finals once before, in 2016, but has never gotten over the hump and represented the conference in the NBA Finals.

The Warriors, who have won three of the last four NBA titles, and the Bucks, who won an NBA-best 60 games and led the league in net rating this season, will enter the Conference Finals as the favorites. But it would be a mistake to write off the Blazers or the Raptors, who are battle-tested in this postseason after dispatching tough opponents in seven-game series. Kevin Durant‘s calf remains a question mark for Golden State, while Toronto’s veterans have significantly more playoff experience than the Bucks’ roster.

What do you think? Which two teams will end up meeting in this year’s NBA Finals?

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to explain your predictions!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Community Shootaround: Lakers’ New Coach

May 11th, 2019 at 10:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

The coaching search is over and the Lakers finally have their man.

Or men, more accurately, as former Nets and Bucks head coach Jason Kidd came along as part of a package deal with Frank Vogel. Kidd will be as an assistant and will serve as a mentor to Lonzo Ball, whose game was compared to Kidd’s coming out of college. However, it didn’t take long for speculation to spread on social media that Kidd has his eyes on Vogel’s job.

The Lakers need a transformation, and we’ll find out quickly if Vogel can make it happen. He built a reputation in Indiana as a tough, defensive-minded coach who led the Pacers to five playoff appearances and two straight conference finals. His standing took a hit during two seasons in Orlando, where the Magic were never competitive or especially strong on defense.

The most important question for any Lakers coach, of course, is how does he look to LeBron James. LeBron’s coaches have very short tenures when they don’t win over his respect, with Luke Walton recently being added to the list. Vogel doesn’t have a prior relationship with James or with any of this year’s top free agents, so his hiring wasn’t designed to give L.A. an edge in rebuilding its roster.

Ben Golliver of The Washington Post speculates that the addition of Vogel could be on ongoing source of friction inside the Lakers’ management team. He reportedly received “mixed reviews” after his interview on Thursday, with team adviser Kurt Rambis as Vogel’s top advocate.

Golliver notes that three factors could limit Vogel’s time in his new position. James, who will turn 35 in December and is only committed to the team for two more years before he can opt out, expects to contend right away. However, the Lakers have a poor defense in place and no center on the current roster, while Vogel hasn’t coached a team with a better-than-average offense since 2012.

In addition, Vogel’s short contract will make him easy to part with if the organization decides things aren’t working, and Kidd will be there looking over his shoulder.

We want to get your opinion on the Lakers’ coaching search. Was Vogel the right choice? And will he get time to succeed or will Kidd eventually take over? Please leave your answers in the space below.

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