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Pacific Notes: Covington, Sarver, Kings, Lakers

September 14th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Robert Covington prioritized a chance to win a title over maximizing his salary when he agreed to a two-year, $24MM extension with the Clippers in May, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Covington might have been able to earn more on the open market, but he feels wanted in L.A. and likes the talent that’s surrounding him.

“I talked with my agent and he kind of picked my brain on everything on what I wanted to do and I basically told him that at this point in my career I want to win,” Covington explained. “I’ve had a big contract, but I wanted to be in a position where I can win and I can really contribute to a contending team. We’ve seen what we had here and everybody, even the team talked about, ‘We want you back, want you back,’ players, everybody talked about next year. Just the consistency and the commitment that even after my last day there everybody still was preaching me coming back and I took that into account. Everyone expressed how much they wanted me to come back.”

The expected return of Kawhi Leonard, who missed all of last season due to injury, and the addition of free agent guard John Wall give the Clippers possibly the most talent in the Western Conference. Their depth also makes it difficult to identify who will get consistent playing time, but Covington believes that will work itself out.

“I know what they brought me here for,” he said. “They brought me here to knock down shots, defend, make the game easy, disrupt as much as I can, that’s why they brought me back.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

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2022/23 NBA Over/Unders: Pacific Division

September 12th, 2022 at 8:30am CST by Luke Adams

The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to continue an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?

We’ll keep our series going today with the Pacific division…

Golden State Warriors

Phoenix Suns

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Sacramento Kings

Previous voting results:

Central

  • Milwaukee Bucks (52.5 wins): Over (75.5%)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (47.5 wins): Over (73.4%)
  • Chicago Bulls (44.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
  • Detroit Pistons (28.5 wins): Over (51.6%)
  • Indiana Pacers (23.5 wins): Under (62.8%)

Southeast

  • Miami Heat (50.5 wins): Under (56.6%)
  • Atlanta Hawks (46.5 wins): Over (53.6%)
  • Charlotte Hornets (36.5 wins): Under (63.0%)
  • Washington Wizards (35.5 wins): Under (50.8%)
  • Orlando Magic (26.5 wins): Over (55.3%)

Southwest

  • Memphis Grizzlies (49.5 wins): Over (68.7%)
  • Dallas Mavericks (48.5 wins): Over (63.7%)
  • New Orleans Pelicans (44.5 wins): Over (61.2%)
  • Houston Rockets (24.5 wins): Under (61.8%)
  • San Antonio Spurs (23.5 wins): Under (67.5%)
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Pre-Camp Roster Snapshot: Pacific Division

August 31st, 2022 at 9:41am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is in the process of taking a closer look at each NBA team’s current roster situation, evaluating which clubs still have some moves to make and which ones seem most prepared for training camp to begin.

This series is meant to provide a snapshot of each team’s roster at this time, so these articles won’t be updated in the coming weeks as more signings, trades, and cuts are made. You can follow our roster counts page to keep tabs on teams’ open spots as opening night nears.

We’re continuing our pre-camp Roster Snapshot series today with the Pacific Division. Let’s dive in…

Golden State Warriors

Andre Iguodala‘s decision on whether to play for another season or retire looks like the only major domino left to fall for the Warriors this offseason. If Iguodala returns, he’ll fill Golden State’s 14th roster spot. If not, the team might be in the market for another veteran free agent addition.

Even if Iguodala re-signs, there would be one open spot on the Warriors’ 15-man roster. The club could keep that spot open to start the season in order to maintain flexibility and to avoid pushing its astronomical tax bill even higher, but if there’s a player who shows he deserves a place on the roster – like Gary Payton II did a year ago – Golden State would likely be willing to sacrifice that flexibility and to pay the associated costs to keep him.

Los Angeles Clippers

Like the Warriors, the Clippers are far beyond the luxury tax line and may not feel compelled to fill their 15th roster spot at the start of the season. But Los Angeles does still have a two-way slot available. Brown, Moon, and other training camp invitees could find themselves in vying for that second two-way contract.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers’ roster remains very much in flux, with Westbrook a prime candidate to be traded before opening night. Most permutations of a Westbrook deal would require L.A. to take back two or three players, and the team currently has the roster flexibility to do so.

If the Lakers can’t find a trade they like involving Westbrook, they could sign another free agent or two to fill out their 15-man regular season roster.

Phoenix Suns

One of several taxpaying teams in the division, the Suns are another candidate to open the season with 14 players on standard contracts instead of 15. For now, Landale holds the 14th roster spot, but his partial guarantee is only worth about $46K, so he probably doesn’t have a firm grip on that spot. The Suns reportedly remain in the market for another frontcourt piece and if they find one they like, it’s unclear whether Landale will stick with the team.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings appear set to hold a training camp competition for the three open spots on their projected regular season roster, with Dellavedova, Merrill, Moneke, Bazemore, Cook, and Okpala all potentially in the mix. While there’s only room for three of them for now, Sacramento could keep a fourth by trading or releasing one of their 12 players with guaranteed salaries.

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John Wall Contemplated Suicide Amid Personal Tragedies

August 30th, 2022 at 8:32pm CST by Rory Maher

In a video interview with Donal Ware of BOXTOROW (hat tip to The Associated Press), new Clippers guard John Wall revealed that he contemplated taking his own life after a series of personal tragedies.

“Darkest place I’ve ever been in,” Wall said of the past few years. “At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide. I mean, just tearing my Achilles, my mom being sick, my mom passing, my grandma passed a year later, all this in the midst of COVID and at the same time, me going to chemotherapy, me sitting by my mom taking her last breaths wearing the same clothes for three days straight laying on the couch beside her.”

Wall tore his Achilles tendon in January 2019 when he slipped and fell in his home. According to the AP, Wall’s mother passed away in December 2019 after battling breast cancer.

The five-time All-Star said the support of his team and the mother of his two boys helped him get through the dark times. He also said his children helped motivate him.

“I’m looking at all that and I’m like, ‘If I can get through this, I can get through anything in life,'” he said. “And I don’t like to brag about it because everybody goes through something. We’re all going through times, nobody’s got it easy, but I don’t think a lot of people could get through what I went through.

“And to me to get back on top where I want to be and seeing the fans still want me to play, having the support from my hometown, this important period means a lot. There was a time when I had to go find a therapist. A lot of people think, ‘I don’t need help, I can get through it at anytime,’ but you’ve got to be true to yourself and find out what’s best for you.”

Despite the extremely challenging events of the recent past, Wall said he’s feeling better these days and is excited to play basketball again.

“Even though I was in a dark place the last couple years, I’m super excited and you can kinda tell, I’m smiling a lot more, all those types of things,” Wall said. “… I get an opportunity to play with two great players and the sky’s the limit.”

Wall signed a two-year, $13MM+ contract this offseason with the Clippers after being bought out by the Rockets. He’s expected to be part of a deep L.A. rotation led by star forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

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Wall Looks Sharp In Workouts

August 29th, 2022 at 5:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

John Wall, who didn’t play last season for the Rockets, has looked sharp in offseason workouts, according to Marc Stein in a Substack post. Wall reached a buyout agreement this summer and signed with the Clippers after clearing waivers. Wall is expected to have a significant role with the Clippers, either as the starting point guard or as Reggie Jackson‘s backup.

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California Notes: Curry, Baldwin, Murray, L.A. Rivalry

August 25th, 2022 at 11:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Coming off his first Finals MVP award and his fourth title since 2015, Warriors All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry clearly remains one of the league’s elite players, and obviously its single-best shooter. Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area makes the case that it’s time to officially anoint the eight-time All-Star as the elite of the elites — the NBA’s current best player.

Johnson notes that Curry vanquished a series of All-NBA foes in his postseason run through the West, besting Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, and Luka Doncic in plus-minus by an absurd margin in each case. In six Finals games, Curry posted averages of 31.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.0 APG and 2.0 SPG. He connected on 48.2% of his field goals and 43.7% of his long-range looks.

Johnson also discusses Curry’s astronomical on/off-court impact on the Warriors — Golden State’s offense rating was 27.2 points higher when he took the floor during the team’s Finals series against the Celtics, one of the league’s best defenses.

Here’s more from California’s four NBA teams:

  • In a Dubs Talk podcast interview with Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area, Warriors rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. discussed the various contemporary players whose diverse approach to the game he hopes to replicate. “I like to watch [Kevin Durant], I like to watch Khris Middleton, I like to watch [Jayson Tatum],” Baldwin told Johnson. “I’m watching Otto Porter Jr., Michael Porter Jr. — guys that I think have roles that I can fill some day… It’s just important to be multifaceted and learn from everybody.”
  • With Thunder lottery pick Chet Holmgren now out for the 2022/23 season, Kings rookie forward Keegan Murray has seen his chances of earning Rookie of the Year honors improve significantly, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Murray’s odds moved from 9-to-1 to 5-to-1 following Holmgren’s injury, per Anderson. Sacramento selected the 2022 consensus All-American out of Iowa with the fourth pick in this year’s draft.
  • The Clippers are hoping their expensive new Inglewood arena, Intuit Dome, will help improve their standing in the Los Angeles NBA pecking order with regards to the Lakers, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “I think this’ll be so cool,” Clippers team owner Steve Ballmer said of the team getting its own home arena, separate from the downtown Crypto.com Arena, which they share with the Lakers, Kings and Sparks. “And it needs to be. You said this is a Laker town. No. [It’s a] Laker-Clipper [town]… And someday I want to be able to say Clipper-Laker [town].”
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Western Notes: Marjanovic, Cauley-Stein, Lakers Arena, Warriors

August 22nd, 2022 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

What is the status of the ever popular Boban Marjanovic? According to Marc Stein in a Substack post, Marjanovic has a place on the Rockets’ opening night roster despite an excess of big men.

Marjanovic was dealt by Dallas as part of its package for Christian Wood. He has one season left on the two-year, $7MM contract he signed last offseason.

Alperen Şengün is projected as Houston’s starting center, with Bruno Fernando and Willie Cauley-Stein also vying for spots on the regular season roster.

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • The addition of Cauley-Stein isn’t official yet, as Houston must clear a roster space to sign him. He’s a low-risk, potentially solid-reward addition, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes in his latest mailbag. Over the past five seasons, Cauley-Stein’s teams defended nearly five points better with him on the floor, Iko notes. He’s still athletic enough to play in Houston’s up-tempo system and should help the team defensively.
  • The home arena for the Lakers and Clippers in undergoing major renovations over the next three summers, according to David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times. Upgrades are being made at every level of Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center. The upgrades include new jumbo screens, updated concession stands, a better sound system and an enhanced “fan experience.” The Clippers are scheduled to leave for their new arena in 2024.
  • Which member of the Warriors’ big three will leave? In a mailbag post, Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett speculates that Draymond Green is the only one who might depart in the near future. Stephen Curry has four years left on his deal and is the face of the franchise, while Klay Thompson has two years left on his contract and will likely sign another with Golden State. Green can opt out of his contract after next season and the heavily taxed Warriors may pin their hopes on one of their young frontcourt players emerging at a lower cost, Bulpett writes.
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More Than 30 NBA Players On Track To Suit Up For EuroBasket

August 18th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The first EuroBasket tournament in five years will tip off in two weeks and there are currently 34 NBA players on track to participate in the event, representing 17 different countries, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net.

EuroBasket is a 24-team international basketball competition also known as the European Basketball Championship. It historically took place every two years, but that gap was recently adjusted to four years, emulating the FIBA World Cup schedule.

The last EuroBasket tournament was played in 2017 — the next one had been scheduled for 2021, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, after being played every two years since 1947, it has now been five years since the last EuroBasket tournament, easily the longest layoff since World War II.

It’s possible that some NBA players will be cut from their teams’ rosters or will have to drop out due to injuries or personal reasons before the event begins on September 1, but in general enthusiasm to participate in the long-awaited event appears high.

Here’s the list of NBAers currently set to play in EuroBasket, per Eurohoops:

There are also multiple NBA free agents on EuroBasket rosters, including French swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and German guard Dennis Schröder.

A number of young NBA players, such as 2022 draftees Jeremy Sochan and Nikola Jovic, have dropped out to focus on getting ready for the 2022/23 season, while others, including Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Frank Ntilikina (France), were ruled out due to injuries.

Round robin play will begin on September 1, with each team facing the other five clubs in its group once. The top four teams in each group will advance to a 16-team bracket that begins on September 10. The final will take place on September 18, just over a week before NBA training camps get underway.

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L.A. Notes: Powell, Seattle Game, LeBron, Lakers

August 17th, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Norman Powell is looking forward to a fresh start with the Clippers after suffering a left foot fracture shortly after being acquired in a February trade, writes David Yapkowitz of 213 Hoops. Powell played just three games before the injury, then returned for two games late in the season and two more in the play-in tournament. He said it was difficult trying to adapt to a new team without being on the court.

“It’s kind of a tough hill to climb on, only playing for three games and then coming back for the playoffs, it’s tough,” Powell said. “I really didn’t get a full chance to show what I bring to the table, just a little bit of a spark there.”

The Clippers envision Powell as a complementary scorer when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are both healthy and as someone who can carry the offense when they’re not on the court. After winning a title with the Raptors in 2019, Powell believes he’s on another team that can reach that level.

“We got nine, 10 guys that can be starters on other teams and to have them all on one team is really big especially throughout the course of the season,” he said. “We showed last year that with injuries and things, guys can step up and play big minutes, but if everybody is healthy, it’s a real good shot to have a championship.”

There’s more NBA news from Los Angeles:

  • The Clippers and Trail Blazers will play a preseason contest October 3 in Seattle, marking the first time the former NBA city has hosted a game since 2018. The location was the idea of head coaches and longtime friends Tyronn Lue and Chauncey Billups, who both have team owners with ties to the Seattle area, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times.
  • LeBron James‘ new extension will put the Lakers in a tight financial situation over the next two years, says Bobby Marks of ESPN (video link). If Talen Horton-Tucker and Damian Jones both pick up their player options for the 2023/24 season, the team will have just $22MM in cap space with only five players under contract. If the Lakers keep next year’s first-round pick, that number could fall to about $19MM (depending on where exactly the pick lands), which isn’t nearly enough to sign a high-level free agent.
  • Jovan Buha of The Athletic analyzes the Lakers‘ schedule, which is loaded with tough games early in the season.
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Western Notes: Lakers, Clippers, Buss, Westbrook, Fontecchio

August 14th, 2022 at 8:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The first Lakers–Clippers game next season is scheduled for October 20 at Crypto.com Arena, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As Charania notes, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are set to play Paul George and Kawhi Leonard for the first time since 2020.

The Lakers are coming off a disappointing season headlined by injuries. They finished with just a 33-49 record, the fifth-worst in the Western Conference. The Clippers, on the other hand, have put together a legitimate title contender on paper, owning one of the deepest rosters in the league.

Here are some other notes from the West:

  • Lakers owner Jeanie Buss recently called Michael Jordan the greatest player of all time, as shared in a recent NBA 2K23 advertisement (video link). Buss, of course, has had players such as James and Kobe Bryant play for the franchise during her time with the team.
  • The Lakers may have more options to trade Russell Westbrook if Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell get moved, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times writes. Brooklyn and Utah have discussed trades related to Durant and Mitchell, respectively, but both players remain with their teams.
  • New Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio had a great game against the team’s former star center Rudy Gobert, during a pre-EuroBasket exhibition contest, writes Ryan McDonald of the Deseret News. Fontecchio, who signed a two-year deal with Utah last month after spending his entire career overseas, scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Italy vs. France.
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