- Since joining the Clippers, head coach Tyronn Lue has emerged from LeBron James‘ shadow and is developing into a star in his own right, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes, examining how Lue has kept his team competitive while missing stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. “When you build a system around your best two players, a lot of stuff we can’t run anymore,” Lue said. “I had to look at the mirror myself and just figure out what’s best for this team. I had to go back to the drawing board.”
Paul George is progressing in his rehab and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said he’s willing to play George, Kawhi Leonard or Norman Powell when they’re ready, even if they don’t return before the end of the regular season, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
George has not played since December 22 due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He participated in a 4-on-4 practice against assistant coaches with minimal contact on Sunday.
“He’s feeling better,” Lue said. “That is part of his rehab, having minimal contact with the coaches and trying to get his wind and just kind of see how he feels. To get him on the court for the first time was really good to see, got to continue to keep working and see how he is feeling going forward.”
The Clippers, who have lost three straight, are essentially locked into the play-in tournament. They’re currently eighth in the Western Conference, 6.5 games behind the sixth- and seventh-place Timberwolves and Nuggets with nine games to play. They’re 4.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Lakers.
Leonard hasn’t played this season after undergoing knee surgery last summer. Powell, who fractured a bone in his left foot shortly after he was acquired from Portland at the trade deadline, shed his walking boot last week but hasn’t yet cleared been cleared for contact, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register.
Lue won’t hesitate to use any of them in the playoffs.
“To hit the playoffs going at 100, from zero to 100, that is pretty tough. But if the medical guys say they are cleared and they are able to do that, that is totally up to them,” he said.
- Terance Mann‘s versatility has been valuable for the Clippers, per Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. Coach Doc Rivers viewed Mann as a point guard when he came into the league, even though he played shooting guard and small forward in college. Now coach Tyronn Lue uses Mann wherever he fits in best. “We don’t have him do too much,” Lue said. “Just guard the best player, defend and rebound … handle the ball and make plays and attack the basket.”
Reggie Jackson thought about quitting basketball after the end of the 2019/20 season, he admits in an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic.
Jackson agreed to a buyout with the Pistons during that season and joined the Clippers about three weeks before the league shut down due to the pandemic. When play resumed in Orlando, L.A. suffered a heart-breaking playoff defeat after letting a 3-1 lead slip away against the Nuggets.
“But my brother kind of talked some sense into me. It was a time during the pandemic where people unfortunately didn’t have jobs still,” Jackson recalled. “The job market was very brutal, so just the idea of coming back for another year and not knowing what was going on in the world and knowing I had some joy (for the game). Really, I came back with an idea that I was just going to enjoy waking up each and every day being around the game that I love. And honestly, I didn’t expect to even play. … I just thought I was going to probably be more of a mentor, a senior statesman role, trying to vie for a position if I can get on the court.”
Instead, Jackson has emerged as a leader for a team facing the prospect of heading into the playoffs without Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. He signed a two-year, $21.6MM contract last summer and appears to have a secure home for the rest of his career.
Jackson touches on a few more topics in the in-depth interview:
On why he joined the Clippers after leaving Detroit:
“Doing the buyout, honestly, I never wanted to do one. I’m a guy where when I sign up, I’m going to give you all I’ve got for that time. … Honestly, it was just about playing basketball. It was trying to find a spot to get healthy. When Paul (George) called me, it was that safety net and that feeling of comfort having somebody that I knew was going to have my back in the locker room and somebody who understood me. At the time, I felt like I was very misunderstood. I just needed somebody in my corner.”
On the experience of navigating a season without star players available:
“It’s going through the journey with the team through our ups and downs of the season. That’s been the gratifying part of seeing our spirits, how we were a little shaky earlier with our belief at times, but through the wins, the losses, you can still feel our spirit. We truly believe that we’re gonna win each and every night that we go out there. And we believe that we’re gonna give our best effort. That’s the standard here with our culture. Being in my 11th season and while being in the moment to still be able to take a step back and reflect as we go along the journey (is key). I think that’s been something with the maturation throughout the years. I’m enjoying the right now with this group.”
On his relationship with Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, which was reportedly rocky when they were teammates in Oklahoma City:
“I mean I see him around. We play pick up and all (during the offseason). There’s no problem (laughs) — at all. I always wish him well, always tell him to tell his family what’s up for me. He was definitely — even though we were around the same age — he was definitely my vet, showing me the ropes, taking me around, making me comfortable. I think a lot of my aggression and my fire, and the way I play is because we’re all a product of our environment. So I also felt like I was raised under him as well. I’m always appreciative of Russ and thankful for all he’s done for me during my career. He raised me and showed me the ropes, especially preparing me for… what it was going to be like being a starter in the league and taking your lumps, the ups and downs and staying confident in yourself and even keel.”
On the chances of George and Leonard returning for the playoffs:
“I just prepare every day like they’re coming back tomorrow. But I’m one of those people where I prepare for the worst and then hopefully the best (happens). I live in both worlds, so right now if they come back tomorrow and they become Supermen for us, then I don’t care what seed we get, we’re trying to win a championship. … I always believe we’re building something, and as long as you keep that mentality, then I think eventually we’ll be where we want to be.”
- Clippers wing Norman Powell, who is recovering from a fractured left foot, had the boot removed from his foot this week, tweets Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. There’s still no guarantee that Powell, who last played on February 10, will be back before the regular season ends in 23 days.
- The Clippers decided not to add a point guard at the trade deadline or through the buyout market. That looks like a wise move in the aftermath of their overtime loss to Cleveland on Monday, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times writes. With Reggie Jackson getting a rest, the Clippers had 29 assists and just 11 turnovers with Terance Mann and Amir Coffey among the ball-handlers initiating the attack.
The struggling 29-39 Lakers, winners of just two of their last ten games, are looking to the future, encouraged by the development of some of their youngsters, writes Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register.
Though the Los Angeles front office mostly opted to build its new-look roster around older veterans this summer, a handful of younger role players have emerged around 37-year-old All-Star forward LeBron James this season.
24-year-old guard Malik Monk and 23-year-old rookie wing Austin Reaves, alongside 25-year-old forward Stanley Johnson, have emerged as three of the Lakers’ more reliable players who may have yet to hit their ceilings. 21-year-old swingman Talen Horton-Tucker remains an intriguing option as well, though he has underperformed relative to his new three-year, $32MM contract this season.
“They’ve continued to improve and get better and more comfortable in our system, in our environment,” head coach Frank Vogel said of the Lakers’ youth movement. “Malik, Austin and Talen. That trio is another reason amongst others why I believe we have a chance.”
There’s more out of California:
- The NBA has fined Kings big man Richaun Holmes to the tune of $25K after he threw a basketball into the crowd during a 134-125 loss to the Jazz on March 12, per a league press release (Twitter link). Holmes was ejected from the game at the time of the incident. It shouldn’t make too big of a dent in his wallet — the 28-year-old is in the first season of a lucrative new four-year, $46.5MM contract he signed with Sacramento during the 2021 offseason.
- Despite being inactive for the last 30 Warriors contests this season due to a nagging back injury, All-Star power forward Draymond Green remains convinced he can still win his second Defensive Player of the Year Award this season, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Yeah, I’ve seen guys win with not many more games than I’m gonna play,” Green said. “I don’t know what league everybody else has been watching, but I have not seen anyone solidify themselves as Defensive Player of the Year.” Johnson notes that, should Green be available for all 13 remaining Warriors games during the 2021/22 regular season, he will only have suited up for 48 total this year.
- With a 36-35 record, the eighth-seeded Clippers are six games behind the sixth-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference. L.A. has just 11 games left on its regular season slate. The team has little to no chance of avoiding the play-in tournament at this point of the year, barring a collapse from both the Nuggets and the 40-30 seventh seed, the Timberwolves. The team is also a whopping 5.5 games ahead of the ninth-seeded Lakers. Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register examines how the Clippers intend to operate down the home stretch of the season given the reality of their seeding. “We’ll get a chance to experiment with our small lineup, which we gotta get better at once we get everyone healthy and get everyone back and then kinda see how that plays out,“ head coach Tyronn Lue said. Lue also intends to work through after-timeout plays, with an emphasis on helping shooting guard Luke Kennard improve his timing off screens.
The chemistry between Luke Kennard and Reggie Jackson formed long before they teamed up on the Clippers, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. They were teammates in Detroit for two and a half seasons after Kennard entered the league in 2017/18.
Their partnership ended briefly when the Pistons waived Jackson in February of 2020, but he signed with L.A. a few days later and Kennard was traded to the Clippers in the fall. They’ll make their only visit of the season to Detroit on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s been a lot of fun playing with him – I mean, I played with him in Detroit, so I know what Reggie is all about,” Kennard said. “He was my vet in Detroit, and we kind of built a connection right away. He helped me a lot throughout my first couple of years there. And just to be back with him now and to play even more of a role with him now than I did in Detroit, it’s fun.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Appearing as a guest on Serge Ibaka‘s “How Hungry Are You?” series on YouTube, DeMar DeRozan admits that he had some interest in joining the Clippers during free agency (hat tip to Adam Glanzman of All Clippers). On the show, which was taped during the offseason, DeRozan said he would have accepted a small pay cut if Kyle Lowry had also come to L.A., but after he met with the Bulls, he didn’t believe the Clippers could match their offer. “Nothing but respect to (president of basketball operations) Lawrence Frank and the whole Clippers organization,” DeRozan said. “Great people. It definitely was an opportunity that presented itself. I think for me, the Chicago thing just took off.”
- After Friday’s game, Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker revealed that he’s playing with a Grade 2 ankle sprain, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Horton-Tucker was listed as questionable for the game, but wound up playing 30 minutes and scoring 15 points. “I’m just trying to play through it,” he said. “It’s the end of the season so we got to get some wins. So, any way I can help I feel like I need to be out there. So, I’m trying to play through it. It still hurts, but I’m just trying to push.”
- Donte DiVincenzo brought a commitment to defense to the Kings when they acquired him in a four-team trade last month, per Alex Kramers of NBA.com. The fourth-year guard specializes in jumping into passing lanes and forcing turnovers. “At the end of the day, it is just locking up and locking in on the defensive end, [recognizing] how to disrupt [opponents] offensively and how to make a difference for a team,” DiVincenzo said.
Patrick Beverley felt the contract extension offer he received from the Clippers before they traded him last offseason was “borderline disrespectful,” he said on J.J. Redick’s “The Old Man and the Three” podcast (hat tip to Darryn Albert of Larry Brown Sports).
“Me being there from the beginning, I’m thinking that this contract extension, I’m thinking it’s going to be easy. I walk in and they throw me a number that I felt was borderline disrespectful,” Beverley said.
Clippers executive Lawrence Frank worked out an amicable solution by trading him to Memphis, who then shipped him to one of his top destinations, Minnesota. Beverley signed a one-year extension with the Timberwolves last month.
We have more on the Los Angeles teams:
- LeBron James carried the Lakers to victory over Washington on Friday with another 50-point performance, and coach Frank Vogel wonders if James best suited to be a center at this stage of his career, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes. “Maybe after all these years, him playing center was really the best way to utilize him,” Vogel said. “Because that’s where he’s been doing it, by playing the center position with (Anthony Davis) out. Doing whatever the team needs to win games. And just an incredible, unbelievable, epic performance by LJ.”
- Reggie Jackson lavished praise on Clippers fans, calling them the heart of the city, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register writes. “I understand what it is in this city, it definitely is overwhelmed by Lakers fans. But I feel like Clippers Nation is like the heart,” he said. “It truly is L.A. It’s more so. No shot to them over there, but they’re the lights. They’re bright lights. They’re Hollywood. That’s the Lakers. … But I feel like we’re definitely the heart of the city – or that’s something we want to embody.”
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope felt that getting traded by the Lakers was almost inevitable, as he told Mark Medina of NBA.com. “Every single year with the Lakers, I was in trade talks,” Caldwell-Pope said. Kyle Kuzma, who was also a part of the Russell Westbrook deal, said he’ll always have a place in Lakers history. “I’m cemented as a winner, and I’m cemented as a Lakers champion,” he said. “For me, it’s not about ‘what if.’ It’s time to move on. It’s time to improve my game.” The Lakers honored the duo with a video tribute on Friday, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.
- The Lakers are suffering from “organizational fatigue” due to the demands of putting a championship-caliber team around James, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN (video link). Windhorst doubts GM Rob Pelinka can do anything significant to fix the team’s issues this offseason, since the Lakers have already dealt most of their assets. “They have nothing they can really trade of huge value,” Windhorst said.
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard took part in a “rigorous” pregame workout that lasted well over an hour on Tuesday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports said during TNT’s broadcast (video link via Justin Russo). According to Haynes, it looked like Leonard had “zero limitations” during that workout, but head coach Tyronn Lue said the two-time Finals MVP still hasn’t been cleared for contact, as Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group relays.
Although Kawhi is clearly making progress, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated on Wednesday’s episode of NBA Today that a return this season is “more realistic” for teammate Paul George than for Leonard (video link). The Clippers haven’t ruled out the possibility of Leonard playing this spring, but Woj notes that it’s still been less than eight months since he underwent ACL surgery, which would be a very quick turnaround even if his recovery is ahead of schedule.
The Clippers are in position to make the play-in tournament and could extend their season by earning one of the West’s final two playoff spots, but the team may not be comfortable bringing back Leonard in the postseason without any regular season reps.
“I spoke to Coach Lue,” Haynes said on TNT last night. “And he told me that if he can’t get his guys back for games in the regular season, then it wouldn’t be safe for them to return in the playoffs.”
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- The Bulls have cleared Alex Caruso (wrist) for full contact and Patrick Williams (wrist) for “minimal” contact, per head coach Billy Donovan. As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago writes, there’s still no set timeline for either player to return to action. However, if Caruso is able to fully participate in the team’s next practice on Friday, he could be on track to play soon.
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said today that swingman Danny Green will “most likely” miss Thursday’s game vs. Brooklyn due to a finger laceration, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Due to the risk of his stitches reopening, Green may end up being sidelined for a week or more, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com.
- The Knicks have three games left on their current road trip, but forward Cam Reddish has returned to New York in order to have his injured right shoulder reevaluated, head coach Tom Thibodeau said today (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). The injury, which Reddish sustained on Monday, is being called a sprain for now.