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Pacific Notes: Lakers, Westbrook, Fox, Silver, Suns

October 22nd, 2022 at 10:01am CST by Dana Gauruder

It’s only a two-game sample, but the Lakers’ shortcomings are already in full view, according to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. Their lack of perimeter shooting and depth at the wing has been noticeable in those losses. The Lakers have made just 13-of-58 3-point attempts (22.4%) in which the nearest defender is at least four feet away. The lack of wing depth was on display when they tried to guard Kawhi Leonard with a combination of Russell Westbrook and Juan Toscano-Anderson.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers need to move on from Westbrook immediately, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times opines, arguing that they would have defeated the Clippers if he hadn’t played or been on the roster. His poor shooting, reckless play and divisive personality will continue to prove costly on a team that otherwise looks feistier than last year’s, Plaschke adds.
De’Aaron Fox signed a five-year extension in November 2020 and he hopes to continue his relationship with the Kings for many seasons, as he told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I’ve never been the type of person that wants a big market,” Fox said. “(So) if I can go to a small market, and then win, those are the types of things that I feel like are more important to me. It’s being able to bring winning back to the city. That is definitely my goal.”
Commissioner Adam Silver met with Suns employees before their game against Dallas on Wednesday and expressed regret for the misconduct of owner Robert Sarver, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Sarver is now in the process of selling the team. “I’m incredibly empathetic to what many of you have lived through,” Silver said to those employees, who gathered in the lower bowl of the team’s arena hours. “To the extent that you feel let down by the league, I apologize. I take responsibility for that.”

Lakers Considering Adding Harkless After Workout, Meeting

October 21st, 2022 at 5:02pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers “have given some internal consideration” to signing free agent forward Maurice Harkless to address their lack of wing depth, as Marc Stein writes at Substack.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link), the Lakers hosted Harkless for a workout and meeting this week.

Harkless was traded three times during the offseason. The first deal saw him head from Sacramento to Atlanta as part of the Kevin Huerter deal, then he was dealt to the Thunder in a cost-cutting move that put the Hawks under the luxury tax, and finally he was part of the eight-player trade between Houston and Oklahoma City.

The Rockets ended up waiving Harkless due to a roster crunch — they had too many players on guaranteed standard contracts and plenty of depth at forward.

A 10-year veteran, Harkless has played for the Magic, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Knicks, Heat and Kings since being selected with the 15th overall pick in 2012. Known as a solid, switchable defender, Harkless hold career averages of 6.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .474/.320/.624 shooting in 621 regular season games (371 starts, 22.6 MPG).

As Stein noted in his article, while Harkless does provide some size (6’7″, 220 pounds) and versatility (he’s capable of handling either forward spot), his 32% career mark from three-point range isn’t ideal for a Lakers team that has struggled to convert outside shots in the early going. Still, he provides playoff experience, toughness and is only 29 years old, so it’s not as if he’s nearing the end of his basketball career like so many of the veterans on last season’s roster were.

If the Lakers do end up signing Harkless, they’d have to waive a player on the 15-man roster because it’s currently full. Wenyen Gabriel and Matt Ryan, both of whom are playing on non-guaranteed deals, would be the players most likely to be cut in that scenario (Ryan has averaged 15 minutes per night across the first two games and is one of the few shooters on the roster, so his spot might be safer than Gabriel’s).

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Roster, Westbrook, Ham, Cannady

October 21st, 2022 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

After making just 10-of-40 three-pointers in their regular season opener on Tuesday, the Lakers were even worse on Thursday, hitting 9-of-45 in a loss to the Clippers. LeBron James, who acknowledged the team’s lack of “lasers” following Tuesday’s loss, didn’t want to focus on that roster hole again on Thursday, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.

“I’m definitely not going to sit here and harp on what we can’t do every single game,” James said when asked about the Lakers’ shooting struggles. “That’s not a leader. What I know we can do? We can defend our ass off. We did that tonight, which gave us an opportunity to win and we just couldn’t make it happen. But, I’m OK with that.”

James expects the shooting numbers to improve, since the Lakers obviously will make more than 22.4% of their three-point attempts this season. However, he admitted that the team can’t afford to live and die on whether those outside shots are falling.

“If we’re reliant on (solid three-point shooting) every single game, then we’re in trouble,” James said, per McMenamin. “So I’m not worried about that or thinking about that. It’s how hard we play, how aggressive we play, how determined we are to go out and compete every night. And we got to defend. When we defend, we’re going to give ourselves a good chance to win.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Russell Westbrook played solid defense and had five steals on Thursday, but went 0-for-11 from the floor and scored just two points. Clippers forward Paul George defended his former teammate after the game, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN relays (via Twitter). “It’s hard when you’ve got the pressure they’re putting on him here. Quite frankly, it’s not geared for him with the roster they have,” George said. “… He was very easily a 30-10-10 guy when he had the keys to the team. We can’t forget about that.”
After Westbrook said that coming off the bench “absolutely” was a factor in his minor hamstring injury last Friday, he and head coach Darvin Ham spoke about the issue and reached an “understanding,” Ham told reporters prior to Thursday’s game (link via McMenamin). Although Ham was fine with Westbrook saying what he did, the Lakers’ coach stressed that he and his staff “would in no way, shape or form put a player or an employee in harm’s way.”
In a conversation with Marc J. Spears of Andscape about being a first-time head coach with the Lakers, Ham said it will take some time for the new-look roster to get comfortable with each other — and with his system. “Chemistry is not like Malt-O-Meal. It’s not instant,” Ham said. “You don’t just throw it in the microwave. That is something that has to be baked over the course of time and we’ll get there. The more we keep getting the reps in when we are about to practice and shoot around, film work, we’ll get to the point where we know each other and it’s second nature the way we play basketball. That definitely is the goal, and it takes time. Just got to be willing to be patient.”
The South Bay Lakers – L.A.’s G League affiliate – have acquired Devin Cannady‘s NBAGL rights from the Lakeland Magic, the team announced in a press release. Cannady was waived by Orlando last weekend after not making the team’s regular season roster.

Woj: Don’t Expect Any Lakers Trades Before Thanksgiving

October 20th, 2022 at 9:12am CST by Luke Adams

Although they didn’t make a blockbuster trade this offseason, the Lakers won’t necessarily stick with their current roster for the entire 2022/23 season. Still, it will probably be at least a few weeks before we can expect the trade market to heat up for the team, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during a Wednesday appearance on NBA Countdown (video link).

“I’m told to expect Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to wait until post-Thanksgiving, 20 games into the season,” Wojnarowski said. “And see what teams may start pivoting who don’t start off well, who decide that they may start to unload players and perhaps get involved in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.”

As Wojnarowski explains, there have been more buyers than sellers at the deadline during the last couple seasons since so many teams were still within reach of the play-in tournament. But the expectation in 2022/23 is that several of the clubs in the bottom half of the standings might be more inclined to prioritize their lottery position in order to chase Wembanyama instead of trying to sneak into the play-in tournament.

If and when that shift occurs, the Lakers could revisit the marketplace to see what Russell Westbrook‘s expiring $47MM contract and their 2027 and/0r 2029 first-round picks might get them.

“There were so many buyers the last couple years. The expectation is there will be more sellers this year. You’ll start to see the asking price in trades go down. It’s supply and demand,” Wojnarowski said. “So expect the Lakers really to get to that 20-game point where teams kind of reach an inflection point about how they want to proceed, and then see what might really be available to help improve this Lakers team.”

Wojnarowski’s report makes sense, but it’s also entirely in line with how the NBA’s trade market usually develops during the season. Pre-Thanksgiving deals are always rare.

The last time two teams made an in-season trade prior to Thanksgiving was back in 2018, when Jimmy Butler was sent from Minnesota to Philadelphia — and that deal was only completed so early because the Timberwolves’ situation, beginning in training camp, was deemed untenable, with Butler aggressively pushing for a deal.

While the Lakers may feel increasing urgency to make a change to their roster if they get off to a slow start this season, they’re not yet nearly as desperate to make a deal as those 2018 Wolves were.

Lakers Notes: Westbrook, Three-Point Shooting, Davis

October 19th, 2022 at 9:38am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers guard Russell Westbrook was back in the starting lineup for the team’s regular season opener on Tuesday after playing a reserve role in last Friday’s preseason finale and leaving after just five minutes of action due to a hamstring strain. Asked on Tuesday whether coming off the bench may have been a factor in injuring his hamstring, Westbrook didn’t hesitate to draw a link between the two.

“Absolutely. I’ve been doing the same thing for 14 years straight,” Westbrook said, per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to do pregame, I was trying to stay warm and loose.

“I felt something, didn’t know what it was. Wasn’t gonna risk it in a preseason game. But definitely wasn’t something I was used to. Wasn’t warm enough. It was something I wasn’t accustomed to.”

Westbrook has started over 1,000 regular season games since last coming off the bench as a rookie in 2008. While he has spoken publicly about embracing whatever role new head coach Darvin Ham asks him to play, it sounds like he’s still not enthusiastic about the idea of not being part of the starting five.

It’s possible the concept of bringing Westbrook off the bench is one the Lakers will revisit in the coming days, weeks, or months following the aborted experiment last Friday. But Ham spoke before Tuesday’s game about wanting to establish a consistent starting lineup, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin relays.

“We don’t want to be one of those teams,” he said, “where teams are swaying according to who their opponent is starting.”

Here’s more on the Lakers, who dropped their first game of the regular season on Tuesday in Golden State:

The Lakers’ Big Three of Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis combined for 77 points on Tuesday, but they made just 4-of-16 three-pointers, and the rest of the team was no better from distance. After facing some criticism for not prioritizing outside shooting in free agency, the Lakers made just 10-of-40 threes on the night. “I think we got great looks, but it also could be teams giving us great looks,” James said, according to Goodwill. “To be completely honest, we’re not a team that’s constructed of great shooting. Truth of matter is not like you know, we (have) a lot of lasers on our team. We’re not sitting here with a bunch of 40-plus (percent) career 3-point shooting guys.”
The 2022/23 season represents a fork in the road for Davis, contends Jovan Buha of The Athletic. As Buha outlines, there’s a general consensus within the organization that Davis’ success this season will determine the Lakers’ success, so if he can stay healthy and have a big year, he can re-establish himself as one of the game’s top players after a couple disappointing, injury-plagued seasons.
In case you missed it, two projected Lakers rotation players – Dennis Schröder and Thomas Bryant – each underwent thumb surgery and will miss the first few weeks of the season.

Warriors Notes: Poole, Curry, Green, Toscano-Anderson, Thompson

October 18th, 2022 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

After taking a punch from teammate Draymond Green, Jordan Poole was advised by some of his closest confidants that maybe he shouldn’t sign a rookie scale extension with the Warriors, Logan Murdock of The Ringer reports.

Members of Poole’s inner circle were concerned that the team dynamics would be too difficult to repair. Before Green was reinstated from his team-imposed suspension, Golden State officials ran it by Poole.

Ultimately, Poole couldn’t pass up the financial security, as he chose to ink a four-year extension that can be worth up to $140MM.

We have more on the Warriors:

Stephen Curry is confident that Green will handle the adversity that he brought upon himself, Curry told Shayna Rubin of the Orange County Register. “He’ll figure it out. We will have his back for the entire process,” he said. “He doesn’t need anyone to hold his hand. He responds well to adversity and critics.”
Juan Toscano-Anderson, now a member of the Lakers, received his championship ring during the season opener on Tuesday. He told Jovan Buha of The Athletic beforehand that he’s grateful to be part of the ceremony. “I think it’s bittersweet, man,” Toscano-Anderson said. “… I’m excited to go back and get my ring. It’s pretty dope that I’m gonna be able to celebrate the ring ceremony on opening night with those guys, when the actual ring ceremony is bound to happen.”
While some of his teammates signed extensions, Klay Thompson is now ineligible to ink one until July under current CBA rules because he has two years remaining on his contract. He anticipates everything will work itself out, as told Mark Medina of NBA.com. “I fully expect to earn another NBA contract, whether it’s this summer or next summer,” Thompson said. “I’m fully confident in my abilities. I’m not worried about an extension in the meantime because I know it’ll happen if I just do my job and I just be myself.” He’ll be an unrestricted free agent in 2024 if he doesn’t eventually sign an extension.
What is the Warriors’ approach to its title defense and remaining a perennial contender? Anthony Slater of The Athletic takes a deep dive into those topics, exploring how the team’s two-timeline plan is progressing.

Lakers Center Thomas Bryant Undergoes Thumb Surgery

October 18th, 2022 at 5:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers center Thomas Bryant underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair the ulnar collateral ligament on his left thumb, the team’s PR department tweets. He will be reevaluated by team doctors in approximately three weeks, the team adds.

Los Angeles signed Bryant early in free agency to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract.

The Lakers are off to a bad start in terms of injuries. Another free agent acquisition, guard Dennis Schröder, underwent the same surgery on his right thumb this week and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

With Bryant out, Anthony Davis is expected to play the bulk of the minutes at center with Damian Jones in reserve.

Bryant’s career has been sidetracked by injuries. The former Wizards big man suffered an ACL tear two seasons ago and has only appeared in 37 games since, including 27 last season.

Bryant, who will turn 25 later this month, began his NBA career with the Lakers, having been acquired from Utah in a draft-night deal in 2017. The 42nd overall pick appeared in just 15 games as a rookie with L.A. and was waived in the summer of 2018.

The Wizards claimed Bryant off waivers and the big man spent the next four seasons in D.C.

And-Ones: NBA Rosters, Barkley, Vildoza, Wembanyama

October 18th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s opening night rosters feature a total of 120 international players, including a record-setting 22 from Canada and 10 from Australia, the league announced today in a press release. All 30 teams have at least one international player, while the Raptors – the NBA’s only international team – lead the way with eight international players.

Meanwhile, the opening night rosters also include a record-setting 234 players with some G League experience, according to the NBA (Twitter link). All 30 teams are carrying at least four players with G League experience, while the Nets‘ roster features a record 12 players who have spent time in the NBAGL — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Markieff Morris, and rookie Alondes Williams are the only Brooklyn players without G League experience.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

The four members of TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show – Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal – have agreed to new multiyear contracts, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports announced this week. Barkley’s new deal covers 10 years and will be worth well above $100MM, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, though Barkley said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show that there’s “probably zero chance” he’ll stay for the entire 10 years (story via Awful Announcing).
Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, who spent parts of the last two seasons with the Knicks and Bucks, told Mozzart Sport (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops) that he didn’t get the opportunity he had hoped for in the NBA, but that he still feels like he benefited from his time stateside. “I feel better physically and stronger,” Vildoza said as he prepares to resume playing in Europe. He appeared in seven games for Milwaukee during the 2022 postseason, but has yet to play in a regular season NBA contest.
Lakers star LeBron James isn’t the NBA’s highest-paid player in terms of salary this season, but he’ll earn the most money after accounting for endorsements, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. Baenhausen pegs James’ total 2022/23 earnings at $119.5MM, putting him ahead of Warriors guard Stephen Curry ($93.1MM) and Nets forward Kevin Durant ($91MM).
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a look at which teams can realistically be expected to tank in 2022/23 for a shot to draft Victor Wembanyama next June.

NBA Teams With Most, Least Roster Continuity

October 18th, 2022 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Over the last several months, dozens of NBA players have changed teams via free agency, dozens more have entered or exited the league, and a total of 31 trades have been made. After all that offseason activity, some teams will enter the 2022/23 season looking totally different than they did in the spring, while others will look pretty similar to last season’s squads.

Roster continuity is generally perceived as a sign of stability, but carrying over a significant number of players from last year’s team doesn’t necessarily give a club a leg up entering a new season.

Heading into the 2021/22 season, for instance, the Nuggets, Kings, Hawks, and Magic were the teams with the most roster continuity, and none of those clubs had a hugely successful season (Denver and Atlanta exited the playoffs quickly, while Sacramento and Orlando didn’t make it). On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Celtics were one of the teams with the most roster turnover during the 2021 offseason and made it within two wins of a championship this past spring.

Entering the 2022/23 campaign, the Bucks, Pelicans, and Magic are the three teams bringing back the most players from last year’s end-of-season rosters (including two-way players). All three clubs retained 14 players over the summer.

It’s the third straight year in which Orlando has ranked among the teams with the least roster turnover, which suggests the team remains high on its young core and doesn’t want to break it up. Milwaukee and New Orleans, meanwhile, are joined by the Clippers (13 returning players) as teams perhaps hoping that the return of an injured star (Khris Middleton, Zion Williamson, and Kawhi Leonard, respectively) will help propel them to a deeper postseason run in 2023.

The Jazz are, unsurprisingly, the team that experienced the most roster turnover, having launched a rebuilding process that saw them trade away All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, among other veterans. They’re bringing back just five players.

The Lakers, who had a disaster of a year 2021/22 after bringing back just three players from the previous season’s roster, once again rank among the teams with the most roster turnover, having retained just six players from their end-of-season roster. We’ll see if this version of the new-look squad has more success than last year’s did.

Here’s the total number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest:

Milwaukee Bucks: 14
New Orleans Pelicans: 14
Orlando Magic: 14
Chicago Bulls: 13
Los Angeles Clippers: 13
Miami Heat: 13
New York Knicks: 13
Charlotte Hornets: 12
Phoenix Suns: 12 (*)
Toronto Raptors: 12
Brooklyn Nets: 11
Dallas Mavericks: 11
Houston Rockets: 11
Memphis Grizzlies: 11
Oklahoma City Thunder: 11
Washington Wizards: 11
Boston Celtics: 10
Cleveland Cavaliers: 10
Detroit Pistons: 10
Golden State Warriors: 10
Indiana Pacers: 10
Philadelphia 76ers: 10
Portland Trail Blazers: 10
Sacramento Kings: 10
San Antonio Spurs: 10
Denver Nuggets: 9
Minnesota Timberwolves: 9
Atlanta Hawks: 7
Los Angeles Lakers: 6
Utah Jazz: 5

(* The Suns’ count includes Jae Crowder, since he technically remains on the roster, even though he’s away from the team.)

Dennis Schröder Expected To Miss 3-4 Weeks After Thumb Surgery

October 17th, 2022 at 7:40pm CST by Rory Maher

7:40pm: The Lakers confirmed in a press release that Schröder underwent surgery on Monday to repair the ulnar collaterial ligament on his right thumb and will be reevaluated in three weeks.

3:45pm: Lakers guard Dennis Schröder underwent surgery to repair a ligament in his right thumb on Monday and is expected to miss three-to-four weeks, head coach Darvin Ham told reporters, including ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link).

It’s an unfortunate start to the 2022/23 season for Schröder, who re-joined the Lakers on a one-year, minimum-salary deal as a free agent last month after a strong performance at EuroBasket, helping lead the German team to a bronze medal. However, he missed most of training camp and preseason and was only able to practice with the Lakers for the first time last Monday due to a visa issue.

The 29-year-old said he has “unfinished business” with the Lakers after reportedly being unwilling to discuss a lucrative extension in his first stint with the team a couple of seasons ago. The rumored four-year, $80MM extension was never signed, and Schröder instead signed a one-year, $5.9MM with Boston last summer.

Schröder hopes his second stint with the Lakers is longer than his first (one season).

“Of course, it would be great to sign a big deal and a longer-term deal, and that’s my goal still,” he said. “But the end of the day, we are here now and I’m going to do everything I can right now to just help my teammates win ballgames.”

With Schröder sidelined, players like Kendrick Nunn, Patrick Beverley and Austin Reaves could see more playing time in his stead.