- The Lakers‘ trade talks with the Pacers continued this week, but they’re not willing to meet Indiana’s demand of two unprotected first-round picks, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (video link). The Pacers have been seen as a possible destination for Russell Westbrook, with L.A. hoping to land Myles Turner and Buddy Hield in return. The Lakers only have two first-rounders that they can offer — in 2027 and 2029 — and Charania expects the team to be cautious about moving them. He points out that L.A. has a “long runway” with Westbrook and can wait to see how the season plays out rather than rushing into a deal. Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said earlier today that Turner will be with the team when the season begins.
The Warriors anticipate that longtime veteran leader Andre Iguodala will announce his return to the club, writes Marc Stein on Substack. Iguodala has previously suggested he will publicly reveal his decision during an upcoming episode of his podcast Point Forward, co-hosted by his former Sixers teammate Evan Turner.
Stein reports that Golden State expects Iguodala, who has won four titles with the team, will be back for his 19th NBA season in 2022/23 rather than opting to retire, but is prepared for either outcome. The Warriors top off their 2022 training camp earlier than most other teams, as they will be playing exhibition games abroad.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Elsewhere in his latest Substack piece, Stein suggests that the Lakers consider Russell Westbrook and new addition Dennis Schröder to be their top two point guards. Sources inform Stein that the Lakers see the 6’1″ Patrick Beverley, who started as a point guard alongside shooting guard D’Angelo Russell last season with the Timberwolves, as a swingman who can defend and shoot from long range, rather than a point guard, heading into his 11th NBA season. Stein writes that L.A. intends to use Kendrick Nunn, Austin Reaves, and Lonnie Walker at the shooting guard or small forward position instead of point guard.
- Earlier today, Schröder led his native Germany to a win over Poland to secure a bronze medal in this year’s EuroBasket contest, per Eurohoops. The 6’3″ Lakers point guard scored 26 points on 7-of-10 shooting. “That was the goal of the federation, of coach Herbert and for the team and it’s an unbelievable feeling to win a medal in a Eurobasket,” Schröder said after the game. Schröder’s performance in tournament play this summer reportedly helped his cause in free agency.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver seemed uncomfortable at being forced to defend the misbehavior of temporarily suspended Suns team owner Robert Sarver in a Wednesday press conference, writes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Sarver has been banned from having any role with either Phoenix basketball club he owns, the Suns or the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, for the 2022/23 season.
SEPTEMBER 18: Thomas disputed the claim that he participated in the Lakers’ workout, posting a tweet stating that he didn’t work out for the club.
SEPTEMBER 17: Isaiah Thomas was among several free agents who worked out recently for the Lakers, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. The 33-year-old guard is looking for his next team after finishing last season with the Hornets.
If Thomas earns a roster spot, it would mark his third stint with the organization. He signed a 10-day contract with L.A. under the hardship provision last December, appearing in four games and averaging 9.3 PPG in 25.3 minutes per night. Thomas also played 17 games with the Lakers during the 2017/18 season.
A report in July indicated that the Hornets still had some interest in bringing back Thomas, who signed a rest-of-the-season contract after joining the team on a pair of 10-day deals in March. Charlotte currently has two openings on its offseason roster.
Armoni Brooks, Sharife Cooper and Mychal Mulder took part in the workout as well, according to Scotto. He also identifies Shabazz Muhammad, Jeremy Lamb, Dwayne Bacon and Miye Oni as participants (Twitter link).
L.A. currently has one opening on its 20-man roster, but it’s a long shot for any of these players to be with the team once the season begins. Luxury tax penalties would cost the Lakers about $7MM to fill their final roster spot, so they will likely operate with 14 players for most of the season. Friday’s signing of Dennis Schröder gives them 12 fully guaranteed contracts, while Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel are on non-guaranteed deals.
Despite the recent additions of Patrick Beverley and Dennis Schröder, Russell Westbrook is increasingly likely to remain on the Lakers‘ roster, according to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
However, sources tell The Athletic that Westbrook’s role might change, with the team “strongly” considering having the former league MVP come off the bench in 2022/23. New head coach Darvin Ham has the “full backing” of the organization to determine lineups for the upcoming season, and Westbrook will have to outperform his new teammates during minicamp, training camp and the preseason to remain the Lakers’ starting point guard, Buha and Amick write.
Unless the Lakers can find a trade that they believe makes them a legitimate title contender, Westbrook is “highly likely” to stay on the roster, sources tell The Athletic.
A major part of that line of thinking is the Lakers want to keep their financial and trade options open for ’23/24, when they project to have $30MM+ in cap room for free agency, per Buha and Amick. Westbrook is on an expiring contract worth $47.1MM, and the Lakers have been reluctant to trade their 2027 and/or 2029 first-round picks to offload him.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Los Angeles is banking on Ham being able to optimize Westbrook’s talent — and get through to him in a way that Frank Vogel couldn’t — as well as a return to health for Anthony Davis in order for the ’22/23 season to be successful, sources tell Buha and Amick.
- According to Buha and Amick, the Lakers discussed a four-team trade with the Jazz, Knicks and Hornets prior to Donovan Mitchell being dealt to Cleveland, with an early framework sending Bojan Bogdanovic and Terry Rozier to L.A.
- Los Angeles continues to show interest in Bogdanovic, with The Athletic’s duo reporting that Jordan Clarkson and Malik Beasley have been included in recent talks with Utah for Westbrook. However, a deal is considered unlikely because of the aforementioned reasons — the Lakers don’t want to part with first-rounders and Clarkson has a $14.3MM player option for ’23/24 that would eat into the team’s potential cap room.
- Along the same lines, Buha and Amick write that dealing Westbrook to the Pacers for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, which has been rumored multiple times, is also “not expected” — Hield has a $19.3MM cap hit in ’23/24.
- Schröder made an Instagram post expressing his excitement about returning to the Lakers, saying that he wanted to “make s–t right!” Schröder’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells Mark Medina of NBA.com (Twitter link) that the team informed Schröder that “there will be a lot of minutes for everybody” despite a crowded backcourt.
7:57pm: Schröder’s deal with the Lakers is now official, the team announced in a press release.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Dennis Schröder back to the Lakers,” said GM Rob Pelinka. “Not only do Dennis and Coach Ham share a player-coach history together, but they also reflect one another’s mentality of toughness with an extremely competitive edge. Dennis will add both depth and an on-ball defensive presence to our core at the guard position. He is also a proven scorer and playmaker. We are really excited for Dennis to get to camp and get back to work in L.A. after his highly successful run with his national team this offseason.”
4:35pm: Free agent point guard Dennis Schröder is signing a one-year contract with the Lakers, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells Marc Stein (via Twitter).
The Lakers don’t have any cap space available and used their taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Lonnie Walker, so Schröder will receive a minimum-salary deal, as Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms (Twitter link). Schröder will earn $2.64MM for the upcoming season as a nine-year veteran, while the Lakers’ cap hit will be $1.84MM.
It will be a reunion for the two sides, as Schröder spent the 2020/21 season with Los Angeles. Stein reported last month that the Lakers were giving “legit consideration” to bringing Schröder back, and now that has come to fruition.
Schröder reportedly turned down a four-year extension from the Lakers worth $80MM+ during the 2020/21 season, then had to settle last summer for a one-year, $5.9MM deal with the Celtics, who eventually traded him to the Rockets in February. Now he’ll return to L.A. on a minimum contract.
In 64 games (28.7 MPG) split between Boston and Houston during the ’21/22 season, Schröder averaged 13.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 4.6 APG on .431/.344/.853 shooting.
Schröder, who turned 29 years old yesterday, is coming off a strong performance at EuroBasket, where he led Germany to the semifinals before falling to Spain earlier today. He averaged 26.0 points and 8.0 assists in the three elimination games, including a game-high 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting against Spain.
According to Stein (Twitter link), Schröder’s international performance raised his free agent stock, and now he’ll get the reunion he desired. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports (via Twitter) that Schröder had been talking to the Lakers “for months” about a possible return, noting that the veteran guard played under new head coach Darvin Ham while the two were with the Hawks.
As John Hollinger of The Athletic observes (via Twitter), the team’s backcourt is looking pretty crowded with Schröder’s addition, but he was the best unrestricted free agent available on the market and the Lakers need to add talent wherever they can find it after missing the playoffs with a 33-49 record last season. Sources tell Stein (Twitter link) that Ham will be in charge of the team’s lineup, but L.A. reportedly views Russell Westbrook and Schröder as point guards, Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn as shooting guards, and Austin Reaves as a small forward behind LeBron James.
In addition to the players Stein mentioned, the Lakers also have Walker, second-round pick Max Christie, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and Troy Brown on the wing, though Toscano-Anderson is versatile enough to play in the frontcourt at times as well.
Once Schröder’s deal is official, the Lakers will have 12 players on guaranteed contracts, two on non-guaranteed deals (Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel) and both two-way slots filled. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, adding a 15th player to the standard roster would cost the Lakers $7MM due to the luxury tax.
- The Lakers are engaged in ongoing trade talks with the Jazz, but the teams don’t appear to be close to a deal, per Tony Jones of The Athletic. L.A. has expressed interest in acquiring Bojan Bogdanovic.
- Lakers guard Austin Reaves spoke to Shams Charania of Stadium (video link) about his path to the NBA, playing with LeBron James, and his willingness to play whatever role the team asks of him in 2022/23.
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
- 2021/22 record: 53-29
- Over/under for 2022/23: 53.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Donte DiVincenzo, JaMychal Green, Patrick Baldwin, Ryan Rollins
- Lost: Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee
- Note: Andre Iguodala continues to weigh whether to re-sign with the Warriors or retire.
Phoenix Suns
- 2021/22 record: 64-18
- Over/under for 2022/23: 53.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Josh Okogie, Damion Lee, Jock Landale
- Lost: JaVale McGee, Aaron Holiday, Elfrid Payton, Ish Wainright
Los Angeles Clippers
- 2021/22 record: 42-40
- Over/under for 2022/23: 52.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: John Wall
- Lost: Isaiah Hartenstein, Rodney Hood
- Note: The Clippers will also have Kawhi Leonard back after he missed the entire 2021/22 season due to a torn ACL.
Los Angeles Lakers
- 2021/22 record: 33-49
- Over/under for 2022/23: 45.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
Sacramento Kings
- 2021/22 record: 30-52
- Over/under for 2022/23: 34.5 wins
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Sam Merrill, Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke, DJ Steward
- Note: Merrill, Dellavedova, Moneke, and Steward have partially guaranteed salaries — not all of them will make the Kings’ regular season roster. KZ Okpala, Quinn Cook, and Kent Bazemore are also expected to be signed to compete for 15-man roster spots.
- Lost: Donte DiVincenzo, Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless, Jeremy Lamb, Damian Jones, Josh Jackson
- Added: Keegan Murray, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Sam Merrill, Matthew Dellavedova, Chima Moneke, DJ Steward
Previous voting results:
- 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%)
- 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%)
- 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%)
While Lakers star Russell Westbrook hasn’t asked for a trade, he remains open to the possibility, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said on The Lowe Post podcast. Training camps open later this month, so Los Angeles is running out of time if it wants to deal Westbrook before the season officially starts up.
In 78 games last year, Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per night, shooting a respectable 44% from the floor. He played more games than any other player on the Lakers and had a better season than most fans give him credit for.
Of course, film and advanced metrics certainly wouldn’t reveal the player that was once a league MVP, nor would it reveal a player worth the $47MM he’s owed next season. However, it’s still possible Westbrook doesn’t finish — or even start — the 2022/23 season with the Lakers.
There’s more from the Western Conference:
- The Rio Grande Valley Vipers — G League affiliate of the Rockets — have hired Kevin Burleson as head coach, the team announced on social media (Twitter link). Burleson replaces Mahmoud Abdelfattah, who was promoted to become a Rockets assistant coach. Burleson was most recently an assistant coach with the Timberwolves.
- The Suns didn’t have in-depth discussions with the Nets about a potential Kevin Durant trade, general manager James Jones said, as relayed by Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic (subscription required). Phoenix re-signed starting center Deandre Ayton, while Durant ultimately returned to the Nets last month. The Suns were reportedly one of Durant’s preferred destinations when he requested a trade in June.
- In a separate article for the Arizona Republic, Rankin explores five takeaways from Dario Saric‘s EuroBasket play. Saric, who was traded to the Suns in 2019, suffered a torn ACL in 2021 and missed all of last season, but he plans to be ready for the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
- Lakers owner Jeanie Buss told Howard Beck in a Clutch Points podcast that she wants LeBron James to retire as a Laker. “With LeBron we have a line of communication between the two of us, and he knows that he can reach me anytime and vice versa,” Buss said. “I think he feels appreciated. I know I appreciate that he signed an extension to stay here and continue to lead the Laker team. He’s a fantastic leader both on and off the court. I feel like we’re blessed to have him as a Laker. I want to see him retire as a Laker.”