Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers’ Russell Westbrook Picks Up Option For 2022/23

June 29th, 2022 at 6:15am CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 29: Westbrook has officially exercised his option, according to RealGM’s transactions log.

JUNE 28: Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook will exercise the player option on his contract for 2022/23, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). The move, which had long been expected, will lock in Westbrook’s $47,063,478 salary for next season.

Acquired by the Lakers during the 2022 offseason, Westbrook was meant to be the final piece of a Big Three that would lead L.A. back to title contention. However, as fellow stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis battled injuries, Westbrook struggled to fit in with his new team.

Westbrook’s scoring average (18.5 PPG) was his lowest mark since 2009/10, and his 29.8% shooting percentage on three-point attempts was below his career rate. Although Westbrook started all 78 games he played for the Lakers, the team was more effective when he was off the court (-1.6 net rating) than when he was on it (-4.0).

Westbrook’s up-and-down performance was far from the only factor in the Lakers’ disappointing season, but it negatively impacted his value, making it a lock that he would opt into the final year of his maximum-salary contract rather than trying his luck on the open market.

It also makes the 33-year-old an unlikely trade candidate, since L.A. would have to attach assets and/or take on unwanted long-term contracts to move his $47MM+ salary, though the team will likely reassess its options on the trade market now that he is officially opting in.

New head coach Darvin Ham and general manager Rob Pelinka have both spoken about Westbrook returning to the Lakers next season and embracing a defense-first philosophy, suggesting that the organization is hopeful Ham can connect with Westbrook and get more out of him than former head coach Frank Vogel did.

Westbrook is now on track to reach unrestricted free agency in 2023.

Kyrie Irving Came Close To Extension Agreement With Nets

June 28th, 2022 at 12:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kyrie Irving and the Nets were close to agreeing on a contract extension last week before negotiations stalled, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Without an extension and with limited prospects of an acceptable sign-and-trade deal, Irving will pick up his $36.9MM option for next season.

Before Irving reached the decision, his agent (and stepmother) Shetellia Riley Irving and Brooklyn’s front office had “productive extension discussions” over the past week, according to Charania. They considered multiple proposals, including a maximum extension that would have been limited to two years and would have provided incentives based on the number of games that Irving plays.

The sides also discussed a four-year max deal with two guaranteed seasons, along with triggers for years three and four based on Irving’s game totals for the first two seasons of the contract.

Irving was willing to accept a contract with incentives, Charania adds, but Brooklyn turned down his final offer, which was a short-term extension with protections for him and the team, along with a player option. Incentives based on how often Irving plays are important to the Nets because he has appeared in just 103 regular season games in his three seasons in Brooklyn.

According to Charania, three teams were had interest in Irving under an opt-in-and-trade scenario, but he decided not to pursue those opportunities. One of those teams may have been the Lakers, who were reportedly the only club on Irving’s wish list of six potential destinations that showed interest. However, Charania hears that L.A.’s preference was to sign Irving as a free agent rather than via trade.

Irving’s decision to opt in doesn’t guarantee that his future will be in Brooklyn, Charania adds. With unrestricted free agency looming in 2023, the Nets could explore deals for him this summer or once the season starts. Owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks will have to decide whether the current roster can contend for a title or if major changes will be needed.

Charania also suggests there are “matters of contention” among the Nets’ ownership, management, and stars that must be addressed as all parties move forward.

Several teams remain interested in acquiring Irving, according to Charania, but they may be inclined to wait until he reaches free agency rather than part with valuable assets in a trade. Sources tell Charania that Irving is now focused on winning a championship and rebuilding his reputation in hopes of earning a maximum contract from someone next summer.

Windhorst: Nets, Kyrie Irving Engaged In “Grade-A Staredown”

June 27th, 2022 at 4:48pm CST by Luke Adams

With less than 48 hours remaining for Kyrie Irving to make a decision on his $36.9MM player option for 2022/23, he and the Nets are engaged in a “Grade-A staredown,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an appearance today on NBA Today (video links).

Since Irving and the Nets reached an impasse in their contract extension talks, there have been rumors suggesting that Kyrie is willing to walk away from the Nets and to potentially take a $30MM+ pay cut for the 2022/23 season by signing with the Lakers using their $6.4MM taxpayer mid-level exception.

However, the Nets haven’t backed down in their negotiations with the seven-time All-Star and are playing hardball themselves, even with Kevin Durant‘s future in Brooklyn potentially tied to Irving’s, according to Windhorst.

“The message that is being sent around the league – and before I say this, this could just be a negotiating position – but the message the Brooklyn Nets are sending is that they are willing to risk losing Kevin Durant if it means (not) going through what they went through last year with Kyrie Irving,” Windhorst said. “They just cannot have him back under the same terms that they had last year. I think they would be willing to welcome him back under different terms, both contractual and an understanding with the organization. But if it costs them both players to avoid a repeat of last year, they are sending the message that they are willing to do that.”

Irving’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, despite New York City’s vaccine mandate, was a major factor in him suiting up for just 29 of 82 possible regular season games in 2021/22. That mandate wasn’t lifted until late in the regular season and Irving’s inconsistent availability contributed not just to the Nets’ inconsistent play but to James Harden‘s decision to request a trade.

As Windhorst explains, the Nets’ stance in their negotiations with Irving – which has been driven not just by management by but owner Joe Tsai – has sent “ripple effects” across the NBA, as teams around the league consider where Kyrie could end up and what it might take to trade for Durant.

“I have talked to several star players’ agents in the last 24 hours whose teams have come to the star player and said, ‘How do you feel about playing with Kyrie Irving? How do you feel about playing with Kevin Durant?'” Windhorst said. “Teams are preparing for this contingency.”

The Nets are likely willing to take an aggressive stance in their talks with Irving at least in part because most of the teams he would be interested in joining either don’t appear eager to pursue him or would be hard-pressed to find a way to acquire him. The Lakers, Sixers, Heat, Mavericks, Clippers, and Knicks are reportedly on Irving’s wish list, but many of those clubs don’t reciprocate his interest, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski reported earlier today that only the Lakers have legitimate sign-and-trade interest in Irving, and their trade chips don’t appeal to Brooklyn, which is why accepting the $6.4MM taxpayer MLE might be Kyrie’s only viable path to Los Angeles.

If Irving picks up his player option for 2022/23, it would make him easier to trade, but the Nets would also be under no obligation to make a move at that point — the two sides would have all season to potentially negotiate an extension.

“It seems to me that the Nets want Kyrie to opt in because that relieves the pressure a little bit and it buys more time,” Windhorst said. “He can negotiate for a period of time. He doesn’t have to decide on the extension this week. They can try to figure things out — it removes the immediate pressure, and I think that’s probably the best. Because at the end of the day, the Nets don’t want to lose Kevin Durant. The Nets could have a very good team for next year. … They don’t want to blow this up, but they are willing to bring it to the precipice to blow it up to try to get what they want.”

Kyrie Irving Granted Permission To Explore Trade Scenarios

June 27th, 2022 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

12:17pm: According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), sources with knowledge of the situation increasingly believe that Irving is willing to decline his player option and sign with the Lakers for the $6.4MM taxpayer mid-level exception.

In that scenario, Fischer writes, Irving could get a raise and a longer-term deal from the Lakers in 2023. The team still doesn’t project to have enough room to offer him a max contract at that point, but could theoretically get close.

Meanwhile, in his full story on the Irving situation, Wojnarowski writes that Durant “remained an advocate” for the Nets to give Kyrie a long-term deal.

11:42am: The Nets and Kyrie Irving haven’t made any real progress toward reaching an agreement that will keep him in Brooklyn going forward, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News.

In fact, according to Winfield, Irving’s camp has requested and received permission from the Nets to speak to other teams about potential trade scenarios. Alex Schiffer of The Athletic and Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter links) have heard the same thing.

Although those reports suggest Irving’s camp is looking into possible “sign-and-trade packages,” many of the teams said to be on the point guard’s wish list wouldn’t have the ability to acquire him via sign-and-trade due to their proximity to the projected luxury tax line.

Sign-and-trade talks also technically aren’t allowed until free agency begins this Thursday evening, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter). While teams and agents often play fast and loose with those rules, they may be a little more hesitant to do so this year after two teams were penalized last year for “gun-jumping” violations related to sign-and-trade agreements.

Opt-in-and-trade scenarios – in which Irving picks up his $36.9MM player option for 2022/23 – would be more viable for many potential trade partners. Kyrie has until Wednesday to make a final decision on his option, and there’s a sense in both league and player circles that he may have played his last game in Brooklyn, says Winfield.

According to Wojnarowski, however, no teams besides the Lakers are seriously considering the idea of pursuing Irving, and Brooklyn isn’t believed to have interest in any trade package L.A. could realistically offer.

Wojnarowski’s report is similar to what he said during a TV appearance on Friday (hat tip to NetsDaily). At that time, Woj described the talks between the Nets and Irving as “acrimonious,” but suggested that no teams besides the Lakers were thought to have serious interest in the point guard. The other clubs reported to be on Irving’s wish list are the Mavericks, Heat, Clippers, Knicks, and Sixers.

“The interest isn’t mutual in several of these places,” Wojnarowski said on ESPN.

Here are more updates on the Irving situation:

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, there are sources close to the situation who “strongly believe” Irving is trying to make his way to the Lakers. Amick, who gets the sense that LeBron James is “very open” to the idea, notes that most people around the NBA believe the Nets would have zero interest in taking on Russell Westbrook in any trade with the Lakers.
Amick has heard that the Knicks have no interest in Irving and expect him to end up remaining in Brooklyn. Amick describes the Clippers as in “wait-and-see” mode when it comes to Kyrie.
Even with the threat of Irving’s departure seemingly increasing and Kevin Durant‘s future uncertain, the Nets appear unlikely to relent and offer Kyrie a long-term maximum-salary contract, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said during a Monday appearance on Get Up (video link). “Everything I’ve heard, the max deal is not coming. The Nets are not going to be held hostage by the threat of Kyrie Irving (leaving) and then Kevin Durant following him out the door,” Lowe said. “They appear ready to actually take some kind of stand here. That doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be a fair compromise offer somewhere, wherever that lands.”
While Lowe did suggest that a compromise between Irving and the Nets is possible, he believes Kyrie’s flight risk is real: “I do think this is a precarious situation for the Nets. I don’t think this is the kind of thing where it’s actually kind of calm and the media is blowing this out of proportion. I do think there are scenarios where in a week he’s gone and the Durant situation is wobbly.”

Javante McCoy To Sign Exhibit 10 Deal With Lakers

June 27th, 2022 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

Rookie free agent guard Javante McCoy will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers after going undrafted, he tells freelance reporter Greg Levinsky (Twitter link).

McCoy spent all five years of his college career at Boston University, starting 138 of the 147 games he played for the program. In 2021/22, he averaged 17.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.9 APG on .495/.425/.708 shooting in 34 contests (34.0 MPG).

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed deal that doesn’t count against a team’s cap unless the player makes the regular season roster. It can be converted into a two-way deal and also makes a player eligible for a bonus worth up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate.

Undrafted Houston rookie Fabian White also reportedly agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with the Lakers.

Malik Monk Open To Considering Discount To Stay With Lakers

June 27th, 2022 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

After signing him to a minimum-salary contract a year ago, the Lakers will be limited in their ability to offer Malik Monk a raise in free agency this summer, but the shooting guard told Jovan Buha of The Athletic that he’s not closing the door on the idea of accepting a “hometown” discount to stay in Los Angeles.

“Money is always a part, man, but I don’t think it’s the biggest priority in my free agency this year,” Monk said. “It’s me feeling like I’m having a home and I can go out there and do the same things I did this year.

“… They might not be able to pay me as much as I want,” Monk said of the Lakers. “But I could be here and be way more comfortable as a Laker than going to any other team and they’re paying me $5 million more. So it’s just me trying to figure out what team would really want me.”

Monk, who earned approximately $1.79MM as a Laker in 2021/22, enjoyed a career year with his new team after spending four seasons in Charlotte. He established new career highs in PPG (13.8), RPG (3.4), APG (2.9), and FG% (.473) and was arguably L.A.’s most dangerous three-point threat, making 2.3 threes per game at a 39.1% rate.

Because the Lakers only hold his Non-Bird rights, they wouldn’t be able to offer him more than about $2.53MM without dipping in their mid-level exception. Even then, given their cap situation, the Lakers will likely only have the taxpayer MLE ($6.39MM) at their disposal rather than the full version. According to Buha, multiple league sources believe Monk could get $10-12MM per year on the open market.

While Monk “loved” playing for the Lakers, according to his brother Marcus, and is open to the idea of taking a team-friendly deal to stick around, he intends to consider all his options when he becomes a free agent this week.

“I definitely would still want to evaluate things,” Monk told Buha. “You never know what happens. Some other team could come in and hopefully tell me the same thing and maybe I get a little bit more minutes on that team. So it’s just actually me being presented and being able to go out there and do what I do is a priority. That’s the biggest priority: A team that’s just going to let me come in and be myself.”

Path To Buyout Materializing For Rockets’ John Wall

June 26th, 2022 at 3:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Rockets may soon have a route for buying out pricey point guard John Wall, Marc Stein writes in his newest Substack report.

Wall picked up his $47.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season last week and the expectation is that the Rockets will once again peruse the trade market in search of a new home for the veteran.

Assuming Houston can’t find a taker for the final year of Wall’s lucrative maximum contract, Stein indicates that there are “serious murmurs” the team and the 6’3″ guard could reach a buyout agreement. How much of his contract Wall is willing to give up in buyout talks could be a sticking point, but according to Stein, a pathway to a buyout appears to be “at last materializing.”

Stein notes that the 31-year-old Wall, a former five-time All-Star with the Wizards, has played in just 72 regular season contests since the 2017/2018 NBA season.

The rebuilding Rockets opted to not play a nominally-healthy Wall as a reserve behind its young starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., for a single minute during the 2021/22 season, as the two sides agreed to have him remain away from the team.

As Stein writes, the Clippers and Heat have been floated as possible Wall destinations for a while and presumably would still have interest if he reaches the open market. In a new wrinkle, Stein also reports that another star-studded club, the Lakers, would consider adding Wall if he’s bought out.

Exploring Whether Lakers Should Pursue Kyrie Irving

June 25th, 2022 at 1:32pm CST by JD Shaw

Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register explores Kyrie Irving‘s uncertain situation, posing four questions the Lakers should ask themselves before pursuing him. While Irving may fit well on the court, the Lakers could struggle to acquire him. If Irving declines of his $36.5MM player option and seeks a multi-year deal, the team currently doesn’t have the cap space to sign him. If he opts in, offering an appealing trade package to Brooklyn without involving a third or fourth team would be difficult.

And-Ones: Gasol, Trade Cash, 2023 Draft, Ignite, Zizic

June 25th, 2022 at 7:03am CST by Luke Adams

It doesn’t appear that veteran center Marc Gasol will be making an NBA comeback this fall. As Johnny Askounis of Eurhoops.net relays, multiple reports out of Spain have indicated that Gasol intends to remain a member of Girona, the Spanish team he owns and plays for.

Girona competed this past season in Spain’s second-division Liga Española de Baloncesto, but has received a promotion to the top Spanish league, Liga Endesa, for the 2022/23 season. Having helped his team earn that promotion by averaging 14.5 PPG and 8.2 RPG this season, Gasol’s goal is now to actually play for Girona in Liga Endesa competition, according to Askounis.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (all Twitter links) has the details on the cash that changed hands in a few draft-night trades, reporting that the Magic received $2.15MM from the Lakers as part of the deal for the No. 35 pick; the Grizzlies sent $1MM to the Spurs as part of the swap for Kennedy Chandler‘s draft rights; and the Pacers got $1MM from the Bucks for selling the final pick in the draft (No. 58 pick Hugo Besson). That $2.15MM was the most Orlando could have acquired in a deal, as our cash tracker shows.
With the 2022 draft in the books, Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) has already turned his attention to 2023, publishing an initial mock draft for next year. As Givony and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic write, the 2023 NBA draft looks like it’ll be the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
The NBA G League announced in a press release that Washington State center Efe Abogidi has officially signed with the G League Ignite, as expected. Meanwhile, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, five-star recruit Matas Buzelis, one of the top prospects in the class of 2023, has committed to the Ignite for the 2023/24 season.
Former NBA first-round pick Ante Zizic has officially signed with Turkish team Anadolu Efes following his departure from Maccabi Tel Aviv. Zizc, who received a two-year deal with a third-year option, appeared in 113 NBA games for Boston and Cleveland from 2017-20.

Summer League Commitments: Lakers, Suns, Magic, Warriors

June 24th, 2022 at 6:26pm CST by JD Shaw

Undrafted UConn guard R.J. Cole has committed to play summer league with the Lakers, a league source told Hoops Rumors. Cole, 22, is coming off an impressive season with the Huskies, averaging 15.8 points and 4.1 assists per game. He also recorded 1.1 steals per contest and shot 41.5% from the floor.

The Las Vegas Summer League will be held from July 7-17 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cole will reportedly join a number of other undrafted players on the Lakers’ roster, including Shareef O’Neal and Fabian White Jr.

Here are some other summer league-related notes:

Free agent forward Louis King — MVP of the 2021 Las Vegas Summer League — has accepted a summer league invite from the Suns, sources said. King most recently played for the Knicks’ G League affiliate. He holds past NBA experience with Sacramento.
Undrafted Saint Mary’s guard Tommy Kuhse has agreed to play summer league with the Magic, a league source told Hoops Rumors. Kushe is expected to see significant minutes with the team. He averaged 12.2 points and 3.7 assists per game this past season.
Kalob Ledoux has committed to play summer league with the Warriors, his agents BJ Bass and Cam Brennick of RBA Sports told Hoops Rumors. Ledoux played 14 games with Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, this past season.