Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers Rumors: Draft Pick, Maxey, Thybulle, Green, Rivers

May 23rd, 2022 at 2:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com has been told it’s “relatively likely” that the Nets will take advantage of their ability to defer their acquisition of the Sixers‘ first-round pick a year and will opt to acquire Philadelphia 2023 first-rounder instead of 2022’s No. 23 overall selection.

The Nets have until June 1 to finalize that decision, so nothing is set in stone yet, but the Sixers are preparing as if they’ll have this year’s No. 23 pick, says Neubeck.

Assuming the 76ers do control that pick, it could be used to add a young, inexpensive draftee to the roster or included in a trade package for a veteran. Neubeck points to Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell and Baylor’s Kendall Brown as long, switchable forwards who may be available at No. 23 and who might appeal to Philadelphia.

Here’s more from Neubeck:

Even if the Sixers attempt to pursue another star player this offseason, don’t expect the team to dangle guard Tyrese Maxey to make it happen, says Neubeck. “Maxey is as close to untouchable as you could be,” a source told PhillyVoice.
Matisse Thybulle is a more realistic trade candidate, but the Sixers won’t move him just to get off his contract, according to Neubeck, who suggests that Danny Green‘s ACL tear has made Thybulle’s defense even more important to the team. If he’s traded, expect it to be for a roster upgrade, Neubeck writes.
No decisions have been made yet on Green, who is expected to miss at least half of next season and whose $10MM salary for 2022/23 is non-guaranteed. Green’s $10MM would have to be partially or fully guaranteed in order for it to count for outgoing salary-matching purposes, so he seems to me more likely to be waived than traded. According to Neubeck, it’s possible that if Green is released, he could eventually return on a smaller salary.
There are suspicions in league coaching circles that the Lakers haven’t given up on the idea that Doc Rivers could become available for their head coaching job, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article. Neubeck doesn’t dismiss that idea, but observes that the Sixers have been “remarkably consistent” in their messaging – both publicly and privately – that Rivers isn’t going anywhere.

Pacific Notes: Howard, Lakers, Green, Ayton, Kings

May 22nd, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by JD Shaw

The Lakers expressed interest in former NBA player and current Michigan coach Juwan Howard for their head coaching job, but Howard declined the overture, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Los Angeles reportedly has Darvin Ham, Terry Stotts and Kenny Atkinson advancing to the final stage of interviews. Howard has experience coaching Lakers superstar LeBron James as an assistant with the Heat, but he’ll stay at Michigan and coach his two sons next season instead, Wojnarowski reports.

Howard interviewed for the Lakers’ head coaching job in 2019 before joining Michigan. The Lakers ultimately hired Frank Vogel, who guided them to a championship in 2020 and was fired last month after the team finished 33-49.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN examines why this is the best version of Draymond Green yet. Green has been productive for the Warriors, averaging 7.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists with his usual versatile defense. He’s also shot a career-high 52% from the floor and a below-average 25% from deep.
The Suns may be willing to pay Deandre Ayton what he’s seeking in restricted free agency, but Greg Moore of The Arizona Republic says the team first needs to determine whether he actually wants to stick around. Ayton only played 17 minutes in the team’s season-ending loss to Dallas last round, attempting just five shots. He did, however, average 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds for Phoenix this year, helping the club win 64 games.
James Ham of The Kings Beat examines whether the Kings would consider moving up in the draft. Sacramento currently owns the No. 4, No. 37 and No. 49 picks in the event.

California Notes: Green, Wiggins, Kings, Howard

May 22nd, 2022 at 4:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors power forward Draymond Green is convinced that he has reached a new level in these playoffs, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Youngmisuk notes that, as the main defender on a Mavericks shooter in Game 2, Green limited Dallas players to 4-of-15 shooting from the floor. That stat also includes those Mavericks players going 0-of-9 from long range against Green. The Warriors currently lead the Mavericks 2-0 in their Western Conference Finals series.

“[Opposing players] had a hard time dealing with me before,” Green said of his performance in prior playoff runs, which include three titles. “[But] I’m in a space now that’s a totally different, better space. Not even close. Much, much better than I was in before.”

There’s more out of California:

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, dealing with a sore left ankle, will suit up for this evening’s Game 3 contest against the Mavericks despite the injury, per Marc Stein (via Twitter). “It was just a little tweak, I just came down on it wrong,” Wiggins told reporters in remarks this morning, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter video link).
The Kings saw several top draft prospects during some recent agency pro day workouts, per Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 (KTXL) (Twitter link). Cunningham reports that LSU forward Tari Eason, Mega Soccerbet forward Nikola Jovic, Duke center Mark Williams, Milwaukee guard Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Iowa forward Keegan Murray all participated.
Michigan head coach and former All-Star big man Juwan Howard turned down recent interest from the Lakers to interview for the team’s vacant head coaching position, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Howard intends to remain in Ann Arbor to coach his two sons next year. Howard last interviewed for the gig in 2019, before the Lakers ultimately hired Frank Vogel.

Lakers Notes: Ham, Rivers, Pelinka, Brockington

May 21st, 2022 at 8:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bucks assistant Darvin Ham is the only finalist for the Lakers‘ coaching vacancy without previous head coaching experience, but he apparently has the support of LeBron James, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. “He’s the guy LeBron wants,” a source from a rival team tells Pincus.

Ham, 48, also has the advantage of a previous relationship with the Lakers. After his playing career ended, his first NBA job was an an assistant coach in L.A., where he stayed for two seasons before joining Mike Budenholzer‘s staff in Atlanta and later in Milwaukee. Ham possesses a strong personality and plenty of energy, and Pincus believes he could be the best choice to motivate the Lakers’ veteran-laden roster.

Assessing the other finalists, Pincus calls Terry Stotts the “safest choice,” but says he’ll need an experienced assistant to handle the defense, and he views Kenny Atkinson as a “wild card” with a reputation for being rigid in his approach to the game.

There’s more on the Lakers:

None of the finalists inspire any excitement, in the view of Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times, who says the Lakers need to find a way to acquire Doc Rivers from the Sixers. Rivers still has three seasons left on his contract in Philadelphia and recently received a vote of confidence from president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, but Plaschke cites rumors that Morey would prefer Mike D’Antoni, especially in the wake of the Sixers’ second-round exit. Plaschke theorizes that the Lakers would have already hired Rivers if he weren’t under contract with another team.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and Nets GM Sean Marks were seen meeting at the NBA Combine this week, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog. While no details of the conversation were made public, it’s worth noting that the Lakers had internal discussions about acquiring Kyrie Irving before he resumed playing in January. Marks is also very familiar with one of Pelinka’s head coaching finalists, having hired Atkinson during his first year in Brooklyn.
The Lakers are part of a growing list of teams that have lined up a workout with Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington, per Spencer Davies of Basketball News. Brockington wasn’t invited to the Draft Combine or the G League Elite Camp, but he has already worked out for the Hawks and sources tell Davies that as many as 14 teams are interested in seeing him in action. The Lakers don’t have any picks in this year’s draft, so they would have to trade for one or hope to sign him as a free agent if he goes undrafted.

Opinion: Ham Right Man For Lakers' Job

May 21st, 2022 at 8:31am CST by Dana Gauruder

An Athletic report on Friday suggested that Bucks assistant Darvin Ham has emerged as the top candidate for the Lakers’ head coaching job. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha believes Ham is the right choice, stating Ham is long overdue for an opportunity to be a head coach. He also has ties to the organization as a former assistant coach there, a championship pedigree and is well-respected by players, Buha adds.
The Orange County Register’s Kyle Goon takes a look at the three reported finalists for the Lakers’ job, a list that also includes Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts. Goon believes Stotts is the most likely to find ways to make Russell Westbrook more effective but also notes that Stotts’ teams often flamed out early in the postseason.

“League Gossip” Links Zach LaVine To Rival Teams

May 20th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Rory Maher

“League gossip” at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago this week indicates that Zach LaVine returning to the Bulls as an unrestricted free agent this summer is no longer considered a foregone conclusion like it once was, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The two-time All-Star has been linked to the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks and Hawks at the combine, with more suitors likely to follow, according to Johnson.

Marc Stein has heard similarly, writing in his latest Substack article that “there is much more hope in circulation than anticipated” that the star wing might be convinced to join a rival team in free agency.

The 27-year-old is expected to undergo a relatively minor knee scope early next week, but that won’t diminish interest in LaVine’s free agency, Johnson relays. Some rival executives think Chicago might be reluctant to offer LaVine a full max contract. The Bulls can give him a projected $212.3MM over five years, while any other team would be limited to a max offer of $157.4MM over four years.

The Bulls have expressed a public desire to retain LaVine long-term, and he said he was pleased with the moves the team made last offseason (separate sign-and-trades for Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan, and signing Alex Caruso), which helped the club reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016/17.

“It just shows that they (the Bulls front office) were ready to win. Obviously my first couple of years here it was tough to have that feeling. This year has been incredible,” LaVine said in late April, per Johnson. “You’ve got to take everything into consideration. And obviously the team we have here is something you’ve got to consider, how good that we were this last year and moving forward.”

The Lakers, Mavs and Hawks don’t currently have the cap space to sign LaVine outright — they’d have to pull off a sign-and-trade to acquire him, which is much more complicated. And while the Blazers technically can create enough room to sign him, they’d have to execute several moves first.

Ultimately, Johnson believes a return to the Bulls is still the most likely outcome — assuming that’s what LaVine wants.

Darvin Ham Leading Candidate To Become New Lakers Coach?

May 20th, 2022 at 9:25pm CST by Rory Maher

Sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic that Bucks assistant Darvin Ham has made the “strongest impression” on Lakers brass thus far in interviews, and appears to be the leading candidate for the head coaching job.

As we relayed earlier today, Ham, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, and former Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts are reportedly finalists for the position.

Los Angeles’ leadership is looking for a coach “who can command respect and authority from the locker room” while maintaining a strong voice and presence in order to manage the differing personalities throughout team’s roster. Ham’s “no-nonsense style and ability to resonate with his players” has impressed the Lakers to this point, according to Charania and Amick.

They aren’t listed as finalists, but Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin haven’t been eliminated from consideration yet. However, former Warriors coach Mark Jackson is no longer a candidate, per The Athletic’s duo.

Here’s more on the Lakers’ coaching search, courtesy of Charania and Amick:

Owner Jeanie Buss will meet the finalists during their in-person interviews, which will occur soon. She has not been involved in the process to this point.
The team’s search committee is headed by VP of basketball operations and GM Rob Pelinka, and it will make the final decision on who’s hired. Buss plans to defer to the committee’s recommendation. Magic Johnson and Phil Jackson, who are reportedly advising Buss despite not having official roles, are not part of the search committee. LeBron James isn’t on it either — only Lakers officials are.
After a disappointing season and lots of turmoil surrounding the franchise over the past few years, including the poorly executed firing of former head coach Frank Vogel, Buss “is determined to assuage any and all of the finalists’ concerns about the organization” as the team concludes its search, says Charania and Amick. She plans to deliver a message centered on providing the necessary resources and support for the Lakers to be successful going forward.
The team is still operating as though Russell Westbrook will be on the roster next season, which is why the coaching candidates have been asked how they’d use him. Assuming the Lakers are unable to find a trade for Westbrook, which would undoubtedly be difficult given his enormous ($47MM) player option and declining play, releasing him isn’t considered a viable alternative, nor is having him away from the team, like the Rockets did with John Wall this past season, per Charania and Amick.
However, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article that he remains skeptical Westbrook will be on the roster in 2022/23. Stein notes that while the team is reluctant to part with future first-round picks to grease the wheels on a Westbrook deal, creating a “fresh-start atmosphere” for next season will be very difficult if he’s still on the Lakers.

Ham, Stotts, Atkinson Are Finalists For Lakers’ Coaching Job

May 20th, 2022 at 1:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Bucks assistant Darvin Ham and former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts have advanced to the final round of interviews for the Lakers‘ head coaching job, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Former Nets coach and current Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson is also among the Lakers’ finalists, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the next round of meetings is expected to occur in person in Los Angeles.

Charania doesn’t definitively state that the Lakers have eliminated all but those three candidates, but his wording suggests that’s the case. Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, Bucks assistant Charles Lee, and former Warriors coach Mark Jackson were among the other candidates who reportedly interviewed with L.A.

Ham, a veteran assistant on Mike Budenholzer‘s staff in Milwaukee, is said to be a “serious candidate” for the Hornets’ head coaching vacancy as well. Ham has received consideration from multiple teams with head coaching openings in recent years and interviewed with Sacramento before the Kings hired Mike Brown.

Stotts, who is also in the mix for the Charlotte job, spent 10 years in Portland before he and the organization reached a mutual agreement to part ways after the end of the 2020/21 season. Stotts ranks second on the Blazers’ all-time wins list with 402 and previously had brief head coaching stints in Atlanta and Milwaukee.

Atkinson led the Nets to 118-190 (.383) record from 2016-20, though that underwhelming mark was due in large part to the fact that he took over a rebuilding team. He took Brooklyn to the playoffs in 2019, but was let go the following season after the team added Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Like the Lakers’ other two finalists, he is believed to still be a contender for the Hornets’ job.

The Lakers are seeking a head coach who can lead the team back to the postseason – and, ideally, title contention – following a disappointing 2021/22 campaign that resulted in Frank Vogel‘s ouster.

2022 NBA Offseason Preview: Los Angeles Lakers

May 20th, 2022 at 8:47am CST by Luke Adams

No team had a more disappointing 2021/22 season than the Lakers, who entered the year as the favorites to come out of the Western Conference. After an underwhelming but respectable 21-19 start, the Lakers improbably won just 10 of their next 40 games, missing out on not just the playoffs but the play-in tournament.

Injuries to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis played a part in the Lakers’ struggles, but it’s not like the team was dominant when James, Davis, and Russell Westbrook were all available. A lack of reliable role players and an inability to maximize Westbrook’s strengths contributed to a letdown of a season in Los Angeles, and head coach Frank Vogel became the fall guy, losing his job at the end of the regular season.

While the Lakers would presumably like to make significant roster changes this offseason, reshaping the roster around James and Davis, their ability to do so will be limited, since they project to be a taxpaying team even with just a handful of players under contract, and don’t have any picks in this year’s draft.

The Lakers’ Offseason Plan:

A year after trading away Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and their first-round pick for Westbrook, the Lakers would be thrilled to pull off the inverse of that deal, sending out Westbrook’s expiring contract for a handful of less expensive rotation players and a draft pick.

Unfortunately, Westbrook’s stock has cratered in the last 12 months and it’s unlikely the Lakers will be able to get anything decent back for him unless they’re willing to include their 2027 and/or 2029 first-round picks (the only two they can currently move, due to the Stepien Rule) or unless they’re open to taking on a significant chunk of unwanted multiyear salary.

With the Lakers focused on maximizing their title window for as long as the 37-year-old James is still playing at an All-NBA level, it’s not out of the question that they’d further mortgage their future by attaching a couple first-rounders to Westbrook to get immediate help.

However, the front office has projected patience in recent months, and the team has reportedly asked its head coaching candidates how they would use the 33-year-old point guard. That’s a sign that the Lakers are leaning toward hanging onto Westbrook – at least for now – and perhaps revisiting a trade at the 2023 deadline or letting his $47MM+ salary come off the cap next summer.

If James, Davis, and Westbrook are staying, the Lakers will have about $130MM on their books for just three players, eliminating any possibility of cap space and almost certainly preventing the club from using its full, non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Even just filling out the rest of the roster with minimum-salary players would take team salary above the projected luxury tax line.

That leaves a small handful of assets for the Lakers to use for potential roster upgrades. A trade package that includes Talen Horton-Tucker and/or Kendrick Nunn is one option. Neither player’s value is especially high right now, but Horton-Tucker is still young enough (21) to have some upside and Nunn, whose $5.25MM expiring contract isn’t onerous, is a bounce-back candidate if he’s healthy. Adding a future first-round pick to that duo would further sweeten the pot.

It’s also worth noting that the Lakers still have about $4.4MM available to send out in trades before the 2022/23 league year begins in July. That money could be used to grease the wheels on a Horton-Tucker/Nunn deal or to trade back into the second round of the draft.

With the full mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception, and sign-and-trade acquisitions likely off the table for the Lakers due to their proximity to the tax line, they’ll probably be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception and minimum-salary contracts in free agency.

Last year’s free agent haul showed the dangers of leaning on those limited assets — the team used its taxpayer MLE on Nunn, who didn’t play a single game due to a leg injury, and many of its minimum-salary signings were busts, including DeAndre Jordan, Trevor Ariza, and Kent Bazemore.

However, minimum-salary additions like Malik Monk, Avery Bradley, and Stanley Johnson worked out well, as did the signing of undrafted rookie Austin Reaves. It’ll be easier said than done, but the front office will be looking to improve its hit rate on its low-cost signings in 2022/23, finding more Monks and fewer Jordans.

The Lakers’ head coaching search also shouldn’t be overlooked as one of the most important decisions of the team’s offseason. Identifying a candidate who is capable of managing superstar personalities, getting more out of Westbrook, handling the Los Angeles spotlight, and guiding the team back to contention will be a challenge.

Salary Cap Situation

Note: Our salary cap figures are based on the league’s latest projection ($122MM) for 2022/23.

Guaranteed Salary

LeBron James ($44,474,988)
Anthony Davis ($37,980,720)
Talen Horton-Tucker ($10,260,000)
Total: $92,715,708

Player Options

Russell Westbrook ($47,063,478): Bird rights
Kendrick Nunn ($5,250,000): Non-Bird rights
Total: $52,313,478

Team Options

Stanley Johnson ($2,351,521): Non-Bird rights
Wenyen Gabriel ($1,878,720): Non-Bird rights ¹
Total: $4,230,241

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Austin Reaves ($1,563,518)
Total: $1,563,518

Restricted Free Agents

None

Two-Way Free Agents

Mason Jones ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Mac McClung ($1,616,044 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Total: $3,232,088

Draft Picks

None

Extension-Eligible Players

Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2022/23 season begins.

LeBron James (veteran)
Russell Westbrook (veteran) ²

Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds

Carmelo Anthony ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
D.J. Augustin ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Kent Bazemore ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Avery Bradley ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Jared Dudley ($1,811,516 cap hold): Early Bird rights ³
Wayne Ellington ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Dwight Howard ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Malik Monk ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
Dion Waiters ($1,811,516 cap hold): Non-Bird rights³
Kostas Antetokounmpo ($1,616,044 cap hold): Early Bird rights ³
Total: $17,919,688

Offseason Cap Outlook

Even if the Lakers do find a taker for Westbrook, who is a lock to pick up his option, they’ll likely have to take back upwards of $40MM in salary to make the deal work financially — dumping his $47MM+ contract onto another team without taking much, or any, salary back just isn’t realistic.

As a result, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Lakers will once again find themselves above the luxury tax line in 2022/23. Right now, that tax line projects to be set at $149MM.

Due to their cap situation and their lack of any real Bird rights on their free agents, it’ll be difficult for the Lakers to give any of those veterans much of a raise on their 2021/22 salary. That will be a problem if they want to re-sign Monk — they’ll be limited to an offer worth about $2.5MM unless they use their taxpayer mid-level exception on him.

Cap Exceptions Available

Taxpayer mid-level exception: $6,392,000 ⁴
Trade exception: $2,692,991
Trade exception: $1,669,178

Footnotes

Gabriel’s salary will remain non-guaranteed even if his option is exercised.
Westbrook would only be eligible if his option is exercised, which is expected.
The cap holds for these players remain on the Lakers’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
This is a projected value.

Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post.

Deveney’s Latest: Thybulle, Horton-Tucker, Nunn, Draft

May 19th, 2022 at 5:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls have strong interest in young Sixers forward Matisse Thybulle, sources told Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.

Bulls GM Marc Eversley, a former Philadelphia executive, was instrumental in pushing the Sixers to acquire him in the 2019 draft, Deveney notes.

While Thybulle’s vaccination status stirred some angst within the Sixers organization during the postseason, it was his spotty 3-point shooting that rendered him a non-factor, despite his defensive reputation.

The Sixers could try to create some wiggle room under the luxury tax but that type of trade would likely require a third team.

Here’s more from Deveney:

The Lakers tried to package Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn in trades this past season but didn’t get an enticing offer. They could revisit that scenario, even though they’re reluctant to attach their next available first-rounder in 2027. One league exec tossed out the names of Duncan Robinson, Malik Beasley and Christian Wood as the type of player they could get in return.
The Magic won’t trade the top pick unless they get the No. 2 or 3 pick as part of the package, but the Thunder and Rockets are open for business regarding the other top three selections.