Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Latest On Lakers: Jackson, Buss, Pelinka, James, Bryant, Westbrook, Vogel

March 7th, 2022 at 6:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been in frequent contact with owner Jeanie Buss regarding team matters all season long, according to The Athletic’s Bill Oram and Sam Amick.

It’s uncertain if Jackson, Buss’ ex-fiance, will eventually take a formal role in the future. However, she has relied upon trusted members of her inner circle throughout the team’s tumultuous season and will continue to lean on them to map out the franchise’s offseason approach. Jackson has taken a particular interest in the what The Athletic duo describes as the often uncomfortable dynamics surrounding the Russell Westbrook situation.

It’s unlikely that there will be a change at the top of the team’s front office structure, according to Oram and Amick. GM Rob Pelinka still has Buss’ full support and trust. Kurt Rambis, who works alongside Pelinka as a senior basketball advisor, also remains a strong and trusted voice with the organization.

The story also delves into several other hot topics regarding the Lakers:

Among LeBron James‘ inner circle, there are already discussions about the roster and what can be done to fix it for next season. Buss is eager to maintain the trust of James and wants to keep her biggest star happy. The post-All-Star break meeting with James’ representative, super-agent Rich Paul, was aimed at keeping both sides on good terms and quelling any controversies regarding James’ future. Sources close to James insist he does not have issues with the team’s power structure, per Oram and Amick.
Kobe Bryant, who was represented by Pelinka, would have been offered a hands-on role in the front office by Buss if not for his untimely death.
Coach Frank Vogel will likely be fired unless the team makes a surprising postseason run, per Oram and Amick. However, no final decision has been made.
The coaching staff made an unsuccessful push for Westbrook to be traded, according to The Athletic’s duo, who also confirm reports that there’s a growing disconnect between the point guard and the staff, even though Vogel has kept him in the starting lineup.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Caruso, Vogel, Magic, Augustin, Gabriel

March 6th, 2022 at 4:13pm CST by Rory Maher

LeBron James dropped 56 points on the Warriors Saturday night, leading the Lakers to a 124-116 win and ending a four-game losing streak, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. James shot 19-of-31 from the field, 6-of-11 from three, and 12-of-13 from the line while adding 10 rebounds and three assists in nearly 39 minutes of action.

The 56-point effort tied Trae Young‘s NBA season-high and is the most points LeBron has scored in a game for Los Angeles, Buha notes. James said he was just happy to get a win.

“It’s funny, our guys were following me off the floor tonight going into the locker room and they asked me, ‘How does it feel to score 56?’” James said. “I said, ‘Right now, I don’t give a damn about the 56. I’m just happy we got a win.’ That’s just literally the first thing that came to my mind.”

James’ spectacular performance was historic for a couple other reasons, Buha writes. He passed Karl Malone for the most combined regular season and postseason minutes, and became just the fourth player to record 50-plus points in a game at age 37 or older, joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Jamal Crawford.

“There’s really no words for it,” coach Frank Vogel said of James’ 56-point game. “An incredible performance by the best to ever do it, in my opinion, and as I’ve said.”

The Lakers have had an undeniably disappointing season, barely clinging to the No. 9 seed in the West with a 28-35 record, but James has been consistently great on offense. He’s now tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo for second in the league in scoring with 29.4 points per game, just a tenth of a point behind Joel Embiid‘s league-leading 29.5. It’s James’ highest scoring average since 2009/10.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

A source tells Marc Stein of Substack that James was a leading supporter of Alex Caruso and badly wanted the Lakers to re-sign him, but the team declined to offer Caruso a contract comparable to the four-year, $37MM deal he received from the Bulls last summer due to luxury tax concerns. Caruso was having a strong season for Chicago, but has played just 28 games to this point and is currently sidelined with a fractured right wrist.
Appearing on NBA Today, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (video link) that the Lakers haven’t moved on from Vogel due to long-term injuries to Anthony Davis and Kendrick Nunn, and more importantly the front office doesn’t think that replacing Vogel would make a difference in the team’s performance. “(The Lakers) would like to get through the rest of this season with Frank Vogel,” Wojnarowski said.
Prior to Saturday’s game, in an appearance on NBA Countdown (video link), Magic Johnson said the trade for Westbrook “could go down as the worst trade in Laker history” if L.A. is unable to advance past the play-in tournament.
D.J. Augustin and Wenyen Gabriel are eager to make an impact with their new club, according to Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. “I know they haven’t been playing up to everybody’s expectations, I would say,” Augustin said of the Lakers. “But it’s the NBA, and things happen. But we’re still in a good position where we can still have a chance. And that’s all you need in this league, is a chance.”

Frank Vogel Resisting Pressure To Pull Russell Westbrook From Starting Lineup

March 5th, 2022 at 7:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

Several people in the Lakers’ organization want to see Russell Westbrook coming off the bench, but head coach Frank Vogel has resisted making the move, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Although Vogel is supporting Westbrook, tensions between them have been growing this week, sources tell Wojnarowski, including an incident at a film session on Friday. Westbrook and the coaching staff have “differing visions” on how he should be used, Woj adds.

Westbrook spoke out publicly about his frustrations on Thursday, saying his role with the team has changed “every single night.” A ball-dominant player throughout his career, Westbrook has been asked lately to spend more time off the ball and give up some of his play-making duties.

Vogel admitted to reporters on Friday that he has talked to the front office about moving Westbrook to a reserve role, but he downplayed the significance of those conversations.

“We have discussions, just like the front office has thousands of trade discussions every deadline, and they don’t discuss every one of those,” Vogel said. “Most of them don’t come to fruition. And that’s where we’re at with Russ. Is there a path where that’s the better option? We have talked about that. We’ve talked about everything we can do with our team. We’re not there.”

The dispute comes at a particularly bad time for the Lakers, who have dropped 11 of their past 14 games and are in danger of falling into the final play-in spot. Westbrook’s shooting struggles have played a significant role in the downturn, Wojnarowski adds, as he’s connecting at less than 30% from three-point range for the fourth time in five seasons and has gone 10 consecutive games without reaching 20 points for the first time since 2009.

Lakers Appear Unlikely To Bring Back Russell Westbrook Next Season

March 5th, 2022 at 3:13pm CST by JD Shaw

In his latest article for Substack, Marc Stein cites one league source who believes it’s “impossible” that the Lakers bring back Russell Westbrook next season due to current tension levels. Los Angeles ranks ninth in the Western Conference (27-35) and has lost eight of its last 10 games. Westbrook has averaged 18.1 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the floor, which is slightly below his career average.

Poll: How Will Lakers’ Season End?

March 4th, 2022 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers made no progress on Thursday night toward turning their season around, suffering a blowout loss to the rival Clippers. It extended their losing streak to four games, dropped their record to 27-35, and left guard Russell Westbrook looking for answers once again.

“My role and what I’m doing has changed every single night,” Westbrook said after the game, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “So I’m just trying to figure that out as I’m playing and to be able to benefit and help my team.

“But my expectations are still the same. I’m not a quitter. It’s not in my genes. I don’t quit, regardless of what the hell is going on. I’m going to fight to the end, and if it don’t work, that’s cool, too. I can live with the results. But I’m never going to give up or give in because of a little struggle that’s happening this time of the year.

While Westbrook’s struggles are hardly the only reason the Lakers have had such a disappointing season, he hasn’t fit in like the team had hoped and has faced criticism for months. Asked on Thursday if the Lakers have discussed the possibility of bringing Westbrook off the bench to change things up, head coach Frank Vogel replied, “We’ve talked about everything.”

Within his report on the Lakers’ situation earlier this week, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote that Vogel’s staff has never “seriously broached” the idea of having Westbrook come off the bench to the former MVP, adding that Westbrook likely wouldn’t entertain the idea. But these are desperate times for the Lakers, and Vogel’s comments on Thursday indicate it hasn’t been ruled out.

With just 20 games left in the Lakers’ season, time is running out to right the ship. With that in mind, we want to know whether you still have any faith left in this L.A. team.

At 27-35, the Lakers hold the No. 9 seed in the West, a full nine games back of the No. 6 Nuggets. They’re one game up on the No. 10 Pelicans and two games ahead of the No. 11 Trail Blazers. The Spurs (3.5 games back) and Kings (4.5 games back) are also lurking, but aren’t serious threats to the Lakers at this point.

Given the lack of serious competition outside of the West’s top 10 seeds, it still looks like a reasonably safe bet that the Lakers will qualify for the play-in tournament. But earning a playoff spot outright by finishing as a top-six team will be virtually impossible, and even finishing in the top eight looks increasingly unlikely, since they’re 5.5 games back of the No. 8 Clippers. If they finish ninth or 10th in the West, they’d have to win two play-in games to even make it to the playoffs.

As a reminder, the winner of the play-in game between the seventh and eight teams earns the No. 7 seed, while the loser of that game plays the winner of the matchup between the ninth and tenth teams for the No. 8 seed. That means the Lakers might have to beat, say, the Pelicans and then the Clippers (or Timberwolves) to even claim the No. 8 seed. At that point, they’d be in line for a matchup against a top-seeded Suns team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year.

Based on how the Lakers have looked lately, I’m growing more and more skeptical that we’ll even see them in the playoffs, whether or not they have Anthony Davis back for the play-in tournament. But we want to know what you think.

How do you see the Lakers’ season ending? Do they still have a chance to make a playoff run? Should they already be looking toward 2022/23?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Projected NBA Taxpayers For 2021/22

March 4th, 2022 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

The 2021/22 NBA season will be a record-setting one for luxury tax payments.

According to data from Albert Nahmad of HeatHoops.com and Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype, the league’s previous single-year record for total luxury tax payments was $173.3MM, back in 2002/03.

This season, the Warriors‘ tax penalties alone will nearly match that league-wide record. And they’ll be joined by six other projected taxpayers whose combined end-of-season bills would eclipse the previous record even without Golden State’s help.

In the space below, we’ve done our best to ballpark the current tax bill for each of this season’s seven projected taxpayers. These numbers may end up looking slightly different after the season, since it can be tricky to pin down the precise amount of a tax bill during the season.

Earned and unearned incentives in certain players’ contracts can affect eventual tax payments, and not all of the criteria for those incentives are public. Even the incentives that are known may not have been decided yet — for instance, Nets guard Kyrie Irving will earn a $137,500 bonus if he makes at least 88.5% of his free throws this season. He’s currently at 91.9%, but has only had 62 attempts, so it remains possible his free throw rate will dip below 88.5%, costing him that bonus and reducing Brooklyn’s tax bill.

Additionally, even after the trade deadline, a team’s tax bill remains fluid due to possible forthcoming roster moves, suspensions, and a handful of other factors. The Sixers‘ projected tax bill just increased last night when they officially signed DeAndre Jordan to a rest-of-season contract.

With all that in mind, here are the current projected penalties for this season’s probable taxpayers, based on our math, along with salary data from Spotrac and Basketball Insiders:

Golden State Warriors: $170.3MM
Brooklyn Nets: $97.0MM
Los Angeles Clippers: $82.5MM
Milwaukee Bucks: $56.5MM
Los Angeles Lakers: $45.0MM
Utah Jazz: $18.8MM
Philadelphia 76ers: $13.9MM

In total, these seven teams project to owe a staggering $484MM in luxury tax payments.

Half of that total will be dispersed to the league’s non-taxpayers, which means that 23 teams should be in line to split a pot of about $242MM. That would work out to a payment of approximately $10.5MM for each of those 23 non-taxpayers.

These numbers make it more obvious why a team like the Celtics made a concerted effort to get out of luxury tax territory at the trade deadline. A tax bill of $2MM or so wouldn’t break the bank for Boston’s ownership group, but the C’s generated more than just $2MM in savings by ducking below the tax line — they’re now in line to be one of those 23 teams that receives a $10MM+ windfall.

It’s worth noting too that the Warriors are the only one of these seven projected taxpayers who will be subjected to “repeater” penalties this season, so it’s not as if those more punitive repeater penalties are fueling this year’s record-setting totals. Even without the repeater penalties, the Dubs would still owe approximately $131.1MM in taxes.

Pacific Notes: Payne, Booker, Covington, Augustin

March 2nd, 2022 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

With Chris Paul injured and Devin Booker in health and safety protocols, the Suns were happy to welcome Cameron Payne back tonight, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Payne, who injured his right wrist on January 22, was in the starting lineup as Phoenix hosted the Trail Blazers.

“Just his energy, his energy is contagious,” said Torrey Craig, who was still with the Pacers when Payne got hurt. “He likes to get the crowd into the game. He gets his teammates going. He plays with this level of confidence that teams need.”

After Paul hurt his thumb, coach Monty Williams replaced him in the starting lineup with Cameron Johnson and let Booker run the point. Williams is glad to have a true point guard back with the starters and to see Johnson return to providing instant offense with the second unit.

“It allows for the bench to have a bit more rhythm,” Williams said. “It puts Cam Johnson back into his role on the bench and now he could be the anchor out there as far as scoring. A guy who has been in our rotation and he knows what we’re doing.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The COVID-19 test that Booker took today was inconclusive, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. Booker will be permitted to play if he can produce negative tests two days in a row.
After Tuesday’s game, Clippers forward Robert Covington talked extensively about mental health issues and revealed that he almost quit playing basketball in 2019, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. It happened while he was trying to recover from a knee injury, and Covington claims the Sixers traded him to Minnesota after assuring him that he wouldn’t be moved. Covington now uses his experiences to try to help other players who may be going through difficult times. “I take positives, I take negatives, and I just reevaluate,” he said. “I don’t let them drain my energy. I just assess it in a different manner, to where it helps me. And that’s what I’ll allow myself to get to, because before, I couldn’t do that.”
D.J. Augustin didn’t have much time to prepare after finding out Monday that the Lakers wanted to sign him, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Augustin said he “threw anything in a bag” and caught a flight to L.A. the next day.

Lakers Rumors: Westbrook, Vogel, Pelinka, LeBron

March 2nd, 2022 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ struggles in 2021/22 will have ramifications beyond this season, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who says that point guard Russell Westbrook, head coach Frank Vogel, and head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka all have uncertain futures in Los Angeles.

The Lakers didn’t like any of the deals available for Westbrook at this year’s trade deadline, but the two sides have mutual interest in finding the former MVP a new home in the offseason, sources tell Fischer.

Of course, Westbrook’s $47MM salary will make it challenging to find a taker, with one team strategist telling Fischer that his club wouldn’t trade for the veteran guard unless the Lakers were willing to include two first-round picks. However, other team personnel around the league are more confident that Los Angeles will have better luck shopping Westbrook once he’s on an expiring contract this summer, Fischer adds.

According to Fischer, Westbrook gave an “impassioned” speech to Lakers players prior to All-Star weekend, stressing the need to be unified in their push for the postseason. Fischer notes that Westbrook tried to motivate the Wizards in a similar manner last year and it paid off, as the team finished strong and claimed the No. 8 seed in the East. The Lakers haven’t shown signs of turning their season around so far — they’re 1-4 since the All-Star break.

Here’s more from Fischer on the Lakers:

Few people in coaching circles that Fischer has spoken to expect Vogel to hang onto his job with the Lakers for the 2022/23 season. Assuming Vogel is replaced, the expectation is that the franchise would focus on finding an experienced replacement rather than a first-timer, Fischer notes.
While some league insiders aren’t convinced Pelinka will keep his job atop the Lakers’ basketball operations department, Fischer says the team’s general manager still has strong support from key decision-makers within the organization. “His relationship with Kurt [Rambis] and Linda [Rambis] and Jeanie [Buss], it is very much a mom-and-pop shop,” one assistant GM told Bleacher Report.
According to Fischer, there has been “growing speculation” about Omar Wilkes of Klutch Sports emerging as a candidate to replace Pelinka as the Lakers’ GM. However, some of Fischer’s sources dismissed that idea, with a few suggesting that those rumors are being fueled by Wilkes’ competitors at Creative Artists Agency, since Wilkes is competing with CAA to represent top college prospects such as Duke’s Paolo Banchero.
Some rival front offices have griped about the way Pelinka operates in his trade talks with other teams, according to Fischer. Last offseason, the Kings were irritated to learn via media reports – rather than from Pelinka himself – that the Lakers were passing on Buddy Hield to acquire Westbrook, and one GM tells Bleacher Report that Pelinka wasn’t returning some teams’ calls at last month’s trade deadline. “He was an a–hole as an agent,” one assistant GM said to Bleacher Report. “He had the most powerful players and if he wanted the player moved, he would’ve eviscerated you as a staff to get whatever he wanted. You can’t do that to people, and then expect them to work with you when you join their side.”
Addressing the possibility of LeBron James eventually leaving the Lakers to return to Cleveland, Fischer echoes Marc Stein’s belief that the Cavaliers aren’t itching to pursue that scenario. While the Cavs might be open to the idea, they probably wouldn’t want to break up their young core to accommodate LeBron and wouldn’t want to have him “co-piloting personnel decisions,” Fischer writes. James said during All-Star Weekend that “the door’s not closed” on a return to Cleveland, but later stated that he wants to remain with the Lakers for “as long as I can play.”

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Augustin, Gabriel, Nunn

March 2nd, 2022 at 7:25am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ record fell to 27-34 on Tuesday, as the team entered the fourth quarter with a lead over Dallas but couldn’t hang on and lost by a score of 109-104. Los Angeles, the No. 9 seed in the West, is now just two games ahead of No. 11 Portland for a play-in spot, but Russell Westbrook – who acknowledged that he has to play better – still believes better things are ahead for the club.

“Super confident that we’re going to be all right,” Westbrook said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’ve got confidence in this group, like I always have. And we can play the best teams. I’m not worried about nobody we have to play. We’ve beaten the best teams; we’ve lost to some of the worst teams. So, our confidence and my confidence in this group is extremely high because I know what we’re capable of when we put our mind to it and do exactly what we need to do on a night-in, night-out basis.”

As McMenamin writes, LeBron James missed some time about a month ago due to swelling in his left knee and said before the All-Star break that he’s still not 100%. However, James has no plans to shut his season down at any point and is committed to waiting until the offseason to rest his knee, sources tell ESPN.

“We still have games to play,” James said after Tuesday’s loss. “Until you stomp me out, cut my head off, bury me 12 feet under, then I got a chance. So that’s my confidence.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Head coach Frank Vogel is enthusiastic about what newly-signed point guard D.J. Augustin can bring to the team, as Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group relays. “I know his game really well,” Vogel said before Tuesday’s game. “He gets in late tonight – we’ll be able to sit down and talk more in depth about where he fits on our team. But I like what he brings to the table, not just with the off-ball ability, to shoot the basketball and stretch the floor and give our guys more space.”
Vogel also discussed new two-way player Wenyen Gabriel, who was signed on Tuesday along with Augustin. According to the Lakers’ head coach, Gabriel will join the NBA team immediately rather than being assigned to the G League. “The successful stints this year have been with Bron, Russ, (Anthony Davis), and the younger, energetic guys,” Vogel said, per Goon. “So, we’ll have to see what Wenyen brings to the table, but it is possible that he gets into the rotation and plays some.”
While replacing DeAndre Jordan and Sekou Doumbouya with Augustin and Gabriel adds more talent to the Lakers’ roster, the team had a greater need on the wing than at point guard, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines in his analysis of Tuesday’s roster moves.
Explaining why the Lakers felt comfortable trading away Rajon Rondo earlier in the season if they still needed to sign a veteran point guard later, Vogel said that Rondo was intended to be a third-string backup behind Westbrook and wasn’t a good fit alongside him, whereas Augustin should be able to play with or without Westbrook. “Their skill sets don’t fit,” Vogel said of Rondo and Westbrook (via Goon). “They don’t match on the floor. So (Rondo) was not playing, or when he was playing, he wasn’t a good formula for us.”
There’s still no timeline for injured point guard Kendrick Nunn to make his Lakers debut, Vogel told reporters on Tuesday. “We just don’t know about Kendrick,” he said, according to Goon. “We’re still hopeful that he comes around and is able to ramp up and do it without pain and the MRI comes back where we want to see it. It hasn’t happened yet. Until we see him back on the floor, we need help at that position and that skill set.” Buha believes the signing of Augustin suggests we likely won’t see Nunn this season.

Lakers Officially Complete Roster Moves

March 1st, 2022 at 4:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Lakers have announced in a press release that they have officially signed free agent point guard D.J. Augustin and free agent power forward Wenyen Gabriel, two moves that had previously been announced as being in the works.

Los Angeles opted to waive reserve center DeAndre Jordan, clearing a spot for Augustin on the 15-man roster. Gabriel will replace Sekou Doumbouya on a two-way deal with the club.

The 34-year-old Augustin, most recently with the Rockets earlier this season, will provide a veteran presence backing up starting point guard Russell Westbrook. Augustin was selected with the ninth pick in the 2008 draft out of Texas, six spots behind Westbrook.

The 5’11” vet has previously suited up for the Hornets (back when they were the Bobcats), Pacers, Raptors, Bulls, Pistons, Thunder, Nuggets, Magic, and Bucks, before landing with Houston midway through the 2020/21 season. This season, Augustin averaged 5.4 PPG, 2.2 APG and 1.2 RPG across 34 games (15.0 MPG) in a reduced role for a rebuilding Rockets club.

The reeling Lakers have lost seven of their last 10 games, and currently occupy the Western Conference’s ninth seed with a disappointing 27-33 record. In Augustin, they’ll add a reliable bench option with a solid shooting stroke from deep. For his career, Augustin is connecting on 38% of his 3.4 three-point attempts a night. This season, he is converting 40.6% of his 2.8 looks. Westbrook, meanwhile, is making 29.2% of his 3.4 three-point tries per night.

Gabriel, 24, will be playing for his third team this season, following stints with the Nets and Clippers. Across seven NBA games this season, the 6’9″ Kentucky alum is averaging 6.7 MPG. In 10 contests this season for the Bucks’ NBA G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, Augustin averaged a far more robust 28.3 MPG, as well as 16.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.2 APG and 2.1 BPG.

Bobby Marks of ESPN adds (Twitter link) that Augustin will be earning a $622,467 salary through the rest of the season, with a cap hit of $393,312. That will increase the Lakers’ already-significant projected luxury tax bill to $45MM.

Jordan and Doumbouya are on track to clear waivers on Thursday if they’re not claimed. Both will be playoff-eligible if they join new teams. Jordan is reportedly receiving interest from the Sixers.