Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

LeBron James Out For Lakers’ Final Two Games

April 8th, 2022 at 12:13pm CST by Luke Adams

After having his sprained left ankle reevaluated by the Lakers‘ medical staff, star forward LeBron James has been ruled out for the rest of the 2021/22 season, the team announced today (via Twitter). The Lakers will be without James when they host the Thunder on Friday and visit Denver on Sunday.

Los Angeles was eliminated from play-in contention earlier this week and doesn’t control its first-round pick, so the results of the team’s final two games aren’t particularly consequential to the franchise. Still, James’ absence is notable since it means he’ll finish the season with only 56 games played, making him ineligible to qualify for the 2021/22 scoring title — players must appears in at least 58 of 82 regular season contests to qualify.

James’ average of 30.3 points per game this season represents the second-highest of his 19-year career and would put him neck and neck with the current leader, Joel Embiid (30.4 PPG).

While he won’t get the opportunity to vie for the second scoring title of his career, LeBron will finish the season with a remarkable stat line for a player in his age-37 season. In addition to his 30.3 PPG, he has also put up 8.2 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.3 SPG, and 1.1 BPG on .524/.359/.756 shooting in his 56 appearances (37.2 MPG).

Anthony Davis (right foot soreness) and Russell Westbrook (right shoulder soreness) also missed Thursday’s game in Golden State, but the Lakers have yet to make any announcements about their availability for the final two games of the season.

Rockets’ Trevelin Queen Named 2021/22 G League MVP

April 8th, 2022 at 7:36am CST by Luke Adams

Shooting guard Trevelin Queen, who is on a two-way contract with the Rockets, has been named the NBA G League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2021/22 season, the league confirmed in a press release. Our JD Shaw was the first to report the news (via Twitter).

Queen signed a two-way deal with Houston in December, but has only appeared in 10 games with the NBA club this season. The 25-year-old saw more action in the G League, emerging as the go-to scorer for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers as the Rockets’ G League affiliate posted a 24-10 regular season record and claimed the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

In 19 NBAGL games, Queen averaged 25.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and an eye-popping 3.3 steals in 35.0 minutes per contest, recording a shooting line of .480/.337/.796. It was his second season with the Vipers after going undrafted out of New Mexico State in 2020.

Queen beat out a pair of other players on NBA rosters – Pistons guard Saben Lee and Lakers two-way guard Mason Jones – in the G League’s MVP vote. Lee and Jones finished second and third, respectively.

Queen wasn’t the only member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to take home some hardware this week. The team’s head coach, Mahmoud Abdelfattah, was named the NBAGL Coach of the Year, while general manager Travis Stockbridge earned G League Executive of the Year honors.

Because Queen’s two-way contract doesn’t cover the 2022/23 season, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.

Lakers Notes: Davis, James, Westbrook, Offseason Approach

April 7th, 2022 at 7:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anthony Davis isn’t sure if the Lakers‘ front office will try to trade him after the season, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports. Davis is signed through the 2024/25 season, though there’s an early termination option prior to the final year.

“Obviously I love it in L.A. If that’s something that they’re considering, then we’ll have a conversation about it,” he said. “I don’t know what they’re talking about, what’s the plan.”

Davis missed a chunk of time this season due to a foot injury but he bristles at the notion that he’s injury prone.

“To be honest, my training methods were top tier,” he said. “I can’t control stepping on someone’s foot and I can’t control someone falling into my leg. It’s not like I’m out of shape and I did some crazy (stuff) or it was anything I could control.”

We have more on the Lakers:

Davis (right foot soreness), LeBron James (left ankle soreness), and Russell Westbrook (right shoulder soreness) sat out Thursday’s game against the Warriors, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register writes. It’s unclear if the trio will be shut down for the remainder of the season but the Lakers have little to play for after getting eliminated from postseason contention.
The Lakers’ best future option is for the front office to start running the club like a small market team, Moke Hamilton of the Basketball News opines. They need to find a way to get back into the draft, most likely by trading Talen Horton-Tucker, and uncover diamonds in the rough through scouting and player development.
The Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner breaks down all the roster decisions that GM Rob Pelinka and senior advisor Kurt Rambis need to make this offseason.
The same topics are explored by the Bleacher Report’s’ Eric Pincus, who notes that significant changes are unlikely to occur within the front office.
The franchise has come up short of lofty expectations created by the additions of James four years ago and Davis three years ago, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today notes. While the Lakers won a championship in the Orlando bubble in 2020, competing for multiple championships was expected. They missed the playoffs in James’ first and fourth seasons in L.A. and lost in the first round last season.
In case you missed it, Trevor Ariza was waived on Thursday.

Lakers Waive Trevor Ariza

April 7th, 2022 at 4:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers have waived veteran forward Trevor Ariza, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The front office opened a roster spot in order to add a young player before the season ends on Sunday, according to Charania. The Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention this week and a major roster shakeup is expected. They didn’t wait for the offseason to begin that process.

The move was confirmed in a team press release, Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays in a tweet.

After signing a one-year, veteran’s minimum in the offseason, Ariza was expected to have a significant role. However, ankle surgery delayed his debut and reduced his impact. He only appeared in 24 games (11 starts), averaging 4.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG.

Ariza, 36, has been in the league since 2004. It’s uncertain whether this is the end of the road for the 18-year veteran, who has appeared in 1,118 regular season games.

Hornets Might Have Interest In Russell Westbrook

April 7th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Rory Maher

League insiders have increasingly mentioned the Hornets as a team that might have interest in trading for Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, writes Marc Stein at Substack.

Charlotte would only be interested in Westbrook in order to create long-term financial flexibility, and based on salary-matching rules, the team would have to send out roughly $38MM to acquire the former MVP. Stein points to Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier as contracts the team might want to move to accommodate a new deal for Miles Bridges this summer, plus the future max extension of LaMelo Ball.

Hayward has been very productive when healthy for Charlotte, but injuries have again been a concern. After appearing in 44 of 72 games last season, he’s played in 49 of 79 contests this season and is listed as doubtful for Thursday’s matchup with Orlando (Twitter link). Hayward will earn $30.075MM next season and $31.5MM in 2023/24.

Rozier has also been productive over the past few seasons. His four-year, $96.26MM extension starts next season, so he’ll be under contract through ’25/26.

Pairing Hayward or Rozier with Kelly Oubre could work as a framework of a deal, Stein says. He also notes that Hornets owner Michael Jordan has long admired Westbrook, although it isn’t known whether that would play a factor in a potential trade.

The Rockets remain the most logical trade partner for Westbrook due to John Wall‘s salary being a near-perfect match, but the Lakers might not find that any more palatable than they did previously, considering Houston was asking for a first-round pick, per Stein.

League sources tell Stein that the Lakers also haven’t ruled out using the waive-and-stretch provision on Westbrook’s contract, which would split his $47.06MM player option over three seasons with annual hits of $15.69MM. Going that route would take Los Angeles out of the luxury tax and make it much easier to retain Malik Monk; the team badly wants to bring him back, so it’s considered a viable possibility.

Lakers Notes: Elimination, Westbrook, Vogel, Draft Pick

April 6th, 2022 at 7:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers were officially eliminated from play-in contention on Tuesday night as they lost in Phoenix and the Spurs picked up a win in Denver to clinch at least the 10th seed. There are still three games left on Los Angeles’ regular season schedule, but Tuesday’s loss marked the unofficial end of a historically disappointing year, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

“Extremely disappointed,” head coach Frank Vogel said after the game. “Disappointed for our fan base. Disappointed for the Buss family, who gave us all this opportunity, and we want to play our part in bringing success to Laker basketball, and we fell short.”

Anthony Davis, who wondered earlier this week “what could have been” if the Lakers hadn’t had to deal with so many injuries, admitted on Tuesday that the club wasn’t exactly dominant even when he, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook were all healthy. But he still believes L.A. could have reached another level with more time to establish chemistry.

“I think even though we lost games where all of us were on the floor — me, Bron, Russ — I think we’re three great players, but we would have figured it out if we logged more minutes together,” said Davis, who pointed out the team had more starting lineups (39) than wins (31) this season. “But we weren’t able to do that, which makes it tough to be able to compete for a championship when your three best players haven’t logged enough minutes together.

“… I truly think that we could have done something special, if Bron and myself — and mainly me — were healthy for the entire season.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

With James and Davis unlikely to go anywhere, Westbrook looks like a candidate to be traded – or even released – this summer as the Lakers attempt to reshape their roster. But the former MVP will enter the offseason planning to remain in L.A. “I mean, that’s the plan. But nothing is promised,” Westbrook said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Yes, we want to be able to see what that looks like, what that entails over the course of an 82-game season. But we’re not sure if that’s guaranteed, either. So I just hope that we have a chance to be able to do something.”
It’s unclear if Davis and James, who are both dealing with injuries, will play in the Lakers’ final three games now that the team has no chance at the play-in. “We’ll see,” Vogel said (Twitter link via Mark Medina of NBA.com). “We’ll meet with the front office, our players and the coaching staff, and see what’s best for our group.”
While Vogel declined to speculate about his job security – or lack thereof – he seemed to acknowledge in a conversation with Bill Oram of The Athletic that he understands his probable fate. “It’s been a win-now job for each of the three years I’ve been here,” Vogel said. A Tuesday report stated that the Lakers will likely replace Vogel at season’s end.
As Andrew Lopez of ESPN tweets, the Lakers appear virtually locked into the No. 8 spot in the draft lottery, which is great news for the Pelicans, who will get L.A.’s first-round pick if it’s in the top 10. There would be a 99.6% chance of that happening if the Lakers remain in the No. 8 spot in the lottery standings. The Grizzlies, who would get the pick if it falls between 11-30, will likely end up receiving Cleveland’s 2022 second-rounder and New Orleans’ 2025 second-rounder from the Pelicans instead.
Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype takes an in-depth look at the major decisions facing the Lakers this offseason.

LeBron James Out Vs. Suns On Tuesday

April 5th, 2022 at 2:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Facing a must-win game in Phoenix on Tuesday and looking to keep their play-in hopes alive, the Lakers will once again be without star forward LeBron James, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James, who continues to deal with a left ankle sprain, has been ruled out for a second consecutive game and will now have missed three of the last four.

If the Lakers lose to the Suns and the Spurs win in Denver, L.A. would be officially eliminated from play-in contention by the end of the night.

Lakers Rumors: Coaching Change, Davis, Westbrook, THT, Nunn, Monk

April 5th, 2022 at 12:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

An offseason coaching change seems inevitable for the Lakers, who could see their hopes for the play-in tournament end as early as tonight, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

Sources tell Fischer that L.A. is expected to fire Frank Vogel after the end of the season. Vogel has reportedly been on the hot seat for some time, and only received a one-year contract extension last summer.

There will be a long list of potential replacements, but Fischer identifies Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Sixers coach Doc Rivers as the most intriguing names to watch. Marc Stein of Substack recently linked Snyder to the Lakers’ job, and possibly to the Spurs as well. Snyder responded by calling it “disrespectful” to the teams involved to discuss rumors while those coaching positions are filled.

Snyder was a Lakers assistant 10 years ago, and Utah may decide to make a coaching change of its own after a late-season slide, but Fischer cites skepticism around the league that he’ll wind up in Los Angeles. The feeling is that Snyder would prefer to wait for the San Antonio job, even if Gregg Popovich returns next season.

Rivers could become available if Philadelphia has an early playoff exit, and he would be considered by the Jazz as well, Fischer adds. Rivers had a long history in Boston with Utah CEO Danny Ainge.

Fischer has more news regarding the Lakers:

Some rival teams have wondered if Anthony Davis might be available in a trade this summer, but multiple sources told Fischer that won’t be an option the Lakers seriously consider. Davis has been severely limited by injuries the past two years, playing 39 games so far this season and 36 in 2020/21, but L.A.’s front office still believes it has the makings of a championship contender when Davis and LeBron James are healthy.
The Lakers will try again to trade Russell Westbrook, but they still may not have any options other than a deal with the Rockets for John Wall that would likely also cost them a future first-round pick. Talen Horton-Tucker, who Fischer said was nearly sent to the Raptors at the deadline in a three-way deal that would have included the Knicks, will also be on the market, along with Kendrick Nunn, who is expected to pick up his $5.25MM player option.
Malik Monk was the Lakers’ best offseason signing, ranking third on the team in points scored and minutes played on a minimum-salary contract, but he may be somewhere else next season. L.A. only holds Non-Bird rights on Monk and will be limited to a contract that starts at the taxpayer mid-level exception, which is projected to be $6.4MM. Rival executives expect him to get offers with a starting salary as high as $10MM, says Fischer.

Lakers Notes: Davis, James, Injuries, DeRozan

April 4th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers aren’t technically out of playoff contention yet, but after falling two games (and a tiebreaker) behind San Antonio in the Western Conference standings on Sunday, their odds of claiming a spot in the play-in tournament are increasingly slim — in fact, the Lakers could be officially eliminated as soon as Tuesday if they lose in Phoenix and the Spurs win in Denver.

Following Sunday’s loss, Anthony Davis sounded like someone who recognized that L.A.’s season is all but over, as he reflected on “what could have been” if the team had been healthier.

“I think the biggest thing that I think about personally is what we could have been, had we stayed healthy all year,” Davis said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “What could we have been. … Guys feel like, ‘OK, what could we have been if I was healthy all year, [LeBron James] was healthy, [Kendrick] Nunn was healthy.’ You think about those things. We put this team together and it looked good on paper, but we haven’t had a chance to reach that potential with guys in and out of the lineup.”

Davis, who has only played in half of the Lakers’ 78 games so far this season, has been bothered throughout his career by injuries, but he bristled at the perception that he’s fragile, telling Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times that he hasn’t been sidelined due to “little ticky-tack injuries.”

“This is what I’ve learned about injuries,” Davis said. “Last year when I wasn’t playing, people were saying, ‘AD’s giving up on his team. It’s the playoffs. AD has to play. He’s got to play.’ And when I went out there to play, got hurt again, they said, ‘Who was his trainer? Who let him play?’

“So, what the [expletive] do you want me to do? When I play, it’s a problem. It’s a problem when I don’t play. At the end of the day, I’ve got to do what’s best for me and how my body feels. And we go from there. I’m not worried about who’s saying what or who thinks this about me because none of them have stepped on the floor and played. And the ones that did play, they should understand.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

A source familiar with James’ status told Dave McMenamin of ESPN that the star forward is “unlikely” to play on Tuesday vs. Phoenix. However, according to McMenamin, the source said there’s still a chance that could change if LeBron’s ankle improves more than expected by tomorrow night.
Jovan Buha of The Athletic and his colleague John Hollinger both pushed back against the idea that injuries have been the primary cause of the Lakers’ disappointing season. Buha observed that even in games when Davis and James played, the team was just 11-11, while Hollinger said the team’s offseason plan needs to be better than simply running it back and hoping its two superstars stay healthy in 2022/23.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up and First Take on Monday, former Lakers president Magic Johnson criticized the club for not acquiring DeMar DeRozan last offseason instead of Russell Westbrook (link via Jenna Lemoncelli of The New York Post). While that’s not an unreasonable take, given that DeRozan had interest in playing for his hometown team, Johnson’s assertion that the Lakers could’ve had DeRozan, Buddy Hield, Alex Caruso, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope instead of Westbrook is a fantasy that doesn’t pass muster. Unless DeRozan had been willing to sign for the taxpayer mid-level exception (which wasn’t viewed as a viable option at the time), L.A. would’ve become hard-capped by acquiring him and would have had no way of carrying all those contracts in addition to James’ and Davis’ maximum salaries. Acquiring both DeRozan and Hield without giving up Caldwell-Pope also likely wouldn’t have been possible due to salary-matching rules.

LeBron To Miss Sunday’s Game Against Nuggets

April 3rd, 2022 at 12:49pm CST by Rory Maher

Lakers forward LeBron James will miss Sunday’s game against the Nuggets as he continues to be hampered by a left ankle sprain, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

James badly rolled his left ankle last Sunday against the Pelicans, missed two games, returned on Friday vs. New Orleans, and now will miss his third game with the injury. As Bill Oram of The Athletic notes (via Twitter), Sunday’s contest will tip off less than 36 hours after Friday’s ended, not giving James much time to physically recover after playing 40 minutes on Friday.

Coach Frank Vogel confirmed that James is out Sunday due to the sore ankle and is considered day-to-day going forward. He also said Anthony Davis was sore after his first game back in several weeks, but Davis will play against the Nuggets (Twitter links via Mark Medina of NBA.com).

The reeling Lakers have lost five straight games and are a measly 4-15 since the All-Star break. They currently sit with a 31-46 record and are the No. 11 seed in the West. Los Angeles trails the Spurs by one game for the final spot in the play-in tournament, but the Spurs hold the tiebreaker due to a better conference record — in short, the Lakers need to finish with a better record than the Spurs to get the No. 10 seed.

In addition to Sunday’s home game against the Nuggets, the Lakers finish out the season with road games against the Suns and Warriors, plus a home meeting against the Thunder and a regular season finale in Denver.

James is the league’s leading scorer with 30.3 points per game, but he needs to play at least two more games to qualify for the scoring title. MVP candidates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid are currently second and third in scoring average with 30.1 and 30.0 points per game, respectively.