Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: MVP Race, I. Thomas, Draft, I. Clark

February 17th, 2022 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

The top two finishers in last season’s MVP voting appear to be the top two candidates for this year’s award too, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Bontemps recently conducted a straw poll of 100 media members and found that Sixers center Joel Embiid narrowly – and unofficially – leads Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic in the MVP race.

As Bontemps details, Embiid received 45 first-place votes from the poll respondents, while Jokic got 43. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (nine), Suns guard Chris Paul (two), and Warriors guard Stephen Curry (one) were the other players who got first-place votes. Interestingly, Embiid was the only player to show up on all 100 five-player ballots, while Jokic was left off five.

Curry received 94 first-place votes when Bontemps conducted a similar straw poll in December, but the veteran sharpshooter has slowed down since his hot start, while players like Embiid, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo have made stronger MVP pushes.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Free agent guard Isaiah Thomas is expected to rejoin the Grand Rapids Gold – the Nuggets‘ G League affiliate – after the All-Star break, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Thomas had a very brief stint in Grand Rapids in December, scoring 42 points in his only NBAGL game before getting called up to the NBA. Thomas signed 10-day contracts with the Lakers and Mavericks before returning to the open market.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has published a new 2022 mock draft, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his top-50 big board. Both draft experts currently have Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren at No. 1 and Jabari Smith of Auburn at No. 2, with Purdue’s Jaden Ivey moving up to No. 3 ahead of Duke’s Paolo Banchero.
Veteran guard Ian Clark, who has 330 regular season appearances on his NBA résumé and won a title with Golden State in 2017, has signed with the Sydney Kings, the Australian team recently announced in a press release. Clark played in 60 games for New Orleans in 2018/19, but has been out of the NBA since then.

Anthony Davis Likely Out At Least Two Weeks With Ankle Injury

February 17th, 2022 at 6:17am CST by Arthur Hill

FEBRUARY 17: Davis will likely miss at least two weeks due to his right ankle sprain, according to McMenamin.

Due to the All-Star break, the Lakers will only play three games between today and March 2, but there’s certainly no guarantee Davis will be ready to return on March 3. He’ll undergo an MRI today on his injured ankle, head coach Frank Vogel confirmed after Wednesday’s game.

FEBRUARY 16: X-rays taken after Lakers star Anthony Davis injured his right ankle in tonight’s game were negative, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Davis will receive treatment during the All-Star break, and his condition will be re-evaluated once the break ends.

There’s no sign of a fracture, according to Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register (Twitter link). The team considers it a sprain and isn’t speculating on a possible recovery timeline, adds Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).

Davis took a scary fall in the second quarter of the game against Utah after landing on Rudy Gobert‘s heel and had to be helped to the locker room. The Lakers quickly announced that he wouldn’t return, tweets Bill Oram of The Athletic.

Davis, who has already missed 21 games this season, was sidelined for more than a month in December and January with a sprained MCL in his left knee. He also missed 36 of the 72 games last season.

Another long-term loss of Davis could be devastating for the Lakers, who have dropped three straight games coming into tonight and have fallen into ninth place in the West. They hold a three-and-a-half game lead over the No. 11 Pelicans for a spot in the play-in tournament.

Scotto’s Latest: Harris, Thompson, Lakers, Brunson, Nurkic

February 16th, 2022 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Prior to last week’s trade deadline, a source close to Gary Harris said he didn’t think the Magic wing would be bought out in the coming weeks, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Harris in the final year of his contract and probably isn’t part of the long-term plans in Orlando, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the team decided to part ways with him to open up minutes for its younger players. However, one recent report stated that the Magic have appreciated the 27-year-old’s influence on their young guards.

Additionally, as Scotto observes, Harris has been one of the Magic’s most-used players this season and hasn’t seen his role reduced at all lately, logging nearly 37 minutes against his old team in Denver on Monday. Ahead of his upcoming free agency, it may be in Harris’ best interests to remain in Orlando, where he’s an important part of the rotation, Scotto says, rather than taking his chances in a situation where he’d be further down in the pecking order.

Here’s more from Scotto’s latest HoopsHype Podcast with Yossi Gozlan:

The Lakers are a team worth keeping an eye on if Tristan Thompson is bought out by the Pacers, according to Scotto, who notes that the veteran center “certainly has a lot of relationships there.” Like Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Thompson is a Klutch Sports client.
According to Scotto, NBA executives he has spoken to are trying to determine whether the Knicks will make a serious run at Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson in free agency this summer or whether New York’s rumored interest is being used as a leverage play to boost Brunson’s market.
Scotto adds that rival execs always thought the Mavericks would end up choosing between Brunson or Dorian Finney-Smith due to the luxury tax implications of giving both players big long-term deals. However, Mavs owner Mark Cuban has expressed confidence about keeping both players, and has already extended Finney-Smith.
Scotto confirms there’s mutual interest between Jusuf Nurkic and the Trail Blazers in continuing their relationship beyond this season, as has been previously reported. Nurkic would be eligible to sign a contract extension anytime before June 30, though he wouldn’t be able to receive a starting salary higher than $14.4MM unless he reaches free agency.

Pacific Notes: Powell, Lakers, Shamet, Wiseman

February 15th, 2022 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The current treatment plan for Clippers swingman Norman Powell, who broke a bone in his left foot last Thursday, is non-surgical, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group. Asked about a potential return timeline for Powell, head coach Tyronn Lue couldn’t offer any specifics, but expressed hope that the 28-year-old will be back before the end of the season.

“Hopefully,” Lue said. “I’m not really sure, but hopefully that’s the case.”

As Swanson writes, Powell – acquired in a trade with Portland earlier in the month – had only been a Clipper for three games before he went down with his foot injury. However, he had already established himself as an important part of the rotation, playing nearly 34 minutes in his last game on Thursday, so he’ll be missed. Additionally, the Clippers sacrificed some depth on the wing in their pre-deadline deals.

“It does leave a void, because now you lose Justise Winslow, Eric Bledsoe, who you traded him for, along with Keon Johnson,” Lue said. “… Since (Powell) was here, he gave us great downhill attacks, direct line, quick decisions, getting to the free-throw line and he scored the ball really easy. So we’re definitely gonna miss that.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

During an appearance on The Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne confirmed the Lakers would have had to incentivize the Rockets to swap John Wall for Russell Westbrook at the trade deadline, but suggested the cost wouldn’t necessarily have been a first-round pick, as had been previously reported. “The way I heard it was it could have been done for a first-round pick, but it was even suggested they could have done it for a pick swap,” Shelburne said, per RealGM. “… Let’s put it this way, they would have had to incentivize Houston to do the trade with some kind of draft compensation. I think it was even less than what people have assumed.”
Suns guard Landry Shamet, who has been sidelined since January 30 due to a right ankle injury, is being careful not to rush the recovery process and won’t return until sometime after the All-Star break, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I’ve come back from ankle injuries a little too early in the past,” Shamet said on Monday. “With the aspirations this team has and what I have for myself, for us, I want to make sure I’m in the best place possible to be able to sustain for a long time.”
Warriors center James Wiseman was cleared to begin participating in 5-on-5 scrimmages, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Wiseman is working his way back from a pair of procedures on his right knee.

Spurs Buy Out Goran Dragic

February 15th, 2022 at 9:53am CST by Luke Adams

9:53am: The Spurs have officially waived Dragic (Twitter link via Paul Garcia of Project Spurs). As noted below, he’ll clear waivers and become a free agent on Thursday.

8:30am: The Spurs and point guard Goran Dragic have reached a buyout agreement, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Assuming Dragic is officially released today and clears waivers – which is a near-certainty due to his $19.4MM cap hit – he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday. At that point, he’d be free to sign with any team except the Raptors — NBA rules prohibit a team from re-signing a player it traded earlier in the league year if that player is cut by his new team.

Charania doesn’t identify any specific suitors for Dragic, but says “a slew” of teams are expected to pursue the playoff-tested veteran.

Previously, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski named the Bucks, Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, Bulls, and Nets as clubs expected to show interest in Dragic. Wojnarowski later said that Milwaukee, in particular, is expected to aggressively pursue the 35-year-old.

The Mavericks were viewed at one point as a potential frontrunner for Dragic, but acquired Spencer Dinwiddie at the trade deadline and are no longer believed to be in the market for a point guard. General manager Nico Harrison said last week that he thinks Dallas’ roster is “set.”

The Heat, meanwhile, are no longer ineligible to reacquire Dragic, since he was traded for a second time after Miami moved him in August. The guard has been working out in Miami for much of the season and the Heat have two open roster spots, so a reunion seems plausible, even though the club wasn’t mentioned by Wojnarowski over the weekend as a likely suitor.

Dragic averaged 13.4 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 3.4 RPG on .432/.373/.828 shooting in 50 games (26.7 MPG) for the Heat in 2020/21. However, he appeared in just five games for the Raptors this season after being sent to Toronto as part of the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade.

Dragic hasn’t played since November, having taken a personal leave of absence from the Raptors up until he was traded to San Antonio at last week’s deadline.

Jeanie Buss Still Leans On Magic For Advice; Bazemore Not Sulking

February 14th, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Magic Johnson stepped down from his post as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations in 2019 but team owner Jeanie Buss still leans on the Hall-of-Famer for advice, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic. “To me, he’s still working with us,” Buss said. “In terms of an official capacity, in the NBA, you have to be very clear as to who can negotiate on your behalf and who can’t. So he doesn’t have that official designation. But in terms of his support, his wisdom, his insight, I freely call on him as needed.”

Kent Bazemore hasn’t been part of the Lakers rotation since mid-November and hasn’t played since February 3. However, he’s not sulking over his lack of playing time, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times writes. “Some nights, it gets hard having to hold back that competitive nature. Especially if a guy gets going, I know defensively, I made a living off of taking guys out of the game, shutting off the water, so to speak. That gets the best of me sometimes,” Bazemore said. “But that’s just the competitor in me. … I’m doing what I love. I don’t mind putting in the work for it, even though I’m out of the rotation.”

Celtics Notes: Theis, Schröder, Roster Openings, TPEs

February 14th, 2022 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

New Celtics center Daniel Theis waived his 15% trade kicker as part of the trade that sent him from Houston back to Boston, reports Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Theis gave up $3MM+ as a result of that decision, since the bonus would’ve been worth 15% of the amount of guaranteed money left on his contract. At the time of the trade, the big man was still owed $20MM+ in guaranteed money over the next two-and-a-half seasons.

It’s unclear if Boston would’ve moved forward with the acquisition of Theis if he hadn’t been willing to waive his trade kicker. The Celtics will be able to fill out their 15-man roster while remaining slightly under the luxury tax, but those efforts would’ve been complicated if they’d had to account for a higher cap hit for Theis due to his trade bonus.

Here’s more on the C’s:

Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com hears that the Lakers were offering the Celtics “a couple of second-round picks and some minimum contracts” for Dennis Schröder before Boston sent him to Houston in a package for Theis. Los Angeles would’ve had to trade three minimum-salary players to match Schröder’s salary.
Brian Robb of MassLive.com evaluates the Celtics’ decision to trade for Theis rather than accepting the rumored Lakers offer, which he speculates might’ve included expendable veterans like DeAndre Jordan, Kent Bazemore, and Wayne Ellington. As Robb writes, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was looking for help in both the present and future, making Theis a better fit than those Lakers vets. Stevens also valued roster flexibility, per Robb — completing a one-for-three trade instead of a three-for-one deal would’ve meant the Celtics came out of the deadline with just one open roster spot instead of five.
The Celtics have already filled two of their five roster openings, and Stevens talked after the deadline about using one or two more of those open spots on young players, with an eye toward the future, as Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston relays. “We’ve got to look at a couple of young prospects that we can hopefully develop and make part of our long-term future and can find a great niche and fit within our team,” Stevens said. “I think a great example of that is a place like Miami that’s done that really well. They’ve found guys that other people passed on or missed on and have created a team that has really, really good players making a lot of money, and really, really good players that are just starting out in their career, but have found the perfect fit.”
The Celtics decided not to use their $17MM+ Evan Fournier trade exception to absorb Derrick White‘s incoming salary last Thursday, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. If they’d gone that route, the Celtics could’ve created a new $11.6MM trade exception (using Josh Richardson‘s outgoing salary), which wouldn’t have expired until the 2023 trade deadline. Instead, the team opted to keep the bigger exception, which will expire during the 2022 offseason.

Raptors Notes: Porzingis, Trade Talks, Young, Ujiri

February 14th, 2022 at 7:40am CST by Luke Adams

Before Dallas agreed to trade Kristaps Porzingis to Washington last Thursday, one report suggested that the Mavericks and Raptors may be having discussions about the big man.

Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) and Marc Stein (Substack link) have since confirmed that Toronto had some interest in Porzingis. However, Grange says the Raptors never got close to making a deal for the former lottery pick, while league sources tell Stein that Toronto “stepped away” from those discussions due to concerns about Porzingis’ long-term health.

Porzingis was eventually traded to the Wizards along with a protected second-round pick in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Grange adds (via Twitter) that last week’s three-team trade talks involving the Raptors, Lakers, and Knicks reached an impasse in part due to L.A.’s luxury tax concerns. Presumably, the framework that was discussed would’ve required the Lakers to take on extra salary, increasing the projected luxury tax bill for a team that doesn’t currently hold a top-eight spot in the West.
Discussing the Raptors’ decision to acquire Thaddeus Young at the trade deadline, president Masai Ujiri explained that the forward checked multiple boxes for the team: “We wanted a veteran-type player, a Bird rights-type player, that came and bridged (a gap) helping our young guys both in the locker room and on the court” (link via Mike Ganter of The Toronto Sun). For his part, Young told reporters he’s excited to be in Toronto because the team’s energy and style matches how he plays (Twitter link via Eric Koreen of The Athletic).
Ujiri admitted during his post-deadline press conference that he doesn’t love the trade deadline, since he views the offseason as a better time to make moves that reshape the roster (Twitter link via Koreen).
The Raptors’ roster – which is heavy on length and 6’8″ forwards – reflects Ujiri’s refusal to subscribe to team-building orthodoxy, Koreen writes in a story for The Athletic. “We’re in a copycat league. Everybody wants to do what another person is doing,” Ujiri said. “‘Go play like Golden State.’ Well, we don’t have those types of players. You know, it’s hard to find those types of players. So, for me, we have to create ways where we think we’re going to win in this league, because it’s about winning. And I feel strongly that we can create our own style of play and bring these types of players and figure out a way to do it. Look, will it succeed? I pray it does. I’m hoping it does. And I think it will.”

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Westbrook, AD, Vogel, Reaves

February 13th, 2022 at 3:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James has to live with the consequences of the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade he pushed his team’s front office to make, opines Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Goodwill writes that, whether James cooked up the Westbrook deal or merely advocated for it, his interest in the idea ultimately compelled Los Angeles team president Rob Pelinka to pull the trigger, and the team is now struggling to stay afloat, currently the ninth seed in the West.

After the team used many of its remaining assets to acquire Westbrook from the Wizards and opted not to re-sign stellar defensive guard Alex Caruso over the summer, it had its hands tied at the trade deadline this past Thursday, ultimately deciding to stand pat. Beyond the maximum salaries of James, the tough-to-trade Westbrook, and big man Anthony Davis, the Lakers had just two players, Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn, making more than the veteran’s minimum. Horton-Tucker has struggled in an expanded role, while the injured Nunn has yet to play a single game with L.A.

There’s more out of Lakerland:

Lakers star big man Anthony Davis discussed his sense of relief following the trade deadline, now that the team knows its personnel heading towards the end of the season. “[The deadline passing] lifted weight off the [team’s] shoulders,” Davis said, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). “This is our team, let’s go.”
Following the Lakers’ inactive trade deadline, Los Angeles head coach Frank Vogel also expressed optimism for the home stretch of the 2021/22 season, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It’s a new day,” Vogel said. “I think there’s just a natural reset energy to our group, knowing that the trade deadline has passed. This is the group that we put together to start the year. This is a group we believe in.” That group has led the Lakers, currently on a three-game losing streak, to a 26-31 record and the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
One of the lone bright spots in this disappointing Lakers season has been the play of rookie shooting guard Austin Reaves, who has emerged as a reliable bench contributor on both ends of the court. Reaves initially signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after going undrafted out of Oklahoma this summer, then saw that deal converted to a standard NBA contract before the start of the season. The 23-year-old has emerged as a clutch role player of late, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times details. “He’s got a great computer to process help and see whether if he’s going to shoot or whether he’s going to make the extra pass and obviously he’s got a lot of guts to make big shots,” Frank Vogel said. “And he really competes on the defensive end and has a good IQ down on that end.” LeBron James also raved about the youngster: “Nothing has impressed me anymore on Austin. He’s made big plays over and over offensively and defensively.” In 21.1 MPG, Reaves is averaging 6.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 1.3 APG, and has supplanted veterans like Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore in L.A.’s perimeter rotation.

Goran Dragic Likely To Reach Buyout Deal With Spurs

February 12th, 2022 at 7:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs are expected to begin negotiations on a buyout agreement with newly-acquired guard Goran Dragic this week, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Lakers and Warriors will be among the teams pursuing Dragic in free agency, sources tell Wojnarowski, along with the Clippers, Bucks, Bulls and Nets. Dallas was previously viewed as a frontrunner to sign the point guard, but the acquisition of Spencer Dinwiddie seemingly took the Mavericks out of the mix.

Dragic appears to be the top name on this year’s buyout market, and teams are confident that he remained in top shape during his long absence, Woj adds. After being dealt to the Raptors last offseason, Dragic played just five games before he and the team reached a mutual agreement that allowed him to work out on his own until he could be traded again.

San Antonio acquired Dragic, along with a 2022 second-round draft pick, shortly before Thursday’s trade deadline, sending Thaddeus Young and Drew Eubanks to Toronto in return.

Dragic, 35, is attractive to contenders because of his long history of success in the playoffs. He helped the Heat reach the NBA Finals in 2020 before being sidelined by plantar fasciitis.

Dragic currently has $6.1MM left to be paid on his $19.4MM contract, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN, although because the number is prorated it will decline each day. Whatever money Dragic gives up in San Antonio, he will presumably be able to replace when he signs with his new team.