Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

COVID-19 Updates: Grant, McConnell, Doumbouya, More

January 27th, 2022 at 3:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Pistons coach Dwane Casey said forward Jerami Grant has cleared the league’s health and safety protocols and is currently reconditioning, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).

In 21 games this season (33.2 MPG), Grant is averaging 20.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.1 SPG and 1.1 BPG. He was cleared for on-court work earlier this month in his recovery from thumb surgery, but then was placed in the league’s health and safety protocols.

At least 10 teams are reportedly interested in dealing for Grant, who’s one of the hottest names on the trade market.

Here are some more COVID-related updates from around the NBA:

Pacers guard T.J. McConnell has exited the health and safety protocols and is back with the team, but he’s still unable to play as he rehabs from hand surgery, Scott Agness of FieldhouseFiles tweets. McConnell might miss the rest of the season with the injury.
Lakers two-way forward Sekou Doumbouya has cleared the protocols and is back with the team’s G League affiliate in South Bay, per the NBA’s injury report.
According to the same report, Raptors two-way rookie David Johnson has exited the protocols and is back with the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. Johnson was the 47th overall pick of the 2021 draft out of Louisville, but has appeared in just two games for the Raptors for a total of two minutes.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan informed reporters, including K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) that assistant coaches Maurice Cheeks and John Bryant both tested positive for COVID-19 and have entered the health and safety protocols.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said that assistant coach Chip Engelland has entered the protocols, but assistants Becky Hammon and Darius Songaila have exited. “It’s like a merry-go-round,” Popovich said, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News relays (via Twitter). Mike Finger of the Express-News tweets that all of the Spurs’ front-bench assistants and a dozen players have been placed in the protocols this season.

Lakers Sign Stanley Johnson To Two-Year Deal

January 27th, 2022 at 11:12am CST by Luke Adams

JANUARY 27: The Lakers have officially signed Johnson, per a team press release.

JANUARY 26: The Lakers and forward Stanley Johnson have agreed to a two-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The second year will be a team option, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who says (via Twitter) the contract is expected to be signed on Thursday.

Johnson has been with Los Angeles for the last month, having initially signed a hardship 10-day contract with the team on December 24. That was followed by two standard 10-day deals, the second of which will expire on Wednesday night.

Because a team can’t sign a player to more than two standard 10-day contracts in a season, the Lakers would’ve had to let Johnson walk if they weren’t prepared to give him a rest-of-season commitment.

However, Johnson has become a key part of Los Angeles’ rotation since his arrival, playing strong defense and averaging 6.4 PPG and 2.6 RPG on .516/.344/.789 shooting in 14 games (21.2 MPG). Letting him go wasn’t something L.A. wanted to do, even if it would’ve allowed the team to keep a 15-man roster spot open for added flexibility leading up to the February 10 trade deadline.

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Johnson’s willingness to accept a team option for 2022/23 was a factor in the Lakers’ decision to commit its 15th roster spot to him, since that option will give the club some roster flexibility in the offseason.

Prior to signing with the Lakers last month, Johnson had been playing with the team’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. The 25-year-old signed a 10-day hardship deal with the Bulls earlier in December, but entered the health and safety protocols before appearing in a game with the team, then joined L.A. after that deal expired and he was cleared from the protocols. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2015 draft, Johnson has also played for the Pistons, Pelicans, and Raptors since entering the NBA.

Assuming Johnson signs his contract on Thursday and it’s worth the veteran’s minimum, he’ll earn $888,616 for the rest of the season. The agreement will ultimately cost the Lakers more than that, since they’re well above the luxury tax line.

A minimum-salary team option for Johnson for 2022/23 would be worth $2,351,521.

Lakers Rumors: Westbrook, Wall, Pelinka, Vogel, Davis

January 26th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers aren’t interested in attaching their 2027 first-round pick (the only one they can trade) to Russell Westbrook in a hypothetical deal for Rockets guard John Wall, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column.

Stein first reported on Friday that Houston would be open to swapping Wall for Westbrook if they could get a first-round pick in the deal, but that was never viewed as an option that would appeal to the Lakers, despite Westbrook’s struggles this season. As I wrote on Friday, if L.A. is willing to give up its 2027 first-rounder, there should be better trade options than dealing Westbrook for Wall, who has only played 40 games in the last three seasons.

Besides there being no guarantee that replacing Westbrook with Wall would improve their ceiling, the Lakers also have “major optics concerns” about the idea of essentially making Westbrook a salary dump so soon after giving up assets to acquire him in the 2021 offseason, Stein writes.

Here’s more on the Lakers and Westbrook:

Prior to Stein’s report, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN wrote that the Lakers are prepared to move forward with Westbrook, recognizing that a trade isn’t really an option. “It’s not like [Westbrook’s] a tradable player where if it’s not working out you just move on; everybody in the NBA knows that,” a team source told ESPN. “So it’s got to work. This is the only option. There is no Plan B for this season.” As Shelburne notes, Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis have only played together in about a third of the Lakers’ games, so there’s hope that the stars will become more comfortable with one another as the season progresses.
President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka met with Westbrook for nearly two hours last Thursday following the veteran guard’s crunch-time benching on Wednesday, according to Shelburne, who says head coach Frank Vogel has also met one-and-one with Westbrook multiple times to try to find ways to make him feel more comfortable.
While the Lakers will do their best to acquire an impact player at the trade deadline, team sources are “managing expectations” behind the scenes about what sorts of moves the club can realistically make, writes Shelburne.
Although Anthony Davis has returned from his knee injury, his conditioning still isn’t back to 100%, as Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group details. “We are still viewing these first few games as not out of the woods yet,” Vogel said. “This is going to be his reconditioning phase. He’s gonna do it in games. And there might be some stretches where he’s out of sync and out of rhythm. We’re expecting that.”

Anthony Davis To Return On Tuesday

January 25th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JANUARY 25: Davis will return Tuesday and will be on a minutes restriction, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Lakers face the Nets at 6:30pm CT on TNT.

JANUARY 24: Lakers star Anthony Davis is probable to play at Brooklyn on Tuesday, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets.

Davis had been trending toward a return in recent weeks and the club was hopeful he could suit up during its current trip.

Davis has been rehabbing from an MCL sprain in his left knee. The initial prognosis was that he would miss at least four weeks.

It took approximately one more week than that, as Davis last appeared in a game on Dec. 17. The Lakers have a 7-10 record in the games he’s missed since going down.

Davis was injured when LeBron James was called for an offensive foul for pushing Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels, who lost his balance and fell into Davis’ left knee. He’s averaging 23.3 PPG and 9.9 RPG.

His return is a welcome development for a team with title aspirations that is currently floundering with a 23-24 record. Los Angeles has dropped five of its last seven games, including a 113-107 loss at Miami on Sunday. The Lakers are in the midst of a six-game road swing and won’t return home until next month.

Checking In On Active 10-Day Contracts

January 25th, 2022 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

For a brief period in late December and early January, there were more than 60 active 10-day contracts around the NBA, as COVID-19 outbreaks resulted in teams completing more 10-day signings in the span of a couple weeks than are usually completed in an entire season.

In the last couple weeks, however, the transaction wire has slowed down. At the moment, there are just nine active 10-day contracts, and no team is carrying multiple 10-day signees.

With the help of our 10-day contract tracker, we’re taking a closer look at those active deals, examining how much longer they’ll run and what might be next for the players on 10-day pacts.

Let’s dive in…

Hardship 10-day contracts:

Shaquille Harrison, Grizzlies (runs through Jan. 28)
Chris Silva, Heat (runs through Jan. 30)
Cassius Stanley, Pistons (runs through Jan. 30)

Harrison, Silva, and Stanley all signed 10-day hardship contracts via the NBA’s COVID-related allowance. Their earnings don’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes and they can sign more than just two hardship contracts with the same team — Silva and Stanley are both on their third deals with their respective clubs.

However, if a team no longer has any players in the health and safety protocols, that team isn’t permitted to activate any players who are on COVID-related 10-day hardship contracts. That’s the situation Silva finds himself in now that Heat guard Tyler Herro has exited the protocols. Silva will be ineligible for Miami’s next three games unless the club places another player in the protocols.

The Grizzlies and Pistons are the only NBA teams that still have two players currently in the protocols, so Harrison and Stanley can remain active.

Still, assuming those players in the protocols (Jerami Grant, Kelly Olynyk, Kyle Anderson, and Tyus Jones) are cleared relatively soon, Memphis and Detroit won’t be able to re-sign Harrison and Stanley to new hardship contracts. And because they both have full 15-man rosters, the Grizzlies and Pistons can’t re-sign Harrison and Stanley to standard 10-day contracts unless they waive or trade someone else.

Standard 10-day contracts:

Stanley Johnson, Lakers (runs through Jan. 26)
Danuel House, Jazz (runs through Jan. 27)
Ryan Arcidiacono, Knicks (runs through Jan. 28)
DeMarcus Cousins, Nuggets (runs through Jan. 30)
Mamadi Diakite, Thunder (runs through Jan. 30)
Lance Stephenson, Pacers (runs through Feb. 2)

Some of these players signed hardship 10-day contracts earlier in the season, but they’re on standard 10-day deals now. Their contracts count against team salary and they’re occupying spots on their teams’ 15-man rosters.

Johnson, Arcidiacono, and Stephenson are the key players to watch here, since they’re all on their second standard 10-day contracts with their respective clubs and won’t be able to sign a third. Assuming the Lakers, Knicks, and Pacers don’t become eligible for hardship signings soon, they’ll have decide whether they want to sign Johnson, Arcidiacono, and Stephenson for the rest of the season or let them go.

It may seem obvious that Johnson and Stephenson, in particular, would get rest-of-season offers, but the Lakers and Pacers are two teams expected to be active at the February 10 trade deadline. They may prefer to keep their 15th roster spots open to maximize their flexibility for potential trades. Still, I’d be surprised if Johnson doesn’t sign a rest-of-season deal sooner or later with the Lakers and Stephenson doesn’t do the same with Indiana.

House, Cousins, and Diakite are all on their first standard 10-day contracts with their respective teams, so they could each sign another one before any longer-term decisions must be made.

Trade Rumors: Ross, Harris, Dinwiddie, Mavs, Grant, Pistons

January 24th, 2022 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic are widely expected to trade Terrence Ross and/or Gary Harris before the February 10 trade deadline, assuming they can get sufficient draft capital in return, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column.

Ross and Harris aren’t among the top tier of players on this season’s trade market, so it may not require massive offers to get the Magic to part with one or both of them. For that reason, Stein writes, some people around the NBA view Ross in particular as a “natural target” for a team like the Jazz or Lakers — Utah and L.A. are seeking upgrades on the wing but have already given up future first-round picks and may not have the assets necessary to make a run at a higher-end target.

Here are a few more trade-related updates from around the league:

Some executives who spoke to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report believe the Wizards are open to discussing point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who hasn’t meshed especially well with Bradley Beal. While it makes sense that Dinwiddie wouldn’t be untouchable, I’d be a little surprised if the Wizards gave up on their backcourt pairing this quickly.
Pincus adds within the same story that the Mavericks have been mentioned as a possible “dark-horse” suitor for Pistons forward Jerami Grant. A Dallas offer would likely start with Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell, says Pincus.
Grant may well be traded at the deadline, especially if the Pistons can acquire a player like John Collins or Patrick Williams, but we shouldn’t be surprised if he stays put, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Edwards believes there’s a “real possibility” that general manager Troy Weaver decides to hang onto Grant until the offseason if he doesn’t get an offer he loves.
Edwards also expects the Pistons to remain on the lookout for a deal that nets them a promising young big man after their acquisition of Bol Bol fell through. Edwards identifies Kings forward Marvin Bagley III and Suns center Jalen Smith as two players worth keeping an eye on.

Lakers Notes: Davis, Westbrook, Vogel, Johnson

January 22nd, 2022 at 4:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Lakers big man Anthony Davis will be a game-time decision Sunday in Miami, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Davis, who has missed the last 16 games with a sprained left knee, is listed as questionable in the team’s latest injury report.

Davis suffered the injury in a December 17 game when an opposing player fell to the court and collided with his knee. He was cleared for full-contact workouts earlier this week, and there has been optimism that he might be able to resume playing during the current road trip.

There’s more on the Lakers:

Russell Westbrook and coach Frank Vogel both want to move beyond the issue of Westbrook being benched for the closing minutes of Wednesday’s game, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Westbrook and Vogel acknowledged that they discussed the situation leading up to Friday’s contest in Orlando, which saw the former MVP back in his regular role. “I’ve been doing my job since Day 1 and doing everything that’s been asked of me since I got here,” said Westbrook, who admitted being angry over the situation. “And I’ll continue to do that for the betterment of the team and doing what’s best for us and finding ways to implement how I can make an impact on this team.”
There were reports that Vogel received permission from the front office to handle Westbrook as he saw fit, but Vogel said Friday that he didn’t talk to anyone in management before opting to keep Westbrook on the bench, believing the decision was his alone to make, Goon adds in the same piece. “I’ve got full autonomy to make any coaching decisions necessary to win games. That is something that has always been persistent there,” said Vogel, who has faced speculation that his job might be in danger. “I do communicate with the front office on everything I’m considering and there’s a strong alignment there. What it ultimately comes down to … we talk about a lot of different things and I have autonomy to make the final decisions.”
Stanley Johnson, who signed his third 10-day contract on Monday, was in the starting lineup for the beginning of the second half Friday, notes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Vogel attributed the move to matchups, and it worked as L.A. went on a 19-2 run to take control of the game.

Rockets Open To Trading Wall For Westbrook, Draft Assets

January 21st, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets, who traded Russell Westbrook to the Wizards for John Wall and a future first-round pick during the 2020 offseason, would be amenable to reacquiring Westbrook from the Lakers if the deal included “sufficient draft compensation,” Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column.

Stein hears from sources that Houston would want the Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick (the only first-rounder L.A. can trade due to the Stepien rule) in a Wall-for-Westbrook swap, though he says it’s possible the Rockets would accept multiple second-rounders.

This report doesn’t come as a surprise. After all, Wall has been inactive and on the trade block for a half-season already and there has been no indication the Rockets will be able to find a deal that nets them any positive assets for the veteran guard.

An eventual buyout appears to be the most likely resolution for Wall and the Rockets, so acquiring a player with a virtually identical contract (Wall and Westbrook are each earning $44MM+ this season, with a $47MM+ player option for 2022/23) and getting a draft pick or two in the process would be a massive win for Houston.

It may seem odd that the Rockets would have any interest in reacquiring Westbrook, given that they’re in the midst of a rebuild and their previous union with the nine-time All-Star didn’t work out especially well. But Westbrook almost certainly wouldn’t play any more for Houston than Wall has this season — any deal would be all about the draft assets. In other words, you could substitute any player’s name for Westbrook’s in the headline of this story and it would still be true.

While it’s easy to see why the Rockets would be motivated to explore another Wall/Westbrook swap, it’s harder to justify it from the Lakers’ perspective, a fact Stein acknowledges within his report.

As awkward a fit as Westbrook has been in Los Angeles, there’s no guarantee that Wall – who has dealt with a series of leg injuries in recent years and hasn’t played in a game since last April – would be any better. L.A. would also be selling extremely low on Westbrook, who came on strong during the second half of his first and only season in Washington in 2020/21.

If the Lakers are willing to move their 2027 first-rounder and/or multiple second-round picks, there are better deals to be made. According to Stein, the Pistons haven’t shown any interest in trading Jerami Grant for a package of Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and the Lakers’ 2027 pick, but Grant is one of the hottest names on this season’s trade market — there will be other options available for Los Angeles that don’t involve the team rolling the dice on a player (Wall) whose 2021/22 cap hit ($44.3MM) exceeds his total games played over the last three seasons (40).

Checking In On Traded 2022 First-Round Picks

January 21st, 2022 at 11:07am CST by Luke Adams

We’re over halfway through the 2021/22 NBA regular season, which means it’s a good time to take a look at where things stand with 2022’s traded first-round picks. Many of the traded first-rounders for the ’22 draft come with protections, so there’s a chance they might not change hands this year after all.

Using our list of traded first-round picks for 2022 and our reverse standings tool, here’s our breakdown of which of those traded picks are most and least likely to change hands, and which ones remain up in the air:

Picks that will definitely change hands:

Thunder acquiring Clippers‘ pick (unprotected).

When the Clippers traded a series of first-round picks and swaps to the Thunder in the Paul George blockbuster in the 2019 offseason, they weren’t counting on losing both George and Kawhi Leonard to long-term injuries in the same season. That’s the case this year though, and it could result in Oklahoma City receiving an extra lottery pick.

The Clippers are currently in a play-in spot, so their pick could move to No. 15 or lower if they make the playoffs, but for now it’s projected to be No. 11 or No. 12 (they’re tied with the Knicks in the NBA standings).

Thunder acquiring Suns‘ pick (top-12 protected).

The Thunder will also receive a first-round pick from another Pacific team, though that selection appears likely to end up at the very end of the round — the Suns have the league’s best record so far, so their pick would be at No. 30.

Grizzlies acquiring Jazz‘s pick (top-six protected).

The pick the Grizzlies are getting from the Jazz will fall near the end of the first round too. For now, it projects to be No. 25 or No. 26, as Utah is tied in the standings with the Heat.

Grizzlies or Pelicans acquiring Lakers‘ pick (unprotected).

The Lakers will send their first-rounder to the Pelicans if it lands in the top 10 or to the Grizzlies if it’s between 11-30. It’s certainly possible things continue to go south in Los Angeles and the pick moves up into the top 10 — if the Lakers don’t make the playoffs, their pick could even jump into the top four via the lottery.

For now though, the more likely scenario is that Memphis will get the Lakers’ pick — it would be No. 15 or No. 16 (they’re tied with Minesota) if the season ended today and L.A. clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament.

Picks that definitely won’t change hands:

Thunder acquiring Pistons’ pick (top-16 protected).
Hawks acquiring Thunder‘s pick (top-14 protected).

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played this season, but it seems pretty safe to pencil in the Pistons and Thunder as non-playoff teams, which means they’ll keep their first-round picks in 2022. Right now, Detroit’s at No. 2 in the lottery standings, while Oklahoma City’s at No. 4.

Given how weak the bottom half of the Western Conference has been, the Thunder could theoretically sneak into a play-in spot and make the playoffs, but it’s an extreme long shot — the teams ahead of them in the standings will be more motivated to push for the postseason.

Assuming they keep their pick this year, the Pistons will owe the Thunder their top-18 protected first-round pick in 2023. If the Thunder’s own pick is protected, they’ll instead send the Hawks their 2024 and 2025 second-round selections.

Still up in the air:

Hornets acquiring Pelicans‘ pick (top-14 protected)
Bulls acquiring Trail Blazers‘ pick (top-14 protected)

At this point, it looks more likely than not that the Pelicans and Trail Blazers will keep their own lottery-protected first-round picks.

Portland, despite holding the West’s No. 10 seed for now, has a tenuous hold on a play-in spot with Damian Lillard sidelined for a while. New Orleans may have some potential for a second-half surge, especially if Zion Williamson returns, but the team is on the outside looking in for the time being. Either team would have a difficult path to a playoff spot as a lower seed in the play-in tournament.

Currently, the Pelicans’ first-rounder projects to be No. 6 or No. 7 (they’re tied with San Antonio), pending lottery results. Assuming that pick ends up in the top 14, New Orleans would instead send their 2022 and 2024 second-round selections to the Hornets.

If the Trail Blazers keep their first-round pick, currently projected to be No. 9, they’d owe the Bulls their top-14 protected first-rounder in 2023.

Hawks acquiring Hornets‘ pick (top-18 protected)

The Hornets‘ first-round selection, which was just traded from New York to Atlanta in the Cam Reddish deal, is right on the edge and could go either way. It’s top-18 protected and is currently projected to be at No. 19, meaning the Hawks would receive it if the season ended today (as long as the seventh-seeded Hornets clinched a playoff spot in the play-in tournament). That could change quickly though.

Rockets acquiring most favorable of Heat‘s or Nets‘ pick (Heat get least favorable).

Finally, the Rockets will control the two most favorable picks of the following three: their own first-rounder, the Nets first-rounder, and the Heat‘s first-rounder; Miami will get the least favorable of the three, unless the Heat’s own pick lands in the top 14 (in which case Miami would keep it and Houston would get the other two picks).

It seems safe to assume at this point that the Rockets will keep their own selection and the Heat will make the playoffs, so it’ll come down to whether Brooklyn or Miami finishes higher in the standings. Currently, the Heat are a half-game ahead of the Nets, so Houston would get Brooklyn’s pick (No. 24) and Miami would hang onto its own (No. 25 or No. 26).

Russell Westbrook “Surprised” By Crunch-Time Benching

January 21st, 2022 at 7:53am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers star Russell Westbrook told ESPN that he didn’t agree with the team’s decision to bench him during the deciding minutes of Wednesday’s loss to Indiana, writes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Asked if he was surprised by the decision, Westbrook confirmed that he hadn’t been expecting it.

“Surprised, yes. I was disappointed I didn’t go back in, but I’m more disappointed that we lost the damn game,” Westbrook said. “I want to be able to be on the floor to help my teammates and be able to help our team win in games like that — but that was a decision that was made.”

As we outlined on Thursday, head coach Frank Vogel and his staff – with the support of management – opted to bench Westbrook with 3:52 left in the game after the nine-time All-Star continued to struggle with his shot and failed to execute on defense. Vogel later told reporters he was “playing the guys that I thought were going to win the game.”

Although Westbrook wasn’t thrilled by the decision, he suggested in comments to ESPN that he’s more concerned about the team’s win-loss record than his own role, adding that the Lakers have to “figure s— out and do what’s best for our team to win in the long run” and that he’s “committed to making this work.”

The 33-year-old was also upset with the perception that he left the arena on Wednesday without speaking to the media because he was angry about his benching. According to Wojnarowski, both Westbrook and the team said on Thursday that the organization had requested he skip a postgame interview.

“Ultimately, you have to be OK when s–t doesn’t go well and I’m OK,” Westbrook said. “I’ve done everything that’s been asked of me here, and I’ll continue to do so and ride this out as long as we can toward our ultimate goal — and that’s to win a championship.

“… I’m not the ultimate decision-maker of if it’s working — or if it’s not working. I’m OK with sacrificing some of the things that I’ve been able to do in this game to win, because that’s the most important part of this game. I’ve done everything they’ve asked me to do to this point.”

Westbrook’s numbers – including a scoring average of 18.5 PPG – are down across the board through 45 games with the Lakers, and the team has a sub-.500 record (22-23) after entering the preseason as conference favorites. Still, the veteran guard remains confident that both he and the club can turn things around.

“I want to get better as the season goes on, and I’ve got to take responsibility for the things I’m doing and how I’m making those around me better,” Westbrook said. “We have a legitimate chance to be able to win it all, and to do that, I’ll have to better — and I know that I will be.”