Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

LeBron James May Miss A Few More Games

February 1st, 2022 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

Despite some optimism that LeBron James might be able to return to action for the Lakers as soon as Wednesday, the star forward will remain sidelined for Wednesday’s contest vs. Portland and could miss a few more games, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

James is dealing with a left knee injury. An MRI on the knee only showed swelling and no structural damage, but both LeBron and the Lakers want to play it safe, according to Charania. The plan is to wait until the irritation in James’ knee subsides before having him return to action.

After hosting the Blazers on Wednesday, the Lakers visit the Clippers on Thursday and then host the Knicks on Saturday. It’s unclear whether James will be able to return by the weekend or if his absence will extend into next week. Los Angeles will host the Bucks next Tuesday and visit the Blazers next Wednesday.

While the Lakers’ priority is to make sure James is healthy down the stretch and in the postseason, the team could certainly his presence in the lineup — he has now missed three games, and L.A. lost all three, slipping to 24-27 on the season. The club is the No. 9 seed in the West, but is in no immediate danger of falling out of the play-in picture, with the 11th-seeded Spurs five games back.

Malik Monk has been inserted into the Lakers’ starting lineup during James’ absence and will likely remain there until LeBron returns.

James Could Be Back On Wednesday

January 31st, 2022 at 8:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

An MRI on James’ left knee revealed only general swelling and he might return to action as soon as Wednesday, Lakers coach Frank Vogel told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and other media members. James has missed the last three games. “Just going to keep an eye on it day to day,” Vogel said.

Los Angeles Notes: Lakers Injuries, Reaves, Clippers, Kennard

January 30th, 2022 at 1:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 24-26 Lakers are struggling to develop consistent chemistry due to injuries across the board, but most importantly to All-Stars LeBron James (currently out with a swollen knee) and Anthony Davis (recently back in the lineup after missing much of the season with knee and wrist injuries), as Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register writes.

Though starting point guard Russell Westbrook has begun to improve his scoring (if not his late-game decision-making), the absences of Davis and the 37-year-old James have made for choppy waters. The team has also not seen its fifth highest-paid player, Kendrick Nunn, since the preseason.

“It’s a long season; I wouldn’t count this team out,” head coach Frank Vogel said on the West’s current ninth seed.. “[We] have a belief in what we can be when all of the pieces finally come together and have a chance to jell. We’ve seen it in different bursts.”

There’s more out of the City of Angels:

Lakers rookie shooting guard Austin Reaves has been one of the few bright spots during what has been an otherwise largely underwhelming season for L.A., opines Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “He’s doing a great job of learning and adjusting,” future Hall-of-Famer teammate Carmelo Anthony raved. “And figuring out, ‘OK, if I don’t have the ball in my hands, back cut, offensive rebound, loose balls.’ He’s been doing a great job with doing that, and crashing from the weak side, getting tip-outs, diving on the floor for loose balls, taking charges, getting hit in his face. It seems like he gets hit every play down the court.” The undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma is averaging a fairly modest 5.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG, with .467/.316/.850 shooting splits, but the numbers belie his impact as a defender and as an occasional scoring option off the bench.
A depleted Clippers team missing perennial All-Star forwards Paul George and Kawhi Leonard has managed to find a way to recover from disadvantages of 20 or more points in three January games. Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register notes that the exhausted 25-26 club is in the midst of an epic eight-game road trip.
Clippers reserve long-range marksman Luke Kennard is interested in being considered for NBA All-Star Weekend’s three-point contest, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. He has the support of his head coach. “I think he would do great,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. The 6’5″ vet is currently the third-best three-point shooter in the NBA by percentage, making 43.9% of his 2.8 triples a night.

LeBron James Sent Home For Treatment On Knee

January 30th, 2022 at 10:41am CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James, who had already been ruled out of today’s game in Atlanta, has been sent back to Los Angeles to undergo treatment on his left knee, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“As long as the swelling is there, he is going to be out,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said in a pre-game meeting with reporters.

James underwent an MRI on the knee, but all it showed was swelling, according to Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register (Twitter link).

James has missed L.A.’s past two games with what the team is calling “left knee soreness/effusion.” After today, the Lakers don’t play again until Wednesday night when they host Portland.

Pacific Notes: Westbrook, LeBron, Warriors, Fox

January 29th, 2022 at 6:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers hope Russell Westbrook‘s performance Friday night in Charlotte will lead to better things for the rest of the season, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis both sidelined by injuries, Westbrook exploded for 30 points in the second half and nearly rallied the team to a road win.

Westbrook was the Lakers’ prize acquisition of the offseason, but his fit with the other two stars has been questionable so far. Although his name has been mentioned in trade rumors, Westbrook remains confident that he can make it work in L.A.

“I think ultimately when myself and A.D. and Bron is on the court, we got to be able to figure that out to where I can still keep my same speed and pace to the basket and allow me to make the game easy for them,” he said. “And it’s something that we even briefly talked about after the game, about positioning and things they saw tonight from sitting on the bench, to be able to help them out.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

James will miss his third straight game Sunday at Atlanta because of “left knee soreness/effusion,” tweets Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. The Lakers are listing Davis as questionable.
The Warriors had to adjust after Klay Thompson‘s return, but Thursday’s win over Minnesota showed how dangerous Golden State can be when all the pieces are working, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Thompson and Stephen Curry combined for 52 points and the Warriors shot 58.3% as a team from three-point range. “It’s a really good indicator of what our team can look like with Klay back and everybody healthy, for the most part, in terms of our shooters,” coach Steve Kerr said. “With these last couple of games, the spacing that we’ve had and the ball movement, we’ve gotten great shots.”
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox had to miss his fourth straight game tonight with pain in his left ankle, tweets James Ham of ESPN 1320.“Don’t know how long he’ll be out,” said interim coach Alvin Gentry. “It is a sore ankle. That’s been it. He dresses, he tries it and then he’s really the only one that knows the pain threshold of where it is or anything. All it is is an ankle right now, there’s not anything else going on.”

AD And LeBron Both Out Friday; Stanley Johnson Talks New Deal

January 28th, 2022 at 6:50pm CST by Rory Maher

Anthony Davis said X-rays on his right wrist came back negative after injuring it on a dunk over Joel Embiid in the Lakers‘ loss to Philadelphia on Thursday, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. Davis will miss Friday’s game against Charlotte with wrist soreness, McMenamin relays in a separate tweet.
LeBron James is also inactive Friday night for the Lakers and is considered day-to-day with left knee soreness, as Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group details. In a follow-up tweet, Goon notes that James’ knee is swollen on top of being sore, so the team is being cautious with the 37-year-old star.
Within the same article from Goon, Stanley Johnson says he’s thrilled he was able to turn his 10-day deals with the Lakers into a standard contract that will cover the remainder of the season, with a team option for next year. “I couldn’t have dreamed of something like this in wildest my dreams,” Johnson said. “Obviously, I wanted it. … Seeing a 10-day guy with a fit like this, it’s happened before. And it will happen again. But it doesn’t happen a lot.”

Lakers Still Interested In Buddy Hield?

January 28th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers still have interest in Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who said in the latest episode of his Posted Up podcast that Los Angeles has reached out to Sacramento to inquire on Hield and to discuss a package that includes Talen Horton-Tucker (hat tip to Bleacher Report).

While Hield might be a pretty good fit on a Lakers roster that could use another outside threat, this concept appears somewhat impractical. Hield has a cap charge of $23MM+ this season, so matching his salary would require L.A. to send out Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and three minimum-salary players.

A five-for-one framework is unlikely to appeal to Sacramento, even with draft assets attached, since it would require so many available roster spots. It’s not surprising that Haynes says the Kings continue to explore other options, believing there are more favorable deals out there.

The Lakers had an opportunity to acquire Hield from the Kings during the 2021 offseason and reportedly gained momentum toward an agreement. However, Los Angeles ultimately decided to use multiple assets that would’ve been included in a package for Hield – such as Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell – to land Russell Westbrook in a deal with Washington.

The Lakers are known to be shopping Horton-Tucker, Nunn, and their 2027 first-round pick as they seek roster reinforcements. Horton-Tucker and Nunn are the only players on the roster earning less than the maximum and more than the minimum, but their combined cap hit of $14.5MM couldn’t be used to acquire a player earning more than $18,225,000 unless L.A. expanded the package by adding minimum-salary players.

Andrew Wiggins Named All-Star Starter; Morant Selected For First Time

January 27th, 2022 at 6:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Western Conference starter pool for next month’s NBA All-Star Game included a big surprise.

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was chosen along with Lakers forward LeBron James and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic among Western Conference frontcourt candidates. Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was also named a starter for the first time, joining Warriors guard Stephen Curry as the backcourt duo in the starter pool, NBA Communications tweets.

James will be a team captain once again because he is the All-Star starter from the West with the most fan votes in the West.

Wiggins was third in the most recent fan voting results among Western Conference frontcourt players but the fan vote counted for only 50% in the selection. Player voting accounted for 25% and the media also had a 25% say.

Wiggins is averaging 18.1 PPG. He beat out more decorated Western Conference frontcourt players such as Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, Deandre Ayton, Karl-Anthony Towns and Draymond Green.

Morant’s selection is much less controversial. He’s averaging 25.8 PPG, 6.9 APG and 5.9 RPG. However, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell and Suns guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul also had compelling cases to be starters.

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.