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Charania’s Latest: Nets, Roberson, Ball, Simons, Faried

February 15th, 2021 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

Before they signed veteran swingman Iman Shumpert in an effort to improve their wing defense, the Nets considered longtime Thunder forward Andre Roberson, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link), the Nets’ interest in Roberson wasn’t just cursory — the team actually worked him out before signing Shumpert.

Roberson, who is limited on offense but has a reputation as a defensive stopper, returned last August during the NBA’s summer restart after having missed over two full years due to knee issues. However, his contract expired at season’s end and he has yet to catch on with a new NBA team. Given how many of Brooklyn’s end-of-roster players have non-guaranteed salaries, it’s possible the Nets could open up a spot and circle back to Roberson later in the season, as Lewis notes.

Here’s more from Charania:

The Raptors and Nets – who were both mentioned by Charania as possible Andre Drummond suitors via trade or buyout – are viewed as two teams in the market for frontcourt help. Charania suggests the Mavericks, Lakers, and Trail Blazers are among the clubs likely to join that list.
Charania confirms that the Bulls have some interest in Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, but says the two teams haven’t engaged in any dialogue about a possible trade.
Rival teams are keeping an eye on Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons, according to Charania. There’s no indication Portland has interest in moving Simons, but other clubs may envision a larger scoring and play-making role for him than he has in Portland, where he backs up an All-NBA point guard.
Veteran big man Kenneth Faried, 31, is working out in Los Angeles and hopes to make an NBA comeback, per Charania.

LeBron, Kuzma Get Flopping Warnings

February 13th, 2021 at 6:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers‘ LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma both received warnings for flopping in Friday’s game against the Grizzlies, the NBA announced on its website.

L.A. Notes: Davis, Vogel, Zubac, Ballmer

February 13th, 2021 at 5:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Davis missed two games this week because of Achilles tendinosis, but the Lakers star doesn’t expect it to be a long-term concern, writes Jovah Buha of The Athletic. After returning to the lineup with a 35-point performance Friday, Davis explained to reporters how the injury is affecting him.

“It felt great going into the game,” he said. “But as you play, I’m always using that Achilles tendon. It got sore towards the end from just constantly moving on it. But it felt great coming into the game, felt great throughout the game, but late game it was kind of bothering me a little bit. I felt like we had the game in hand when I was able to — and Coach felt that way — when I was able to sit down the last two and a half (minutes).”

Davis added that doctors told him the pain isn’t coming directly from the Achilles tendon, but from an adjacent body part in the same area of the leg. He said the quickest way to recover is through rest, but he doesn’t want to sit out a lot of games in a row.

“The doctors and training staff feel comfortable enough for me to go out there and perform as well,” Davis said. “So it’s something that’s gonna continue to get better. (I’m) constantly doing treatment on it throughout the day, throughout the night, and wearing stuff in my shoes to help out the pain level and wearing tape and all these things to make it feel better throughout the course of time, and basically, I’m very — I’m able to just go out there and play and not worry about it.”

There’s more from Los Angeles:

After trimming his rotation during the week, Lakers coach Frank Vogel expanded it to 10 players Friday with the return of Davis and Alex Caruso, Buha adds in the same story. Vogel called it “impossible decisions” to determine what to do with Wesley Matthews and Markieff Morris when the full team is healthy, noting that both of them “deserve to be in the rotation.”
The Clippers lost Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, but their bench remains among the most productive in the league, according to Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. One of the new components is center Ivica Zubac, who was a starter last season. “I am just in a space where I want Zu to be great,” said reserve guard Lou Williams. “I want to push him, I want to challenge him to be the best player that he can be and at the same time, we can feed off each other’s success and continue to build.”
Seattle will be at the top of the list whenever the NBA decides to expand, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said on a Clubhouse podcast.

Kuzma Has No Qualms About Extension

February 13th, 2021 at 2:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma signed a three-year, $40MM rookie scale extension in December. All other players who signed similar extensions before the season got bigger contracts but Kuzma has no regrets, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic.

“Of course, guys got paid,” the Lakers forward said, “and obviously as a competitor of who you are as a player, you always look at things like that. But at the end of the day, I love the situation that I’m in. … I know a lot of guys that are making $20, $23, $24 million and they’re not really that happy because they go to work every day, you may not be winning, you have to deal with certain other things. For me, I’m happy.”

Anthony Davis Playing It Safe With Achilles Injury

February 12th, 2021 at 11:09am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers star Anthony Davis, who has missed the last two games due to right Achilles tendonosis, is content to play it safe with the injury to avoid the risk of making it worse, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes. “I just don’t want to play a game where I still feel it and then get hurt and now I’m out for the playoffs or whatever or for multiple weeks,” Davis said.

Forbes Releases 2021 NBA Franchise Valuations

February 10th, 2021 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

It has been an up-and-down 12 months for the NBA, which had to pause its operations for several months when its players first began testing positive for the coronavirus last March. Although the league was eventually able to play the 2020 postseason and is in the midst of its (slightly-abridged) 2020/21 regular season, fans still haven’t been able to return to arenas in many NBA cities, putting a major dent in projected revenues for the coming year.

Despite the financial challenges faced by many of the NBA’s teams, the overall value of those franchises continues to increase, according to a report from Kurt Badenhausen and Mike Ozanian of Forbes. While it’s the most modest year-over-year rise since 2010, Forbes estimates that average team values are up by about 4% from 2020.

The Knicks have become the first franchise to earn a $5 billion valuation from Forbes, with a league-high 9% increase in their value since last February. The Warriors, meanwhile, also saw their value rise by 9%, according to Forbes, surpassing the Lakers for the No. 2 spot on the annual report. The league-wide average of $2.2 billion per team in 2021 is a new record for Forbes’ valuations.

Forbes’ valuations are slightly more conservative than the ones issued by sports-business outlet Sportico last month — Sportico’s report featured an average team value of nearly $2.4 billion, with the Knicks, Warriors, and Lakers all surpassing the $5 billion threshold.

Here’s the full list of NBA franchise valuations, per Forbes:

New York Knicks: $5 billion
Golden State Warriors: $4.7 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $4.6 billion
Chicago Bulls: $3.3 billion
Boston Celtics: $3.2 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $2.75 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $2.65 billion
Houston Rockets: $2.5 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $2.45 billion
Toronto Raptors: $2.15 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $2.075 billion
Miami Heat: $2 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $1.9 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $1.85 billion
Sacramento Kings: $1.825 billion
Washington Wizards: $1.8 billion
Phoenix Suns: $1.7 billion
Utah Jazz: $1.66 billion
Denver Nuggets: $1.65 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $1.625 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $1.575 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $1.56 billion
Indiana Pacers: $1.55 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $1.52 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $1.5 billion
Orlando Magic: $1.46 billion
Detroit Pistons: $1.45 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $1.4 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $1.35 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $1.3 billion

While most franchise values increased, that wasn’t the case across the board. The Thunder, Hawks, Hornets, Pistons, Pelicans, and Grizzlies all maintained the same value that they had in 2020. No teams decreased in value, however.

The Jazz had the biggest rise in the bottom half of this list, moving from 21st in 2020’s rankings to 18th this year. That’s because the team was actually sold to a new majority owner in recent months, with Ryan Smith assuming control of the franchise at its new $1.66 billion valuation.

As that Jazz example shows, the actual amount a team is sold for often exceeds Forbes’ valuation, so these figures should just be viewed as estimates.

Lakers' Roster Will Get More Expensive In 2021/22

February 10th, 2021 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers are only slightly over the luxury tax line this season, but their roster will likely get significantly more expensive in 2021/22. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines how much the team figures to pay in salary and taxes next season, and where there may be opportunities to cut costs.

Lakers Notes: Matthews, Vogel, LeBron, Schroder

February 9th, 2021 at 1:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

Wesley Matthews helped the Lakers secure an overtime win over the Thunder Monday night in a rare high point of a frustrating season, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. After not playing at all for 10 days, Matthews got an opportunity due to any injury to Alex Caruso and responded with 16 points. His time with L.A. hasn’t gone the way he expected after signing as a free agent during the offseason, but he doesn’t regret the decision.

“No, it didn’t make me second-guess anything,” Matthews said. “It’s just a matter of time. … Since entering this league, nothing has gone according to what I would have dreamed of being an NBA player. … It was unfortunate, but at the same time, it’s your job to be professional. It’s your job to stay ready.”

At age 34, Matthews is adjusting to a new role after being a starter for most of his career, including 67 games with the Bucks last season. He said he appreciates coach Frank Vogel’s honest approach when he decided to trim the rotation.

“He knows the conversation isn’t going to be easy. I know the conversation isn’t going to be easy,” Matthews said. “But the conversation needs to take place just so that you can get the best out of somebody. … Conversations can be difficult. They need to be had and I didn’t love anything he had to say, but your job is to be professional. Your job is to play basketball and cheer on your teammates and be supportive and be a pro.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

LeBron James said it was “very inspiring” to watch Tom Brady win a seventh Super Bowl at age 43, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James, who is sometimes compared to Brady for their ability to remain productive past normal retirement age, has no time frame in mind for ending his career. “I don’t know how long I’m going to play the game,” James said. “I don’t know how much more I’ll be able to give to the game. The way I feel right now, we’ll see what happens. But I have no timetable on it. I have no year of, ‘OK, do I want to play until 30-this or 40-that?’ The game will let me know when it’s time, and we’ll figure it out then.”
Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times examines the reasons for James’ longevity and finds it’s a combination of three factors — continuing to improve his skills, remaining committed to health, and fitness and mastering the mental part of the game.
Dennis Schroder knew he had to take on a complementary role to James and Anthony Davis when he was traded to the Lakers, Turner writes in a separate story. Schroder adapted right away and has become the third-leading scorer on the team at 14.4 PPG. “I play with the two best players in the world,” he said. “So, for me, I try to adjust to this group, to them, it’s big time. I think I just got to be more aggressive taking the right shots and putting them in good position to score and play a lot faster.”

Gasol's Scoring Struggles Not Worrying Lakers

February 7th, 2021 at 3:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Though Lakers starting center Marc Gasol is averaging a career-low 3.8 PPG (albeit in a career-low 19.4 MPG), Los Angeles head coach Frank Vogel is not concerned, according to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. Gasol’s shooting numbers, however, are a bit unsettling: he is connecting on just 36.8% from the field and 31.7% from deep. He made 38.5% of his three-point looks last season. “He’s out there to defend and rebound and play-make from the top of the key and sometimes that’s going to mean he’s going to get a couple of good looks at the 3-point line, a few short rolls and some other situations, some post-up on switches and whatnot,” Vogel said.

LeBron James Speaks Out Against All-Star Game

February 5th, 2021 at 9:47am CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James has been an All-Star for the past 16 seasons, but he doesn’t believe this year’s game should be played, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

The most prominent voice among NBA players, James told the media after Thursday’s game that he believes it’s a mistake to hold the event while the pandemic continues. Twenty-three games have been postponed since the season began.

“I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star Game this year,” he said. “I don’t even understand why we’re having an All-Star Game.”

James is also unhappy about not having a mid-season break after a short offseason, calling it a “slap in the face” for him and his teammates. Because last year’s NBA Finals lasted through October 11, the Lakers had just 71 days off before training camp began.

The NBA and its players union reached an agreement Thursday to hold the game March 7 in Atlanta, rather than Indianapolis, which had originally been scheduled to host. Atlanta is one of nine cities currently allowing fans at home games. It isn’t clear whether other All-Star weekend events, such as the skills competition, 3-point competition and dunk contest, will be part of the arrangement.

“We’re also still dealing with a pandemic,” James said. “We’re still dealing with everything that’s been going on, and we’re going to bring the whole league into one city that’s open? Obviously, the pandemic has absolutely nothing to do with it at this point when it comes to that weekend. Obviously, you guys can see that I’m not very happy about it.”

Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was the first player to speak out publicly after the agreement was announced, calling it “stupid” and asking, “If we have to wear masks and do all this for a regular game, what’s the point of bringing the All-Star Game back?”

James adds a very loud dissenting voice, although his objections may not matter now that the union has agreed to go through with the game.

“It’s the agreement that the players’ association and the league came about. … It’s out of my hands,” James said. “I’ll be there if I’m selected. But I’ll be there physically, but not mentally.”