- Lakers swingman Alex Caruso considered playing in Europe after going undrafted in 2016, he said on the JJ Redick Podcast (as relayed by Sportando). Caruso would wind up joining the Sixers for summer league, later playing for the Oklahoma City Blue — G League affiliate of the Thunder. He played an integral role in helping the Lakers win their first championship since 2010 last month.
The Lakers are expected to target veteran forward Serge Ibaka in free agency this year, Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reports, citing league executives.
Ibaka, 31, averaged 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 27 minutes per game for the Raptors last season, proving his worth as a frontcourt option off the bench or as a starter. He holds 11 seasons of NBA experience, making stops with Oklahoma City and Orlando before reaching Toronto via trade in 2017.
Deveney suggests that the Raptors are still probably the favorites to sign Ibaka this fall, but that the big man may be willing to leave for a chance to compete for a championship elsewhere. The Celtics, Clippers, Heat, Mavericks, and Trail Blazers are among the other clubs expected to have interest, per Deveney, though the defending champions could probably give Ibaka the best chance to play for a title.
“From a personnel standpoint, he is exactly the kind of combo big guy that team (the Lakers) needs,” one general manager said. “They have had interest in him before and they will again. When he is healthy he is an excellent spot starter at the 5 (center) and the 4 (power forward). He is as good a bench big guy as there is in the league. He was a really credible 3-point threat last year. If he is willing to accept what the Lakers can afford to give him, I know they would want him.”
The Lakers own a mid-level exception worth $9.3MM, though it’s unclear whether the team prefers to spend it on one player or split it among multiple free agents. L.A. is coming off its first title since 2010 and has several players set to reach free agency, including Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris.
Anthony Davis ($28.75MM), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($8.49MM), Avery Bradley ($5MM), JaVale McGee ($4.2MM) and Rajon Rondo ($2.69MM) also have player options, with Davis expected to re-sign after opting out and Rondo and Caldwell-Pope both likely to decline their options.
The NBA plans to start free agency shortly after the Nov. 18 draft, though exact details remain unknown.
Toronto’s Serge Ibaka would be the ideal free agent addition for the Clippers, but that can only happen if he’s willing to accept a discount to remain with a contending team, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Ibaka is a better-than-average three-point shooter at 38.5% and a strong defender both at the rim and on the perimeter. Buha sees him as an improvement over Montrezl Harrell in spacing the floor, rebounding and on defense.
However, the Clippers are limited to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is expected to fall between $9MM and $10MM. He’s likely to see better offers, but Ibaka has played on winning teams for nearly his entire career and may value the chance to contend for a title in L.A.
If the Clippers can’t land Ibaka, Buha sees Miami’s Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder as alternatives. Dragic is masterful on the pick-and-roll and capable of scoring in a variety of ways. Crowder could be a replacement for Marcus Morris if the veteran wing doesn’t re-sign.
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- With the Pelicans talking about trading Jrue Holiday, Anthony Slater of The Athletic examines whether he makes sense for the three Pacific teams expected to be in the title hunt. Holiday would give the Clippers a secondary playmaker next to Kawhi Leonard, a need that became obvious in the playoffs, and would be part of a dangerous defensive unit alongside Leonard and Paul George. However, the Clippers are low on assets after last summer’s trade to acquire George. The Lakers are in the same position in the wake of the Anthony Davis deal. They can offer Kyle Kuzma or Alex Caruso, but Slater notes that executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin passed on both players last year. The Warriors have the No. 2 pick in the draft, but matching salaries for Holiday would be difficult, assuming the Pelicans don’t want to take back Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green.
- Although Richaun Holmes is coming off a breakthrough year, the Kings might consider drafting a center, especially if USC’s Onyeka Okongwu is still available at No. 12, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic. Okongwu can defend on the perimeter and runs the floor, which Jones says are qualities the Kings like in their big men.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype examines how the Lakers can keep their best free agents and still add a significant piece with the MLE without going over the tax apron.
The Lakers and Clippers have interviewed power forward prospect Yoeli Childs, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets. The 6-8 BYU big man averaged 22.2 PPG and 9.0 RPG and made 48.9% of his 3-point attempts. Childs is ranked No. 91 on the latest ESPN big board but he could move into second-round consideration. The Clippers have the No. 57 pick while the Lakers would have to trade into the second round.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel doesn’t accept the argument that this year’s championship should come with an asterisk because of the unusual circumstances of the season, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Vogel believes his players did the best job of adapting to the four-month layoff and the closed atmosphere in Orlando.
“To endure that type of intense pressure environment, where every detail is scrutinized, where the intensity was high,” he said, “to endure those meetings with no outlet of family, or whatever single guys would be doing, without an outlet, was one of the biggest challenges. It was a credit to all the participants to lean on and to support each other.”
With a title in hand after his first season as Lakers head coach, Vogel is enjoying his return to normal life after spending 95 days away from his family. Being on the road is an accepted part of the NBA, but this year was different. Like most coaches and players, Vogel was locked down from mid-March until early summer, when teams began preparing for their long stay at Disney World.
“It’s a really interesting time, to experience that double or nothing,” Vogel said. “Going from being quarantined at home to away from them 24-7 was really a big extreme for me and my family, but at the same time I’m proud it was something we really took in stride.”
Vogel also expressed admiration for the way the league was able to create an atmosphere that remained free from COVID-19 long enough to crown a champion. While Major League Baseball and the NFL have experienced frequent disruptions, no NBA player had to miss a game in Orlando because of the virus. Vogel kept his thermometer and pulse oximeter as souvenirs to remind him of what the league accomplished.
“For something that had never been done before, it was done on a gold-standard level,” he said. “To me, that was the most incredible thing about the bubble: getting that buy-in from 99% of the staff and players. There are things you come away with when you leave, like you felt there was a security blanket when you were there.”
- The Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers are among the teams displaying interest in Stanford’s Tyrell Terry, according to Wasserman.
[SOURCE LINK]
The Clippers have interest in signing veteran point guard Rajon Rondo and are expected to pursue him when free agency opens, sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
Rondo holds a minimum-salary player option worth about $2.69MM for the 2020/21 season, but the point guard is expected to opt out and seek a raise after playing a key role in helping the Lakers win their 17th championship.
Having returned from a broken thumb during the second round vs. Houston, Rondo averaged 8.9 PPG, 6.6 APG, 4.3 RPG, and 1.4 SPG in 16 games (24.7 MPG) off the bench. He even provided some reliable outside shooting, knocking down 40.0% of 3.1 three-point attempts per game during the postseason.
The Lakers are “naturally” determined to re-sign Rondo following his impressive playoff showing, but their L.A. rivals are eager to upgrade their point guard position, Stein notes (via Twitter).
Multiple reports in September indicated that the Clippers will likely target a play-making point guard this offseason, and Rondo would certainly fit that bill. The opportunity to hurt the defending champions by stealing away an important part of their rotation likely appeals to the Clips as well.
The Lakers will hold Rondo’s Early Bird rights, giving the team the ability to offer him a starting salary worth up to approximately $10MM (105% of the league-average salary in the previous season), though contracts signed using the Early Bird exception must run for at least two years, without a second-year option.
The Clippers, meanwhile, could have the full mid-level exception available, depending on what happens with some of their own free agents. The MLE projects to be worth over $9MM, so that would give the club plenty of spending flexibility to make a run at Rondo.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka hopes to not only retain Anthony Davis for the long haul but also pair him with a young superstar in those future years, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on a recent podcast (hat tip to Donny McHenry of LakersOutsiders.com). Davis is expected to re-sign — at least in the short term — with the Lakers, even if he declines his $28.75MM player option.
Lakers guard Danny Green is confident the team is capable of repeating as NBA champions during the 2020/21 season, Adam Zagoria of Forbes.com writes.
Los Angeles is coming off its first championship since 2010 with superstar performances from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, plus noteworthy production from rotation players such as Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso.
“For sure, I think we can definitely get one more for sure,” Green said. “It’s going to be tough because we have so many free agents, with 10 guys that are free agents. Trying to bring everybody back and reconstruct the contracts, it’s going to be difficult, but when you have the nucleus of LeBron and AD — if they bring back AD — that’s pretty much what you need. You don’t need much else around them.”
Among the players set to enter unrestricted free agency are Howard and Markieff Morris, with Rondo and Caldwell-Pope expected to decline their player options and do the same. The others include Davis (who’s expected to re-sign), JaVale McGee ($4.2MM player option), Dion Waiters, J.R. Smith and Jared Dudley. Avery Bradley holds a $5MM player option for next season.
There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:
- Suns center Deandre Ayton could prove to be the ultimate difference-maker for the team next season and beyond, Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes. Ayton, who turned 22 in July, averaged 18.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 38 games last season. He was the team’s No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft.
- Rankin examines five potential trade destinations for Kelly Oubre Jr. in a separate article for The Arizona Republic. Oubre, who’s on an expiring contract for 2020/21, could be used in trade conversations going forward — much like he was around the trade deadline last February. Oubre averaged a career-high 18.7 points per game on 45% shooting this past season.
- Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times examines how the Clippers are relying on Tyronn Lue‘s ‘Midas touch’ going forward. Lue, who is highly respected by players and officials across the league, was recently promoted to head coach with the team after serving as an assistant last season. “I’ve never found anyone that doesn’t just rave about Ty Lue the person,” one league executive told Greif.
The Lakers will have to navigate a difficult and tricky offseason in order to construct a long-term dynasty, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register writes.
Los Angeles is coming off its first championship in a decade and could have nine players entering free agency this year. While LeBron James and Anthony Davis naturally played the biggest roles in the team’s title run, having a deep bench and productive supporting cast remains essential for the club’s chances of competing in the future.
“This is a historic franchise and to be a part of this is something that I’ll be able to talk about and my grandkids and kids will be able to talk about: Their paw-paw played for the Los Angeles Lakers,” James said after winning his fourth ring. “It’s like playing for the Yankees and winning or playing for the Cowboys and winning a Super Bowl, or the Patriots. It’s like playing for the Red Sox. So to be able to win with a historical franchise is something that, no matter if your mind wavers away, you can always remember what you’re doing it for.”
Assuming Davis re-signs with the franchise, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka will be tasked with filling the holes around his two superstars in order to keep the team at the forefront of contention next season.
There’s more from the Western Conference tonight:
- Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman lists five things to know about Stephen Silas, a possible candidate for the Thunder‘s vacant head coaching job. Silas has served in various scouting and assistant coaching roles since 2000, spending the past two seasons as an assistant with the Mavericks under Rick Carlisle.
- Mussato examines five things to know about Will Weaver in a separate article for The Oklahoman. Like Silas, Weaver is also a candidate for the Thunder’s head coaching vacancy. The 36-year-old coached the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League last season and also holds experience as an assistant with the Sixers (2013-16) and Nets (2016-18).
- Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic examines the rebranding of the Nuggets’ arena, which was formally re-named from Pepsi Center to Ball Arena. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced a naming rights partnership with the Ball Corporation last week, explaining the new arena name change.