Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Notes: Davis, LeBron, Bryant, Smith

October 3rd, 2020 at 3:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Davis, the Lakers‘ prize addition last offseason, may be on the verge of winning the Finals MVP award, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. L.A. is getting the type of production from Davis that it envisioned when it sent a package of young talent to New Orleans to acquire him in June of 2019.

Davis turned in a dominant performance in Wednesday’s Game 1 with 34 points — the fourth-highest total by any player in his Finals debut since the merger — along with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He followed that with 32 points and 14 rebounds Friday night.

“He’s damn near playing like the best player in the game,” said teammate Rajon Rondo. “Hands down. I’m very fortunate he’s on our team this year.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Fans who remember the uneasy relationship between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal don’t have to worry about a repeat with Davis and LeBron James, Medina adds in the same story. James, who played a role in convincing Davis to seek a trade to L.A., told reporters last night that there’s no jealousy between the two stars. “We want the best, seriously, every single day, both on and off the floor, for one another,” he said. “We’re just not jealous of one another. I think that you align that with respect, I think the sky’s the limit.”
Long before he joined the Lakers, Davis received valuable lessons from Bryant, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Davis was only 19 when he earned a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, where Bryant took him under his wing. They stayed in touch regularly over the years, but Bryant never made a sales pitch to try to get Davis to the Lakers.
J.R. Smith hasn’t seen much court time in the playoffs, but he may have an increased role if Danny Green‘s hip remains a concern, according to Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. “Danny was battling a hip injury, and you know, he and KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) were playing well, but were struggling a little bit from the perimeter,” coach Frank Vogel said after Game 2. “So was just looking to see if we can buy a few minutes with J.R. because of Danny’s injuries, and obviously he carries that threat to knock down a three or a few threes. I just like the threat of him being out there against the zone.”

Bam Adebayo, Goran Dragic Out For Game 2

October 2nd, 2020 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

4:58pm: Dragic has also been ruled out for Friday’s Game 2, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

3:21pm: Heat center Bam Adebayo will miss Game 2 of the NBA Finals vs. the Lakers, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Adebayo had previously been listed as doubtful for Friday’s game due to a neck strain.

According to Wojnarowski, there’s still hope that Adebayo will be able to return to Miami’s lineup on Sunday for Game 3. The All-Star big man was originally diagnosed with a shoulder strain following the Heat’s Game 1 loss, but a subsequent MRI revealed the neck injury as well.

Without Adebayo in tonight’s lineup, the Heat figure to lean more heavily on Kelly Olynyk and possibly Meyers Leonard in their frontcourt.

While there’s no official word yet on Heat starting point guard Goran Dragic, he’s dealing with a torn left plantar fascia and was listed as doubtful for Game 2 too, so it would be a surprise if he’s cleared to play tonight. He’s also hoping to return at some point this series, though that sort of plantar fascia tear often sidelines players for weeks.

Lakers Notes: Davis, Green, LBJ-AD, Dwight

October 1st, 2020 at 8:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Good news for Lakers fans: All-NBA big man Anthony Davis wants his inaugural Finals appearance to be his first of many, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Davis, who will most likely out of his $28.8MM player option for the 2020/21 season to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is widely expected to return to the Lakers — especially in light of the team’s current Finals run. Davis had high praise for his fellow All-NBA Lakers forward LeBron James.

“You see the work and preparation LeBron puts in every day, and you understand why this is his 10th NBA Finals appearance,” Davis told Haynes. “He never stops. I plan to follow this motherf—er to hopefully nine more Finals.”

There’s more out of Lakerland:

Veteran Lakers swingman Danny Green, in the first year of a two-season, $30MM contract inked over the summer, had a stellar two-way performance during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times discusses how Green has turned out to be the player that the Lakers hoped he would be when they signed him to his deal last year.
Lakers All-Stars Davis and James have enjoyed a unique bond during their first season together, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We’re not jealous of each other. I think that’s the best thing,” James said ahead of a team practice today. “I believe jealousy creeps in a lot. And that is the absolute contrary of what we are.”
Lakers center Dwight Howard, who has been elevated from a bench role to a starter during the Finals, has struggled with depression during his tenure on the NBA’s Orlando restart campus, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Some of Howard’s isolation-derived depression was alleviated when Howard’s son, David, was allowed to visit him at the Disney campus recently. Howard, an unrestricted free agent this summer, will probably be able to parlay his excellent on-court performance within a winning culture into a new NBA opportunity during the offseason.

Dragic, Adebayo Listed As Doubtful For Game 2

October 1st, 2020 at 1:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have listed starting point guard Goran Dragic and All-Star big man Bam Adebayo as doubtful for Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Friday vs. the Lakers, as Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated tweets.

There was an expectation that Dragic would be hard-pressed to return for Game 2 after suffering a torn left plantar fascia in Game 1, so his status doesn’t come as a real surprise. A source tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) that the veteran guard is still “fighting” to play on Friday. If he can’t go tomorrow, he’ll continue to push to make it back before the end of the series.

As for Adebayo, the news is worse than the Heat had initially hoped after the 23-year-old was diagnosed with a left shoulder strain on Wednesday night. According to the team, a subsequent MRI also revealed a neck strain on Adebayo’s left side. He had initially been planning to play on Friday, but the neck injury has reduced the odds that a quick return will be possible.

Assuming Dragic and Adebayo are ruled out, we’ll likely see increased roles for Kendrick Nunn and Kelly Olynyk on Friday. Both Nunn and Olynyk were regular contributors for Miami during the regular season but have recently fallen out of the rotation in the playoffs.

Goran Dragic Suffers Plantar Tear; Bam Adebayo Strains Shoulder

October 1st, 2020 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Heat suffered a blowout loss to the Lakers on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, falling behind in the third quarter by 32 points before ultimately losing by 18. To make matters worse, a number of the team’s most important players were dealing with injuries by the time the final horn sounded.

Goran Dragic suffered the most significant of those injuries, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that the Heat’s starting point guard has been diagnosed with a plantar fascia tear and will be re-evaluated before Game 2.

Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter) that Dragic has been able to put pressure on his injured left foot and hasn’t ruled out a return this series. The veteran left the arena without using a walking boot and wasn’t favoring his left foot much, adds Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

Still, the injury is a painful one that typically sidelines players for multiple weeks, as Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes explains. There’s precedence for a player sustaining a torn plantar fascia in the playoffs and attempting to play through it, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), who points to Nets forward Joe Johnson in 2013. However, Marks cautions that, despite receiving injections for the pain, Johnson’s effectiveness was compromised for the rest of that series.

Told after Game 1 on Wednesday about the severity of Dragic’s injury, Jimmy Butler said the club has to be ready to play with or without its starting point guard in Game 2, per Malika Andrews of ESPN.

“He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do, but until we can have him back, we got to go out there and we got to fight even harder,” Butler said. “We got to try to cover up what he gives us and make up for it. We’re capable of it. We have to be capable of it. Moving forward, with or without Goran, we better hurry up and tie it up 1-1.”

In addition to Dragic, the Heat’s two All-Stars – Butler and Bam Adebayo – will also have to deal with health issues going forward. Butler was able to remain in Game 1 after rolling his left ankle, while Adebayo suffered a left shoulder strain that knocked him out of the game.

Having finished out Game 1, Butler is expected to be available going forward. As for Adebayo, the Heat said X-rays on his shoulder were negative, and he intends to play on Friday, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, who cautions (via Twitter) that there will be “a lot of treatment” in the big man’s future on Thursday.

If Dragic is unavailable and Adebayo is limited, the Heat figure to reinsert All-Rookie First Team guard Kendrick Nunn and veteran big man Kelly Olynyk into their rotation. However, those injuries will make the Heat an even longer shot to pull off the upset and defeat the Lakers for this year’s title.

Poll: Will LeBron James Win Fourth Finals MVP Award?

September 30th, 2020 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Only one player in NBA history has won more than three Finals MVP awards — Michael Jordan has six, having earned the award during each of the six championship series he won with the Bulls.

Lakers forward LeBron James, one of four players to have been named Finals MVP three times, has a chance to win the award for a fourth time this year against Miami. And the odds are in his favor.

As we noted on Tuesday, the Lakers are fairly heavily favored to win this year’s Finals. And James, who has been named MVP each of the last three times his team has won a title, is the odds-on favorite to earn the award again if the Lakers win this year. At BetOnline.ag, he’s listed at -165 for Finals MVP, meaning you’d have to risk $165 to earn a $100 profit on a winning bet.

If you expect the Lakers to win this year’s championship, James is the safe bet. He finished second in 2019/20 regular-season MVP voting, and is leading the Lakers in a number of postseason statistics, including 10.3 RPG and 8.9 APG.

However, LeBron isn’t the only superstar on his team. Anthony Davis has been the Lakers’ leading scorer during the playoffs, with 28.8 RPG on .571/.366/.810 shooting — all of those percentages are better than James’ shooting rates. And it’s Davis who is considered the anchor of Los Angeles’ stout defense, having finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season. So even if the Lakers win this year’s title, it could be Davis, not James, that takes home the Finals MVP award.

Of course, if the Lakers can’t defeat the Heat, the odds of LeBron earning Finals MVP honors fall off drastically. James received some votes for the award back in 2015, when he averaged 35.8 PPG, 13.3 RPG, and 8.8 APG in a losing cause. But even then, with no clear-cut choice on the Warriors, losing the series meant losing out on the Finals MVP award. Andre Iguodala, whose numbers (16.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.0 APG) were pedestrian by comparison to LeBron, received more MVP votes.

In other words, if you expect Miami to pull off the upset, it’s safe to assume your Finals MVP pick will be a member of the Heat, whether it’s Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, or someone else.

What do you think? Will LeBron make history by becoming the second player in NBA history to win a fourth Finals MVP award? Or will he be beaten out for this year’s award by a teammate – presumably Davis – or a Heat player?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Dwight Howard Grateful Lakers Wanted Him

September 29th, 2020 at 5:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Veteran center Dwight Howard, who will be back on the free agent market after the Finals, is thankful the Lakers took a chance on him, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Howard was moved into the starting lineup during the conference finals. “It’s been the hardest road to get back here. I’m very grateful,” he said. “I’ve never given up on myself.”

Poll: Who Will Win 2020 NBA Finals?

September 29th, 2020 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

After winning 12 of 15 playoff games against the Pacers, the Celtics, and the top-seeded Bucks, the Heat don’t consider themselves underdogs in the NBA Finals, Jimmy Butler told reporters today (Twitter link via Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group). However, oddsmakers disagree.

At BetOnline.ag, the Lakers are considered -325 favorites to win the series, meaning you’d have to risk $325 to earn $100 on a Lakers championship. The Heat, on the other hand, are +270 underdogs — risking $100 would result in a $270 profit if Miami pulls off the upset.

Despite the Heat’s impressive postseason run, it’s not hard to see why they won’t enter the NBA Finals as the favorites to take home the 2020 title. They were the East’s No. 5 seed, and while Butler and Bam Adebayo are All-Stars, they haven’t put together the sort of superstar résumés that Anthony Davis and especially LeBron James have.

Miami’s rotation also includes a rookie (Tyler Herro) and a second-year forward (Duncan Robinson) who had logged 161 total minutes in the NBA before this season. It remains to be seen how they’ll perform on the league’s biggest stage. And while Andre Iguodala has been championship-tested, the former Finals MVP isn’t exactly in his prime anymore at age 36.

James and Davis, meanwhile, have led the Lakers to a 12-3 playoff record, never facing a serious threat in the first three rounds from Portland, Houston, or Denver. Their supporting cast isn’t outstanding, but that group – which includes Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Markieff Morris, and Alex Caruso – has consistently featured at least one or two guys stepping up at the right time throughout the postseason so far.

Still, the Lakers aren’t infallible. While their defense has been strong, their offense can get stagnant at times, and the resilient Heat are capable of making them pay for mistakes. James and Davis will be a handful, but the Heat have a handful of talented defenders capable of making them work for their points, including Butler, Iguodala, Adebayo, and Jae Crowder.

What do you think? Are you sticking with the odds-on favorites from Los Angeles and predicting LeBron will win his fourth championship? Or do you think the Heat will knock off a higher seed for a fourth consecutive round and complete their improbable run to a 2020 title?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Lakers’ Jeanie Buss Talks LeBron, Front Office, AD, More

September 29th, 2020 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Lakers back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, team owner Jeanie Buss told Sam Amick of The Athletic in a podcast appearance that MVP runner-up LeBron James has played a key role in “bringing this franchise back to where it should be” and that she’s extremely proud of the fact that he plays for the Lakers.

“I hope he plays for many, many more years. But whatever his term is with the Lakers, he has forever left his mark on this team and this organization and on me,” Buss said of LeBron. “He is somebody that I treasure, and I will protect. I have just enjoyed watching him play and nurture along his teammates and bring out the best in them. He really is the most unique person in the league today.”

Buss’ lengthy conversation with The Athletic touched on several more topics, including some past dysfunction in the Lakers’ front office, the team’s hiring of Frank Vogel in the spring of 2019, the trade for Anthony Davis, and much more.

The discussion is worth checking out in full, but here are a few more highlights from Buss, via Amick:

On prior front office dysfunction and how the Lakers addressed it:

“There were too many voices (in the room), too many leaks, too many people talking and not being on the same page. And so we took the offseason to shore those things up. We like to collaborate together, to be on the same page. It doesn’t mean just a bunch of people agreeing for the sake of agreeing. We like to hash things out, debate, just work through. So yes, the people that I rely on, that I trust — Rob (Pelinka) leading our front office, Kurt Rambis being an adviser, Linda Rambis who I’ve worked with for over 30 years. These are the people that I trust, and then bringing on a coaching staff that reflected those beliefs and that level of collaboration.”

On the scrutiny the Lakers faced following Magic Johnson’s surprise resignation last spring:

“We knew that when Magic stepped down from his position with the Lakers that — (and) while I’m still not exactly clear why (he stepped down), and why it had to be that day — we knew that the outside world would be questioning everything that we were doing and that we just kind of had to let it roll off our backs and just do the work. And we knew that that takes time.

On the acquisition of Anthony Davis:

“It was difficult. I think, probably for me, the hardest thing in this business is trading away players. … (But) it was really the right thing for us to do, because when you have somebody like LeBron James, and where he is in his career, you’ve got to go all in.”

On the Lakers filling out the rest of their roster in 2019’s free agent period:

“(It) was a little odd just because decisions were being, you know, kind of stretched long. But I think we recovered well from the delay. And you know, the roster that Rob Pelinka put together, really you’re now seeing what the vision was, because it is a versatile team that can go big, can go small, and that doesn’t really show until you’re in the playoffs. Well, we hadn’t been in the playoffs for so long it was really hard to see what the vision was and where we were going. But now that we’re in the playoffs, you can see how the versatility of the lineups (works). And that’s really a testament to our front office being led by Rob Pelinka.”

And-Ones: Olympics, Playoff Pay, Coronavirus, J. Young

September 28th, 2020 at 8:54pm CST by Luke Adams

With the start and end dates for the 2020/21 NBA season still very much up in the air, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo is having a hard time planning for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo, as Chris Sheridan of BasketballNews.com writes. Colangelo tells Sheridan that Lakers forward LeBron James and other U.S. stars have conveyed interest in participating in those Olympics, but haven’t been able to commit to anything due to the uncertainty of the schedule.

“I was told the NBA season would start in December, and then it was Christmas, and then after January 1, and that keeps pushing the schedule for me,” Colangelo said. “The NBA season typically takes 170 or 171 days to complete, so that creates a conflict on paper.”

The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23, with qualifying tournaments for the final four spots in the men’s tournament set to tip off on June 29. If the ’20/21 season runs deep into the summer again, it will compromise the availability of NBA players for Team USA and other countries, but Colangelo remains hopeful that many of those players will be able to participate.

“If the (NBA) season conflicts with the Olympics, I might have 14 non-playoff teams to choose from, but then other players will become available as the NBA playoffs progress,” Colangelo told Sheridan. “The problem is that the ICO has a rule mandating an early submission of a 12-man roster. But with a pandemic, the hope would be that you’ve got to set aside outdated rules. I assume people will be reasonable and come up with some kind of a program that works.”

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

The winner of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and Heat will earn $5,791,041 of this year’s league-wide playoff pool money, notes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The losing team will divvy up a $4,399,686 share.
The NBA, which is hoping to play games in teams’ home arenas during the 2020/21 season, sent a 32-page manual to clubs outlining the cleaning and disinfecting protocols to “reset” those arenas, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Former Pacers guard Joe Young is returning to the Chinese Basketball Association for the 2020/21 season, signing a deal with the Beijing Royal Fighers, as Nicola Lupo of Sportando relays. After spending three seasons in Indiana from 2015-18, Young has played for the Nanjing Monkey King in China for the last two years.