Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers May Be Slipping In Battle For Kawhi Leonard

November 5th, 2018 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Playing in front of Kawhi Leonard Sunday night, the Lakers didn’t make a strong case to attract the impending free agent, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Leonard sat out the game with a sore left foot, but watched his Raptors teammates take an early 41-10 lead on the way to a comfortable victory.

A Southern California native, Leonard has reportedly expressed a desire to return to the West Coast once he opts out of his contract next summer. However, there has been talk that he prefers the Clippers, where he could be the top star, rather than joining the Lakers and serving as a sidekick to LeBron James.

Leonard has been guarded in his public statements, but he did mention the Lakers in a weekend interview, saying he wasn’t a fan of the team while growing up.

“I wasn’t at all,” he said. “My family was, but I wasn’t. I liked Allen Iverson, I was an A.I. fan, so I didn’t like the Lakers.”

That statement could be interpreted as bad new for the Lakers, who will be in the market for a second star to team with James. At one time, they were hoping Paul George would be headed to L.A., but he was traded to the Thunder and opted to re-sign there. According to Bontemps, the Raptors are confident they can repeat that scenario with Leonard.

At 9-1, Toronto is tied with Golden State for the league’s best record. The team is two-deep at every position and has plenty of talent for first-year coach Nick Nurse to adjust the lineup to fit the opponent. Raptors officials believe a full season of success will encourage Leonard to re-sign with the organization, which will have the Bird rights advantages of being able to offer him a longer contract and larger raises than anyone else.

Bontemps envisions a sales pitch where team president Masai Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster emphasize the advantages of playing with a young roster that can be an Eastern Conference contender for several years, along with a rabid fan base that has already welcomed Leonard as a hero. It’s still uncertain whether that will be enough, but Toronto’s plans for keeping Leonard couldn’t be working out any better.

Magic Johnson: No Coaching Change Planned

November 5th, 2018 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Lakers president Magic Johnson says Luke Walton’s job is safe despite a highly publicized meeting last week where the need for improvement was emphasized, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. That meeting started rumors that Walton may not survive the first month of the season, but Johnson said a coaching change isn’t in the team’s plans.

“Yeah, we’re not going to fire him,” Johnson said Sunday night. “[The meeting last week with Walton] wasn’t even a meeting about that. We just have to be better, and that was it.”

Johnson added that something drastic would have to happen for Walton to be replaced, but declined to speculate what that might be, responding, “No, not going into that. He’s our coach, we’re supporting him, and that’s it.”

Johnson said the meeting with Walton, which came after a 2-5 start, was to discuss issues that were plaguing the team, especially on defense where the Lakers are among the worst in the league. L.A. responded with back-to-back wins, but was embarrassed by the Raptors last night, falling behind 41-10 on the way to a double-digit loss.

Before the game, Walton told reporters that he has been receiving messages of encouragement, but added that the public reaction won’t affect his approach to coaching.

“I have my job to coach this team and the support is nice, obviously, whether it is coming from my dad or it is coming from another coach,” Walton said. “It’s nice, but it doesn’t change what I am doing as far as the job and coaching this team and these players. It doesn’t influence that at all.

“… My job is hard, but it is a lot of fun. I love my job. And nothing changed. It didn’t get any harder.”

Walton is 65-109 since taking over the Lakers at the start of the 2016/17 season, but with the signing of LeBron James this is the first year he has had the talent to compete for a playoff spot.

Suns, Tyson Chandler Finalize Buyout Agreement

November 4th, 2018 at 1:23pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns officially reached a buyout agreement with Tyson Chandler and have requested waivers on the veteran center, the team confirmed today in a press release. It was first reported on Saturday that the two sides would be parting ways.

“We want to thank Tyson for his contributions to the Suns over the past three-plus seasons,” interim co-GM James Jones said in a statement. “With respect for Tyson’s accomplished career, today’s move gives him the chance to pursue a new opportunity while allowing our younger players to continue developing. Tyson is a consummate professional and we wish him all the best.”

Chandler’s role with the Suns had dwindled, from 25.0 minutes per game last season to just 12.7 MPG in the early going this year. The 18-year veteran started all 46 games he played for Phoenix in 2017/18, but had been moved to the bench this season due to the arrival of first overall pick Deandre Ayton. Chandler averaged 6.5 PPG and 9.1 RPG last year.

Chandler was in the final year of a contract that paid him approximately $13.59MM this season. Phoenix will be able to trim some of that cap hit off the books as a result of the buyout agreement, while the 36-year-old figures to sign a minimum salary with his new team.

That new team will be the Lakers, according to multiple reports. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) indicated on Saturday that the framework for a buyout agreement between Chandler and the Suns had been in place for a little while, but it wasn’t put into motion until the big man knew he had a landing spot lined up.

The Lakers have been thin at center this season, leaning heavily on JaVale McGee and relying on smaller players to spend time at the five, so Chandler should see some playing time in Los Angeles. He’ll be eligible to sign with L.A. after he clears waivers on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Chandler, Holmes, Cousins, Gortat

November 4th, 2018 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns‘ buyout with Tyson Chandler would have helped the team much more if it had occurred during the preseason, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. The parties have reportedly had a standing deal on a buyout in place for some time, but Chandler was reluctant to commit until he was confident that another organization would pick him up. The consensus is the Lakers will be his next team.

The money saved through Chandler’s buyout could have benefited the Suns in a number of ways, Nahmad notes. De’Anthony Melton, a second-round pick acquired in a trade with the Rockets, was limited to a two-year, minimum-salary deal because Phoenix didn’t have money available for a three- or four-year offer (Twitter link). Nahmad is assuming Chandler will give back about $452K in his buyout, and notes that the Suns waited until just before the start of training camp to sign Melton in the hopes that they could free up more cash.

Unloading Chandler earlier would have also opened a roster spot and would have eliminated the need to waive Davon Reed when Jamal Crawford was signed (Twitter link). Reed, who is now on a two-way deal with the Pacers, is still owed his entire $1.4MM salary from the Suns.

There’s more news from the Pacific Division:

The news about Chandler explains why Richaun Holmes was the Suns‘ first choice at backup center in Friday’s game, tweets Gina Mizell of The Athletic. Holmes, who was acquired from the Sixers in an offseason trade, played a season-high 13 minutes.
DeMarcus Cousins is expected to have a one-year stay with the Warriors, but GM Bob Myers isn’t giving up on the idea of extending their arrangement, relays Chelsea Howard of The Sporting News. During a recent appearance on the team’s pre-game show, Myers said “options are open” when it comes to keeping the All-Star center. “These type of predictions — good or bad — are pretty fruitless because you just don’t know,” he said. “You don’t know what’s going to be going on on July 1, 2019. You don’t know if it’s going to be better than you think … but it’s not going to be what you think. So, with a guy like DeMarcus, who knows? If he wants to come back, let’s bring him back.” If Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both re-sign, Golden State would be well above the cap and would be limited to offering Cousins its mid-level exception again.
Clippers center Marcin Gortat re-tweeted a message bemoaning the end of his consecutive games streak. L.A. traded for Gortat in June to help offset the expected loss of DeAndre Jordan, but he has averaged just 3.6 PPG and 3.9 RPG and is losing minutes to Montrezl Harrell and Boban Marjanovic.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Walton, Chandler

November 4th, 2018 at 8:58am CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James made a strong statement in support of Luke Walton and the Lakers’ coaching staff following last night’s win in Portland, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Walton started to feel some heat after a 2-5 start and was “admonished” this week by team president Magic Johnson. The team has responded with two straight wins, and James left no doubt that he is in Walton’s corner.

“Listen, coaching staff put us in a position to win, and it’s up to us to go up and execute,” he told reporters after the game. “Luke can care less about what’s going on outside. We could as well. I’m the last person to ask about scrutiny or anything of that nature. So none of that stuff matters to me. The only thing that matters to me is what goes on inside this locker room, both home and away.”

James has clashed with coaches in both Miami and Cleveland and reportedly played a large role in getting David Blatt fired a year after he took the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals. James’ endorsement of Walton should carry a lot of weight with the Lakers’ front office.

There’s more this morning out of Los Angeles:

Johnson was less upset about the team’s won-loss record than what he perceived as a lack of identity at both ends of the court, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. A source tells Amick that Walton’s job wasn’t threatened and that Johnson hasn’t lost confidence in his coach, even though he was hired by the previous administration. Amick also notes that owner Jeanie Buss viewed frequent coaching changes as a weakness of the management team that was in place before Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka were hired.
In that meeting, Walton appealed for another big man to back up starting center JaVale McGee, Amick adds in the same piece. That request appears to have been answered with the expected addition of Tyson Chandler, who is nearing a buyout with the Suns.
Chandler may not be enough to solve the Lakers’ issues on defense when McGee is off the court, suggests Kevin Pelton of ESPN. Pelton runs the numbers on Chandler and finds that his ability to protect the rim has been on a steady decline over the past six seasons. He states that the Lakers might have been better off waiting for another center to become available, such as the Bulls’ Robin Lopez or the Hawks’ Dewayne Dedmon.

Suns Working On Buyout With Tyson Chandler

November 3rd, 2018 at 4:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

5:24pm: Chandler’s frustrations with the Suns have been growing over the years, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). He was angry about losing and being shut down early, playing just 47 and 46 games the past two seasons. Before zeroing in on the Lakers, Chandler had also expressed interest in joining the Wizards, Warriors or Rockets.

4:52pm: The Suns are negotiating a buyout with 36-year-old center Tyson Chandler, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times, and the Lakers are his likely destination once he clears waivers (Twitter link).

After being used primarily as a starter since coming to Phoenix in 2015, Chandler has slipped into a reserve role this season behind No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton. He has averaged 12.7 minutes per night in seven games and doesn’t fit in with the Suns’ youth movement. Chandler is making $13.6MM in the final season of a four-year, $52MM contract.

He could become a defensive anchor for the Lakers, who don’t have much depth at center behind starter JaVale McGee. Chandler is a native of Los Angeles, Stein notes, and his salary will likely discourage any other team from making a waiver claim.

He and the Suns have had a standing buyout agreement in place for a while, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Chandler wanted to be sure another team would pick him up before finalizing the deal, and he found a taker in L.A. It explains why the Lakers didn’t make a stronger effort during the offseason to sign another center, adds ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link).

Lakers Notes: Walton, Beal, Improvements

November 3rd, 2018 at 10:33am CST by marksuleymanov

The Lakers are off to a disappointing 3-5 start which has called head coach Luke Walton‘s job security into question. After the team defeated the Mavericks on Wednesday, team president Magic Johnson reportedly “admonished” Walton for the team’s poor start and lack of identity as a team.

Walton downplayed the ESPN report of his meeting with Johnson, indicating that he is in constant communication with the front office about improving the team. Instead, Walton focused on the team’s ability to play the best team’s in the NBA competitively, per Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register.

“We’ve been saying since the beginning, we’re gonna to be patient — we know where we’re going and how to get there,” Walton said. “It takes time and takes hard work. Our guys work extremely hard, we’ve had a couple setbacks with some suspensions. But we’ve played some good teams and had a chance to win a lot of those games.”

Walton, in his second year as Lakers head coach, added that his job security is not a concern at this juncture.

“I feel like I have a great relationship with management,” Walton said.

Check out more Lakers notes below:

As the Wizards’ horrendous start to the season continues, it remains to be seen how Washington handles the situation. If the team does decide to break up the core, a potential trade of Bradley Beal to the Lakers makes sense, Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype outlines. The 25-year-old sharpshooter would give the Lakers a lethal threat from beyond the arc the current roster lacks and would likely improve from playing alongside LeBron James.
As the Lakers continue to find consistency, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk examine how Los Angeles can improve. Among the suggestions for the 3-5 squad is playing better late in games, getting creative with lineups, showing improvements in rebounding and avoiding foul trouble.
USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt has six hot messes around the NBA and the Lakers’ poor start has the team on the list. LeBron James has already indicated his patience is wearing thin and suspensions to both Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo did not help.

Pressure Mounting On Lakers’ Luke Walton

November 2nd, 2018 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Prior to the Lakers‘ win over Dallas on Wednesday, team president Magic Johnson “admonished” head coach Luke Walton for the team’s slow start, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. According to ESPN’s report, the meeting elevated the sense within the organization that Walton is facing “intense and immediate pressure” to improve upon L.A.’s 3-5 record.

Before the regular season began, Johnson stressed in public comments that the new-look Lakers would require patience while they found their footing. However, sources tell Wojnarowski and McMenamin that the team president has a reputation within the organization for an “often-time volatile management style,” which includes his handling of Walton and the Lakers’ assistants.

As Johnson puts more pressure on Walton, the Lakers’ head coach continues to have the support of controlling owner Jeanie Buss and of the team’s new star, LeBron James. James has been both publicy and privately supportive of Walton, as the ESPN duo notes, defending the coach’s frequent lineup shuffling early in the season.

“I think Luke’s trying to figure out what works best,” James said. “We knew it was going to be like that from the summer when ‘Zo (Lonzo Ball) had the knee surgery. We knew we were going to have a lineup change there. Obviously, we had the unexpected one when we had the suspensions (to Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram), so we had a lineup change there… We’ll get to a point where we know how comfortable we need to be with different lineups.”

Wojnarowski and McMenamin indicate that Walton’s job security in Los Angeles will ultimately hinge on his ability to significantly improve upon the team’s 3-5 start, though it’s not clear how quickly Johnson expects to see a turnaround. In the short term, the team’s weekend schedule doesn’t bode well for a return to .500 — the Lakers will play in Portland on Saturday before returning home to host the Raptors on Sunday.

Celtics, Lakers, Others Monitoring Anthony Davis

November 2nd, 2018 at 10:34am CST by Luke Adams

Although Anthony Davis remains under contract with the Pelicans through at least 2020, rival NBA executives believe he could be up for grabs for a larger-market team before then, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Davis will be eligible for a five-year, super-max contract extension as of July 2019. If he passes on that extension – which some executives believe he might, per Haynes – the Pelicans could be forced to consider the possibility of trading the star big man before he gets the opportunity to opt out in 2020.

The Celtics, Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, and Warriors are among the big-market teams that will be monitoring Davis’ situation this year and next, sources tell Haynes.

Whenever he has been asked about his future, Davis has dismissed the idea that he wants to play anywhere but New Orleans. However, as Haynes notes, Davis’ top priority is to win, so the Pelicans will be under pressure to continue building a roster that can help the former first overall pick achieve that goal.

“Of course, I know that in order to win games, a lot of pressure is going to be on me,” Davis said after a loss to the Warriors this week. “I don’t have a good game and we lose. So, I got to play almost perfect every night to give us a chance to win.

“But my teammates do a great job,” he continued. “Even the games I didn’t play, those guys have been battling night in and night out to get victories. … I don’t try to put too much pressure on myself, but I know it’s there.

While the speculation about Davis isn’t expected to subside, the five-time All-Star knows it comes with the territory, suggesting he’s tuning out the noise and focusing on what he can control on the court. He also tells Haynes that his teammates, who “do as much as possible to help me,” don’t view his contract situation as a distraction.

“Nah, my team doesn’t care. They cherish the moments that they have with me,” Davis said. “Every day we try to put in the work to be a great team. They hear it, I hear it. Everybody hears it. It’s hard not to. But we’re focused on what we have to do this year. We’re trying to beat teams like the Warriors and get to where they are. That’s our goal. That’s it.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Jones, Livingston, James

November 1st, 2018 at 11:07pm CST by JD Shaw

The new-look Lakers are off to a tumultuous start at 3-5 this season, with the team losing three separate games that have gone down to the wire. One of these tough losses came Monday against the Timberwolves, testing the patience of LeBron James and other veterans on the team.

“There’s obviously frustration that comes with it,” coach Luke Walton said at the time, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I don’t know what the level [of frustration] is, but it’s going to be a tough flight home.

“But like I told our guys, nobody feels sorry for us. It’s up to us to figure it out and start winning some of these close games. And we will. I can promise you that. We will start to win some of these. But right now we’re taking a couple lumps in the meantime.”

Walton has substituted players in and out of the starting lineup, experimenting different groups of players this season. Part of growing as a new team is having the patience and veteran leadership in turbulent times, something the Lakers possess in James.

James willed his team to a victory Wednesday, but offered a simple answer when asked about his patience earlier in the week:

“You probably don’t want to be around when my patience runs out,” James said. “I’m serious.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Exercising the 2019/20 option in Damian Jones‘ contract was an easy decision for the Warriors, Monte Poole of NBC Sports writes. Jones’ $2.3MM salary for next season is a team-friendly deal when considering his level of play at starting center this year.
Shaun Livingston underwent an MRI on his foot this week after dealing with soreness, Mark Medina of The Mercury News tweets. The MRI returned clean, and the Warriors plan to be cautious with his injury. Livingston is listed as doubtful for Friday’s game against the Timberwolves.
LeBron James needs more support around him for the Lakers to reach their true potential, The Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike writes. James scored 29 points in a close home win against the Mavericks on Wednesday, knocking down the game-winning free throw. The Lakers have a young nucleus of talent and several veterans around James, who’s seeking his fourth NBA title.