The Lakers have waived Malik Newman, according to the team’s website.
Newman inked a two-way contract with Los Angeles as free agency began this year. He played in five summer league games for the team and averaged 3.2 points in 9.8 minutes per game.
The guard spent one season at the University of Kansas, scoring 14.2 points per game. He helped lead the school to the Final Four where the team lost to Villanova, the eventual champions.
The Lakers have officially signed Jeffrey Carroll, the team announced today. The signing was originally reported by Michael Scotto of The Athletic back in June.
The contract will contain an Exhibit 10 clause, something that was introduced in the newest CBA. The clause allowed a player to receive a bonus from the NBA club should he play for the franchise’s G League affiliate and remain there for 60 days.
[Related: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Exhibit 10 Contact]
Carroll went undrafted out of Oklahoma State on this year’s big night. Entering draft night, he was ranked as the No. 96 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com. In 188 collegiate games, Carroll averaged 12.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest.
The guard most recently played for the Lakers’ summer league squad in Las Vegas. He scored 4.2 points in 9.0 minutes per contest.
The Lakers have signed point guard Joel Berry, the team officially announced today. Terms of the deal have not yet been released.
Berry, 23, went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft after spending four seasons at North Carolina. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 NCAA Final Four as a junior after leading North Carolina to a National Championship.
As a senior last season, Berry earned First Team All-ACC honors after averaging 17.1 points in 33.1 minutes per game. He was a member of the Lakers’ 2o18 NBA Summer League squad, but failed to see any game action after suffering an ankle injury.
JULY 17, 7:41pm: Ball had surgery on Tuesday and is expected to make a full recovery by training camp, the team tweets.
JULY 13, 5:08pm: Lakers second-year point guard Lonzo Ball will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday, the Lakers’ PR department tweets. An update on his prognosis will be made after the surgery, the team adds.
Ball is still expected to be ready for training camp, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets.
News of the surgical procedure doesn’t come as a surprise. Ball dealt with left knee issues for a good portion of his rookie season. It was revealed late last month that Ball had torn meniscus in the knee.
The Lakers gave themselves some protection at the point guard spot by signing Rajon Rondo to a one-year, $9MM deal.
A sprained left medial collateral ligament and a left knee bruise limited Ball to 52 games in his rookie campaign. Ball was a triple-double threat every time he took the court, averaging 10.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 7.2 APG but shot just 36% from the field.
JULY 17, 7:30pm: The signing is official, per team press release.
JULY 8, 2:13pm: The Bucks will sign Lakers free agent center Brook Lopez, Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports tweets.
Lopez will sign a one-year deal for the team’s bi-annual exception, which is worth $3.382MM, Schultz adds in another tweet.
Milwaukee already has three centers on the roster in John Henson, Thon Maker and Tyler Zeller. This will likely end Zeller’s stay with the club, as his $1.93MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.
Lopez’s NBA career began in 2008/09 with the Nets but he’s still just 30 years old. He’s developed a 3-point game in his last two seasons, first with Brooklyn and then with the Lakers. He averaged 13.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG while making 34.5% of his long-range attempts. Lopez, who started 72 of 74 games last season, averaged 20.5 PPG the previous year as a bigger part of the Nets’ attack.
His ability to space the floor should open up more driving lanes for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Lakers moved on from Lopez by getting a free-agent commitment from JaVale McGee and drafting Michigan big man Moritz Wagner.
The Spurs‘ asking price for Kawhi Leonard remains high, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne. In an article packed with Leonard-related tidbits, the ESPN duo suggests that – based on conversations with opposing teams – San Antonio appears to be seeking an All-Star caliber player, high-potential young players, and draft picks in exchange for Kawhi.
It’s not clear if the Spurs will be able to land that sort of return, according to Wojnarowski and Shelburne, who note that a three-way bidding war involving the Lakers, Celtics, and Sixers never really materialized. The Lakers are being patience and conveying confidence that Leonard will sign with them in 2019. As for the Celtics and Sixers, they’ve held their top players out of trade discussions and have offered pick-heavy packages, which haven’t enticed the Spurs.
Given the Spurs’ reported demands, a Raptors offer built around one of their All-Star guards (likely DeMar DeRozan), one or two of their young players, and draft picks could be the most logical package for San Antonio.
In an appearance on Zach Lowe’s ESPN podcast, Brian Windhorst said he thinks the Raptors are in the “driver’s seat” in the Leonard sweepstakes, since the Lakers and Sixers haven’t been aggressive in their pursuit of the star forward. Lowe didn’t go so far as to call the Raptors the favorites, but he cautioned not to underestimate the club or to view the rumors linking Leonard to Toronto as mere speculation.
Here are a few more notes and rumors on the NBA’s most noteworthy trade candidate:
LeBron James and Lakers coach Luke Walton held their first face-to-face meeting this weekend, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports. They had only communicated by text prior to chatting in Las Vegas when James visited the summer league playoffs. So far, so good between the young coach and the league’s premier player, according to Shelburne.
“He’s about the team. He’s about doing things the right way, and he’s about winning,” Walton said. “I can work with those qualities.” The Lakers’ head coach had previously reached out to some of James’ former coaches and teamates to get a better handle on what to expect when coaching James, Shelburne adds.
Much has been made of LeBron James‘ league-changing decision to leave the Cavaliers and sign with the Lakers. Whether it be a change of scenery where James can play a different style of basketball or simply lucrative opportunities in Hollywood, his decision has widespread impacts.
However, during an appearance on NBA TV, James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul, explained that his client choosing the Lakers was a “basketball decision” which made him happy, per USA TODAY.
“It was basically about what he wanted to do and what made him happy. And he earned that being in his 16th season,” Paul said. “You don’t have athletes in their 16th season be the No. 1 free agent.”
A disagreement over pre-draft strategy has resulted in an agent change for Knicks rookie Mitchell Robinson, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. Robinson has signed with John Spencer, a former Knicks scout, after leaving Raymond Brothers.
Robinson was drafted at No. 36, but believed he had a chance to be taken late in the first round, which would have provided more guaranteed money. Robinson’s representatives pulled him out of the draft combine the day before it started, and he blames that decision for his slide on draft night. The Lakers were looking at him with their 25th pick and may have taken him at No. 39 had he still been available, a source tells Berman.
Robinson signed with the Knicks last week, getting a $6.4MM deal over four seasons that includes team options after the second and third year. Robinson, who dropped out of Western Kentucky and hasn’t played in 14 months, may have changed the Knicks’ plans for him with an impressive summer league performance, Berman adds. The organization originally had him ticketed for the G League, but will now consider keeping him on the NBA squad.
There’s more this morning out of New York:
David Nwaba is no longer a restricted free agent, meaning he can sign outright with any NBA team, and interested clubs are checking in on the young shooting guard. According to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link), several teams have reached out to Nwaba, including the Spurs and Lakers. There’s no clear frontrunner at this point, Aldridge adds.
[RELATED: Bulls rescind qualifying offer for David Nwaba]
Nwaba, who was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, received a qualifying offer from the Bulls last month, giving the team the right of first refusal on any offer sheet he signed. However, Chicago withdrew that QO on Thursday, despite its modest price ($1.7MM), leading to speculation that the club is maximizing its cap room for a bigger move.
Despite making Nwaba an unrestricted free agent, the Bulls haven’t given up hope of re-signing him. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets that the Bulls have interest in using the room exception to bring back Nwaba after they use up their cap space. A source confirmed to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune that the team hasn’t ruled out re-signing Nwaba once it completes other business.
In order to retain Nwaba though, the Bulls would have to count on the 25-year-old waiting out the team’s other move(s) and being willing to accept the $4.45MM room exception. Those aren’t unreasonable requests, but if Nwaba gets a comparable offer from another suitor, he may not want to wait on Chicago.
A former undrafted free agent, Nwaba had a solid season for the Bulls in 2017/18, averaging 7.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG while playing strong perimeter defense in 70 games (21 starts).