- Explaining the Lakers‘ approach to free agency after landing LeBron James, general manager Rob Pelinka said the front office didn’t target three-point marksmen in free agency because they feel like they already have several solid outside shooters, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. The Lakers wanted to add more multi-dimensional players to try to combat a team like the Warriors, according to Pelinka: “We did not want to go out and just sign specialists, ‘Oh this guy can just shoot.’ We wanted tough two-way players that can defend with a level of toughness and also make shots.”
- Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk‘s three-year contract with the Lakers has a guaranteed first-year salary of $1,487,694, followed by non-guaranteed minimum salaries for years two and three (Twitter link). The third year is a team option.
- After pouring in 19 points in his NBA debut as a 32-year-old in April, Andre Ingram isn’t satisfied with his brief NBA cameo. As Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated relays, even after being renounced by the Lakers, Ingram is seeking another NBA opportunity, and has received some interest – but no offers – from the league’s 30 clubs.
While LeBron James is – of course – a lock to open the season in the Lakers‘ starting lineup, the team isn’t ready to pencil in the rest of its starting five quite yet, general manager Rob Pelinka said today. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com (Twitter link) relays, Pelinka told reporters that the other four spots in the Lakers’ lineup will be up for grabs. That includes the point guard position, where Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball are expected to engage in open competition.
Here are a few more Lakers-related notes and updates:
- Lonzo Ball and his management group are evaluating options for his injured knee, according to Pelinka (Twitter link via Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet). None of the options being considered would involve a long-term recovery though, so Pelinka expects the second-year point guard to be “100% available for training camp.”
- Asked if the Lakers considered signing Julius Randle to a long-term deal this offseason, Pelinka pointed out that the team didn’t give multiple years to anyone except LeBron, tweets Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. “We did identify going into this offseason to keep cap flexibility going into 2019,” Pelinka said.
- ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Ohm Youngmisuk pass along some Lakers contract details, with Lowe tweeting that James’ new four-year contract includes a 15% trade kicker, while Youngmisuk writes that Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk‘s 2018/19 salary of $1.5MM is guaranteed, but his second and third years are non-guaranteed. It looks like L.A. gave Mykhailiuk a larger-than-usual first-year salary in exchange for allowing the team to maximize its 2019 flexibility.
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com and Lee Jenkins of SI.com both published excellent, in-depth looks at LeBron’s free agent decision. Each piece is packed with interesting tidbits and is worth checking out in full.
Devin Booker has already signed a maximum-salary extension with the Suns, and Karl-Anthony Towns is discussing a similar deal with the Timberwolves, but the Knicks appear to be in no rush to lock up Kristaps Porzingis to a long-term rookie scale extension of his own. As Ian Begley of ESPN.com notes, signing Porzingis now would mean giving up about $10MM in 2019 cap room, so the team may prefer to wait until next summer to get something done with the standout big man.
“We’ll continue to stay in touch with Kristaps,” Knicks GM Scott Perry said on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “He’s part of our long-term plan. But we’ll get all that figured out at the appropriate time in terms of when we get into that negotiation. We’re comfortable with were at with him and we’ll work together with he and his representation to figure something out.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- This year’s signing of Mario Hezonja may represent a hedge against striking out on top free agents in 2019, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. As Berman explains, the Knicks would probably have to renounce Hezonja next summer in order to clear cap room for a maximum-salary free agent, but if New York doesn’t need to maximize its space, Hezonja’s Non-Bird rights should give the team the ability to make a competitive offer to retain him for one more than one season.
- Knicks president Steve Mills sounds like he doesn’t want to put all his eggs into one basket when it comes to landing a star free agent in 2019, Berman adds. “We didn’t say our ultimate goal was to have cap room in 2019 — that’s just a byproduct of the situation of how our salaries line up,” Mills said. “There’s no reason to think if Mario does really well, he shouldn’t be part of what we’re doing. Our goal is to put together a Knick team that could be competitive in the long-term.”
- Speaking of Hezonja, he said he got offers from the Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Thunder before he accepted the Knicks’ proposal, Berman writes in a separate article.
- According to GM Scott Perry, all options are still in play for Joakim Noah, whether that means trading, stretching, or keeping him, per Ian Begley and Nick Friedell. “He’s still a member of the Knicks franchise right now,” Perry said of Noah. “He’s part of this team. Like we said to you earlier, all options are on the table for us concerning him, whether it’s coming back or some sort of trade or whatever the case may be.”
- During his introductory press conference as a Pacer, Kyle O’Quinn made a comment that could be interpreted as a dig at the Knicks. “I just felt like at this point, I owed it to myself to be a part of something bigger than next year’s draft,” O’Quinn said, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News relays.
The Rockets and Clint Capela may not be that far apart in negotiations toward a new deal, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) is hearing that the team’s initial offer was not as low as previously reported. Sources tell Feigen that the July 1 offer was for $85MM over five years with Capela having the ability to earn up to $90MM based on incentives.
Rumors claiming the center wanted an offer in the neighborhood of $100MM over four years, similar to Steven Adams‘ pact, surfaced recently. Previous reports had Houston offering approximately $60MM over four years.
One source tells Feigen that the Rockets are optimistic about reaching a deal. Houston has the ability to match any offer, as Capela is a restricted free agent.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Magic Johnson said he consulted LeBron James before bringing Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo, and JaVale McGee to the Lakers, as Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet relays (Twitter link). “LeBron’s won championships, been to eight straight Finals. You think Rob [Pelinka] and I are not going to ask him? No, we’re going to definitely ask him his opinion because he knows those players better than us,” Johnson said.
- Stephenson said the Lakers want him to “bring intensity” every night, as Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Trudell passes along (Twitter link). The 27-year-old wing officially signed his one-year deal today.
- Chemistry was a major reason why the Jazz decided to keep their core intact. “Chemistry is a hard thing,” GM Dennis Lindsey said (via the Associated Press). “It’s a hard thing to predict. You can get five great people in the room and have it just not click for whatever reason, so we didn’t want to overthink that.”
JULY 10: The Lakers have officially signed McGee, the team announced today in a press release. The move takes L.A. over the cap, but the team still has its $4.449MM room exception available if it wants to make another signing worth more than the minimum.
JULY 1: The Lakers have reached an agreement on a one-year, minimum deal with center JaVale McGee, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. McGee will join Lance Stephenson and LeBron James in Los Angeles as part of the Twilight Zone Big 3 You Never Knew You Always Wanted.
Though the frequent Shaqtin’ A Fool honoree gets flak for the occasional on-court blooper, he has actually carved out a valuable bit role for himself in two seasons with the Warriors. His length and athleticism, though not always deployable in today’s small ball era, can impact the tone of games off the bench.
McGee averaged 4.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for the Warriors last year but saw those rates increase to 6.7 and 3.8 respectively in contests in which he played at least 10 minutes. Even if he serves a similar niche role with the Lakers, McGee’s minimum deal – worth $2.4MM with a cap hit of $1.5MM – is an affordable piece for a franchise that us quickly running out of roster spots.
The Lakers currently have McGee, 21-year-old Ivica Zubac, and rookie Moritz Wagner set to man the five, so we’ll see if they consider adding more support at the position.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
With the Thunder and Carmelo Anthony expected to part ways, the team granted the veteran forward permission to meet with prospective suitors, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, Anthony and his representatives – including agent Leon Rose – met with the Rockets and Heat in Las Vegas at the NBA Summer League in recent days. The Lakers are also among the teams said to have interest in Anthony, though there’s no indication in Wojnarowski’s report that they’ve met with Carmelo or his reps. Marc Stein of The New York Times suggests L.A.’s interest in Anthony may be overstated.
As Woj details, Anthony’s meeting with the Rockets included head coach Mike D’Antoni, who spent time in New York with the 34-year-old. While the two men had a rocky relationship as members of the Knicks, D’Antoni made it clear during their latest meeting that the circumstances would be much different this time around. The Houston coach welcomed the idea of reuniting with Anthony, league sources tell Wojnarowski.
[RELATED: Rockets considered favorites to land Carmelo Anthony?]
Wojnarowski didn’t provide any specifics on Anthony’s meeting with the Heat, but says that coach Erik Spoelstra has been a “strong advocate” of adding the 10-time All-Star.
Before Anthony can sign with the Rockets, the Heat, or any other club, he’d need to become a free agent. According to Wojnarowski, the Thunder are still exploring possible trade scenarios that would send Carmelo to a new team, which would subsequently waive him. However, such an outcome seems unlikely — no team has the cap room to absorb his $28MM salary outright, and any over-the-cap clubs would have to send out more than $22MM to meet salary-matching rules.
Teams with cap room available are more viable trade partners for Oklahoma CIty, but would still have to send out some salary in any deal, and would likely expect significant assets from the Thunder, whose 2020 first-rounder is tied up as a result of another trade.
Anthony also has a no-trade clause, but he has agreed to waive it if he gets sent to a team that doesn’t intend to keep him, Wojnarowski notes.
JULY 10: The Lakers have officially signed Stephenson, according to a press release from the team.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have Lance join our team,” GM Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “Lance is playoff-tested and will bring a certain edge, confidence and toughness to our roster. His multi-positional versatility and open-court playmaking abilities are key ingredients for the basketball style we designed for next season.”
By signing Stephenson now, the Lakers have elected to use most or all of their remaining cap room to complete his deal, leaving the $4.449MM room exception available for another move.
JULY 1: The Lakers have agreed to a deal with Lance Stephenson, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. The 27-year-old swingman and notorious rival of LeBron James will head to Los Angeles after a career-reviving 14-month stint with the Pacers.
The pact, which ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports is worth $4.5MM over one season, will give the Lakers an additional veteran as they gear up to transition from a rebuilding young squad to a genuine Western Conference contender.
[RELATED: LeBron James to sign four-year deal with Lakers]
Stephenson, 27, had his 2018/19 team option turned down by the Pacers after he averaged 9.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.9 APG last season, appearing in all 82 games. While his shooting numbers (.427/.289/.661) were all below his career marks, it was still somewhat surprising to see the Pacers let Stephenson go. His option salary would have been $4.36MM, so he’ll get a slight raise on his new deal.
Based on the terms reported by Haynes, it appears the Lakers will use their room exception to sign Stephenson once they’ve used up all their cap room. The room exception is worth $4.449MM for 2018/19.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
1:18pm: The Lakers have officially signed Mykhailiuk, the team announced today in a press release.
12:27pm: The Lakers are in the process of finalizing a contract for second-round pick Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Charania, it’ll be a three-year deal worth approximately $4.6MM, and will include a team option.
Mykhailiuk, the 47th overall pick of this year’s draft, is coming off a successful senior year at Kansas in which he averaged 14.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.7 APG while shooting 44.4% on three-pointers. The 21-year-old shooting guard has looked good in Las Vegas so far, averaging 16.0 PPG on 52.2% shooting in two Summer League contests.
If the terms Charania reported are accurate, it’s an impressive deal for Mykhailiuk. Fellow second-rounder Isaac Bonga only received about $4.1MM on his new three-year deal with the Lakers, and Bonga was selected eight spots earlier at No. 39 overall.
The Lakers still have cap room available, so they’ll use some of that space to finalize Mykhailiuk’s contract.