- In his latest mailbag, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton explores offseason roster options for the Lakers, including the possibility of a Kemba Walker trade.
There’s a “strong sense in Rockets circles” that Chris Paul isn’t go anywhere this offseason as a free agent, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. While a recent report from Chris Broussard of Fox Sports hinted at possible tension between Paul and the Rockets, Amick spoke to two sources with knowledge of the situation who disputed the idea that there’s any friction there.
Broussard’s report suggested that there might be a disparity between what sort of free agent contract Paul expected when he accommodated a trade to Houston last summer and what the Rockets are willing to offer now. According to Amick, there was indeed a “mutual understanding” in 2017 of what Paul’s next contract would look like, and it’s not clear if a five-year, maximum-salary agreement will be on the table. However, it seems likely that the two sides will reach an agreement, per Amick.
Here are a few more items of interest from Amick:
- When it comes to Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs seem determined to either fix the situation or trade him to an Eastern Conference team, according to Amick, who says that Western clubs inquiring on Leonard have “been told, in essence, to get lost.” We heard earlier this week that the Spurs “basically shut the door” on the Lakers when they called about Leonard.
- The Cavaliers have contacted the Spurs to ask about Leonard, but there’s no traction toward a potential deal, per Amick. San Antonio has welcomed offers for its All-Star forward, but hasn’t engaged in any trade negotiations.
- Amick is the latest reporter to suggest that there’s a real possibility of Paul George remaining with the Thunder, writing that George has strong relationships with Russell Westbrook and Billy Donovan. Interestingly, Amick adds that there’s “pessimism in [LeBron] James‘ camp” that George would leave Oklahoma City — that could work against the Lakers, who are expected to try to land both George and James.
The Cavaliers don’t yet know what LeBron James plans to do with his 2018/19 player option or his potential free agency, but GM Koby Altman said on Thursday night that the team has established a “good dialogue” with James’ camp, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.
“I think LeBron has more than earned the right to approach his contracts the way he does. He’s done that before, so this is nothing new for us,” Altman said. “We want to respect his space during this process, and I continue to have really good dialogue with his management team as he goes through that process. That’s probably all I can say at this point regarding him, but we don’t take him for granted. We love him, this city loves him. He means the world to us and this franchise.”
While James has yet to tip his hand on his preferred destination for the 2018/19 season, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested during an appearance on the network that the family aspect of LeBron’s decision probably favors the Cavs and Lakers, as opposed to team like the Rockets. Windhorst isn’t sure that James’ family would feel comfortable going to Houston (video link via Lakers Outsiders).
Here’s more on the Cavs:
- A previous report indicated that LeBron’s camp is high on Alabama point guard Collin Sexton, who was drafted eighth overall by the Cavs in last night’s draft. Although the Cavs hope that the idea of playing with Sexton could appeal to James, they were comfortable picking Sexton either way, sources tell Ken Berger of Bleacher Report. According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Cavs fully intend to keep Sexton rather than trading him.
- Two league sources tell Berger that the Cavaliers continue to explore the possibility of a Kemba Walker trade with the Hornets. It’s hard to imagine such a deal being completed without the inclusion of Sexton.
- Executives who spoke to Berger were extremely skeptical that the Cavaliers’ addition of Sexton would move the needle at all for LeBron. However, according to Berger, opinions among executives are split on the Cavs’ chances of retaining the future Hall-of-Famer. One Eastern Conference exec says it would take “ownership of the team” for James to stay in Cleveland, while a Western executive put the odds at 50-50.
- GM Koby Altman, who said that team owner Dan Gilbert will “spare no expense” as the Cavs push for another title, spoke about the team’s next steps, per Vardon: “We have to invest in player development, we have to get better with our youth and then we have to explore opportunities to add and try to improve our talent level as well. That’s my job and we are certainly trying to attack that as we speak for sure.”
If the Lakers are going to build the NBA’s next superteam, they shouldn’t expect much help from their competitors, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
L.A., which hopes to have enough cap room to offer two max deals and is the preferred destination for Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, ran into some resistance at last night’s draft. GM Rob Pelinka was hoping to acquire a pick early in the second round, but he couldn’t find another franchise that was willing to trade.
“So it’s not like teams are saying, ‘Oh, I’m not going to do a deal with the Lakers,’ but I do think when you have 16 banners, there’s going to be a natural envy from your competitors because you’re sitting at the top of the food chain, but that’s just life in general,” Pelinka said.
That follows a report on Thursday that the Lakers reached out to San Antonio last week about Leonard’s availability, but the Spurs “basically shut the door” on any trade talks. Leonard, who is unhappy with how the team handled his quad injury, will have the chance to opt out of his current contract and become a free agent next summer.
Leonard’s availability may affect how the Lakers plan their future, as Pelinka said the team will focus its resources on 2019 if it can’t attract its free agent targets this year. Those include Thunder forward Paul George, who has also talked about returning to L.A. to play for his hometown team, and Cavaliers star LeBron James.
“We do feel like the road is a flexible road for us; if July 1 happens with one or two superstar players, great,” Pelinka added. “If it doesn’t, we love this young core that we’re developing and we know 2019 could present some amazing opportunities as well. So really any road we go down we’re really confident in, but obviously for Lakers fans we want to be good, we want to be back in the playoffs where Lakers deserve to be and competing for a championship.”
Along with chasing their desired targets, the Lakers have a few free agents of their own to be concerned about. Julius Randle is in line for a huge raise, although he is restricted and L.A. can match any offer, and Isaiah Thomas, Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Channing Frye are all unrestricted.
One move the Lakers won’t make is taking a chance on LiAngelo Ball, brother of point guard Lonzo Ball, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne (Twitter link). LiAngelo has been informed that he will not be part of L.A.’s summer league team, with one source telling Shelburne, “obviously there’s more to it than basketball.” She takes that as a signal that the organization doesn’t want any deeper involvement with the Ball family and its patriarch, LaVar.
The Lakers are expected to add a pair of undrafted rookies to their roster sometime after the new NBA league year begins, reports Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter links). According to Scotto, the Lakers have reached agreements on free agent deals with UNC guard Joel Berry and Oklahoma State guard Jeffrey Carroll.
[RELATED: Malik Newman to sign two-way deal with Lakers]
A four-year veteran with the Tar Heels, Berry increased his scoring average to 17.1 PPG in 2017/18, though he struggled a little with his efficiency, posting a shooting line of .396/.344/.893. He won a national championship at North Carolina in 2017.
As for Carroll, he recorded 15.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG in his senior year with the Cowboys. Carroll ranked as the No. 96 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com, while Berry wasn’t in the top 100.
At this time of year, reporting on agreements between teams and players can sometimes be ambiguous, since there’s a difference between Summer League deals, two-way contracts, and training camp invites. However, it sounds like both Berry and Carroll will be in camp with the Lakers this fall. Scotto classifies Berry’s agreement as a free agent deal and Carroll’s as an Exhibit 10 contract.
- There were voices in the Lakers‘ organization that wanted to trade up to get Mitchell Robinson, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley. Robinson went 36th to the Knicks.
2:49pm: The Lakers have reached out to the Spurs about dealing for Leonard, but no specifics have been discussed, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. The contact came within the past week, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, with a Lakers’ source saying, “they basically shut the door on us.” (Twitter link)
1:20pm: The Spurs are willing to listen to offers on Kawhi Leonard but haven’t spoken with the Lakers, Leonard’s preferred landing spot, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
San Antonio has not been making calls about Leonard but it will field offers and add them to the list of proposals, Wojnarowski adds. This suggests that the Spurs’ front office is losing hope of resolving the impasse between the club and its star forward.
With Leonard still under contract, San Antonio isn’t in any hurry to make a trade. Unless there’s a dramatic and overwhelming proposal, it’s not going to happen on draft night.
Leonard met with head coach Gregg Popovich on Tuesday in San Diego but that didn’t alter his request to be traded. Leonard’s desire to be dealt over the way the franchise handled his quad injury last season, and comments make by Popovich and guard Tony Parker about his ability to play, was revealed last week.
Leonard can become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The Mavericks, Magic, Bulls, Knicks, and Clippers have expressed interest in moving into the Hawks’ No. 3 slot to select either EuroLeague guard Luka Doncic or possibly Texas center Mohamed Bamba if the Kings pass on Doncic at No. 2, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Those teams, along with the Nuggets, have also talked to the Grizzlies at the No. 4 spot. The Celtics don’t appear to be a serious contender for either pick, O’Connor adds.
Here’s some other tidbits from O’Connor’s story:
- The Hornets’ willingness to deal Kemba Walker has waned since they reached an agreement with the Nets to trade Dwight Howard for Timofey Mozgov. The Cavaliers have shown interest in solving their point guard dilemma by acquiring Walker.
- The Clippers could select Miami (Fla.) guard Lonnie Walker with one of their first-rounders and then ship him to the Hawks. The Clippers have the No. 12 and No. 13 picks in the lottery.
- The Bucks are trying to package the No. 17 pick with point guard Matthew Dellavedova‘s contract. Dellavedova has two years and $19.2MM remaining on his deal. Milwaukee would trade down in the draft in that scenario and not exit altogether.
- The Timberwolves have a strong interest in Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo with the No. 20 pick.
- There are rumblings that the Bulls made a promise to draft Boise State shooting guard Chandler Hutchison. That would have to be at No. 22 unless they make a deal.
- The Trail Blazers and Lakers are interested in IMG Academy shooting guard Anfernee Simons with their late first-round picks.
- Kentucky small forward Jarred Vanderbilt, Latvian forward Rodions Kurucs, and Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham are believed to have received draft promises.
Ramona Shelburne of ESPN is reporting that the Lakers, who have been fined for tampering twice in the past calendar year (links here), recently called an organizational meeting warning all employees about possible tampering ahead of the upcoming free agent signing period.
The Lakers, who are expected to play a key role during free agency this summer, also sent written notices to employees that referenced possible termination as punishment for anyone who does not adhere to NBA rules.
Per Shelburne, Lakers’ co-owner and governor Jeanie Buss called the meeting, which was led by president of basketball operations Magic Johnson who, somewhat ironically, was involved in both of the team’s prior tampering violations.
As our Hoops Rumors Glossary shows, the July Moratorium doesn’t allow free agent deals to become official until July 6. However, free agents are still permitted to negotiate with teams and agree to terms on new contracts during the moratorium. As such, the Lakers, as with the other 29 NBA franchises, aren’t allowed to begin negotiating with free agents until midnight on July 1.
Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard met with head coach Gregg Popovich on Tuesday in San Diego, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports.
The meeting was conducted professionally and confidentially, according to Charania, but there’s no indication that Leonard has softened his stance on being traded. Leonard’s desire to be moved, with Los Angeles being his preferred destination, was revealed last week.
Today’s meeting had been scheduled for weeks and was not a response to Leonard’s trade request, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets.
There has been steady communication between the Spurs’ front office and Leonard’s representatives, Charania adds. If Leonard is willing to stay put and sign a max extension with the Spurs, that could alter plans for several teams who have been angling to put together a package deal for him.
However, according to Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, Leonard has privately maintained that he no longer wants to play for the Spurs, and intends to eventually let suitors know that his intention is to sign in L.A. – preferably with the Lakers – when he reaches free agency in 2019.
The Spurs likely won’t be eager to facilitate a trade to the Lakers for Leonard, who remains upset over the team’s handling of his quad injury, as well as public comments from Popovich and teammate Tony Parker about the situation, per Shelburne and Wojnarowski.
While San Antonio has encouraged teams calling about Leonard to make offers if they so choose, the club has been “largely reluctant” to provide guidance on what sort of package it’s seeking, league sources tell the ESPN duo. The Spurs’ top priority continues to be talking with Leonard and his camp to work through the issues, according to Shelburne and Wojnarowski.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.