- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he laughs any time another team brings up Dirk Nowitzki in a trade proposal, relays Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. Nowitzki adds that Kobe Bryant once tried to convince him to sign with the Lakers, but he never seriously considered leaving Dallas.
Kevin Durant is taking the blame for the strained relationship with former teammate Russell Westbrook, according to an article on NBC Sports Bay Area. Since Durant left the Thunder in July of 2016, he and Westbrook have been engaged in a simmering feud, and Durant believes he could have handled the situation better.
“Well I just got outta my own head, got out of my own ways and stopped thinking it was even a thing,” he said when asked about the topic at today’s All-Star Weekend press conference. “… I feel like I made it a thing when it a thing when it shouldn’t have been. It’s cool to kind of get past that and just appreciate these guys for who they are and what they do. And it’s all love at the end of the day.”
Veteran center Channing Frye, who was recently traded to the Lakers, underwent an appendectomy Friday night, tweets Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet. Frye is in Cleveland and will have his condition re-evaluated in a week.
Frye’s absence shouldn’t be an issue for the Lakers, who acquired him for his expiring contract and because he helped match salary in the deal that sent Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cavaliers. Frye has appeared in just one game since coming to L.A., playing 11 minutes.
He missed the entire 2012/13 season after being diagnosed with an enlarged heart, but has been healthy since returning and played a full 82-game schedule for the Suns the following year. He appeared in 44 games in Cleveland this season before being dealt, averaging 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in about 12 minutes per night.
Frye, who turns 35 in May, will hope to return for at least a few games with the Lakers to remind teams of his value before entering free agency this summer.
There’s no denying that the Lakers are set on making a push for Paul George and LeBron James this summer, but what if things don’t go according to plan? Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus recently broke down the club’s alternative options if one or both of those stars decide against a move to Los Angeles.
If James decides not to sign with the Lakers, it’s expected that the franchise will continue to make a push for George. What the team would do with its second max slot in that scenario remains to be seen, however. Given that the next-best reasonably available options could be an injured DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan, the Lakers may opt hold onto their cap space until the summer of 2019 in that situation.
If neither of the two sign in L.A., the Lakers would almost inevitably have to hold onto their cap space until the summer of 2019 when players like Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker hit the market.
If the latter happens, the Lakers will need to be tactful in how they manage players like Isaiah Thomas, Julius Randle and Brook Lopez, all set to have their contracts expire at the end of June.
- If a player needs to be convinced to play for the franchise and carry on the Lakers legacy, they’re not the right person for the job, Kobe Bryant said. The Hall of Fame-bound shooting guard discussed his role in recruiting free agents for the only franchise he ever played for with ESPN’s Jalen Rose.
One of four players traded to the Cavaliers last Thursday, Larry Nance Jr. was almost certainly the one most familiar with the city of Cleveland. His father, Larry Nance Sr., played for the Cavs from 1988 to 1994, earning two All-Star nods during that time and eventually having his uniform number (22) retired by the franchise.
While the elder Nance said this week that he called up the Cavs after the trade to offer to unretire No. 22 for his son, Nance Jr. tells Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype that he didn’t want to claim his father’s old number. As Nance Jr. tells it, he wants fans at Cavs game to be able to point to that number in the rafters while they’re watching him on the court.
In his conversation with Kennedy, which is worth checking out in full, Nance Jr. also went into more detail on his trade from Los Angeles to Cleveland, explaining how he found about being traded and what his expectations are for the Cavs this season. Here are a few highlights from the discussion:
On how Nance found out he had been traded to the Cavaliers:
“Like everyone else, I was following Woj and had the tweet notifications set up just in case and just to find out what kind of stuff was happening. I had just woke up and I was going to wash my face, when I got the update that the Cavs and Lakers were in serious trade talks. I thought, ‘Oh? I don’t know who that could involve, but we’ll see.’ Not even 30 seconds later, I got a call from [Lakers general manager] Rob Pelinka and [head coach] Luke [Walton] and [president] Magic [Johnson] were in his office with him. They all broke the news to me and told me that I was going to Cleveland.”
On Koby Altman telling reporters that Nance was emotional about returning home:
“Yeah, I think he basically said I was crying and that’s a bit of a stretch (laughs). But I was excited! I don’t think anybody wants to get traded, but if I had to go anywhere, it doesn’t get much better than going home to play for a championship contender. I knew that it would probably be a good thing going forward, so I was definitely excited when I talked to him. Koby is a really good dude and we had a good talk.”
On his expectations for the Cavs this season:
“This team has been to the NBA Finals for three straight years and I think we got better with the trades. So, I mean, that’s where I’d love to end up. But, at this point, I don’t know [how good we can be]. I’ve been on one team for my whole career and that was the Lakers. Now, I’ve been on this new team for three days, so it’s kind of tough to tell.”
After being fined $500K for tampering with the Pacers and Paul George during the 2017 offseason, the Lakers were once again penalized by the NBA last week for violating the league’s anti-tampering rules. During a Thursday appearance on ESPN’s The Jump, commissioner Adam Silver explained the thinking behind the $50K fine the Lakers received after Magic Johnson made a few seemingly innocuous comments about Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“Context is everything, and there had been a prior issue with the Lakers early this season,” Silver said. “And the message is — not just to Magic but to all the executives in the league is — stop talking about players on other teams.”
The NBA’s anti-tampering rules leave some room for interpretation, and generally allow coaches and players to discuss other teams’ players without fear of reprisal. However, the league appears to be drawing a harder line when it comes to executives like Johnson discussing those same players.
“We’d love to hear [former] players like Magic Johnson talk about how great young players are in the league,” Silver said. “But there’s enough commentary out there. And I think, when on balance, just asking them to refrain from that one aspect of talking about other players, isn’t that big a deal.”
Silver also addressed a few other topics during his appearance on The Jump, including why the All-Star draft wasn’t televised and the NBA’s reaction to an apparent increase in injuries across the league this season. Be sure to check out ESPN’s full breakdown for those comments.
When the Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball, they acquired a package deal that included his outspoken father, LaVar. In his rookie season, Lonzo has fielded questions about his father’s critiques of the Lakers, the Big Baller Brand, and his brothers’ basketball careers.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne outlines a tense, if not somewhat hostile, environment since the Ball infiltrated the Lakers organization. Among the issues Shelburne reports: The Lakers didn’t allow the family’s production team to film games for their ‘Ball In The Family’ Facebook show for free, charged Lonzo regular price for tickets, and privately admonished LaVar when poor reviews of BBB’s products were directed to the team.
While the organization has stayed mostly silent in regards to LaVar’s comments, privately, the team views him as a major distraction. One official tells Shelburne that LaVar is viewed as someone that, “reaches out with one hand and slaps us with the other.”
It has been a tumultuous, injury-filled rookie season for Lonzo, but he has shown signs of promise. While it remains to be seen whether he’ll deliver promise on that promise to an extent that makes his father’s presence worth tolerating, Magic Johnson has plenty of confidence in the partnership and no regrets about drafting the young point guard.
“He’s everything we thought he would be and more,” Johnson said. “Things are gonna work out for the Lakers and for Lonzo.”
Check out other Pacific Division news and notes below:
- While it appeared that Marquese Chriss turned a major corner less than two months ago, his game has seemingly regressed back to rookie status in his second season with the Suns, Scott Bordow of Arizona Central Sports writes.
- Acquired in last summer’s Chris Paul trade, Montrezl Harrell has played well for the Clippers and has solidified his role as the backup center. It’s not easy to pinpoint one specific thing Harrell does well, but he says he just maximizes his minutes, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. “I just took the minutes I had and made the best of it when I got in,” Harrell said. “I just kept working on my game, off the court and on the court.”
- In spite of his team’s youth movement, Kings veteran Zach Randolph has played more than expected in recent weeks, which has allowed him to get into a groove offensively, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “You get a good rhythm,” Randolph said. “Especially something that I’m not used to, the team developing our young players. So you get into a good rhythm, it’s important, playing and getting that feel.”
Lonzo Ball went through a full-contact practice on Tuesday but won’t return until after the All-Star break, Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register reports. The Lakers rookie point guard has been sidelined since spraining his left knee on January 13th. Coach Luke Walton remained vague on when Ball would suit up. “When his body is ready, then he’ll play again,” Walton told Teaford and other reporters. “I can’t tell you whether that’s going to be the first game [after the All-Star break], the second game or the third game.”
Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA.
- The Jazz assigned center Tony Bradley and guard Naz Mitrou-Long to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to a team press release. Bradley is making his 14th G League assignment, while Mitrou-Long joins the Stars for the first time since signing a 10-day contract on February 11th. Bradley has also appeared in 19 games for the Stars averaging 15.4 PPG, 9.8 RPG and 1.3 BPg in 29.0 MPG. Mitrou-Long has appeared in 32 games for the Stars, averaging 16.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 4.7 APG in 34.6 MPG.
- The Lakers recalled rookie center Thomas Bryant from the South Bay Lakers for their upcoming two-game road trip, according to the G League team’s Twitter feed. Thomas has averaged 19.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 1.6 BPG in 25 games with South Bay.
Now that the dust has settled on last Thursday’s trade-deadline deals and the first round of veteran buyouts and cuts has been completed, it’s worth taking stock of which NBA teams have the flexibility to add a player or two without waivers anyone else.
With the help of our roster counts page, which we update all season, here are the NBA teams with open spots on their 15-man rosters. Open two-way contract slots aren’t included here, since teams are ineligible to sign new two-way contracts at this point in the season.
Teams with a player on a 10-day contract filling their open spot:
- Phoenix Suns
- Utah Jazz
Both the Suns and Jazz have 14 players on fully guaranteed NBA contracts, leaving one potential opening. For now, Josh Gray is filling that 15th spot in Phoenix and Naz Mitrou-Long is doing the same in Utah. However, they’re only on 10-day contracts, so both of these teams could soon create an open spot if necessary.
Teams with one open spot:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
- Dallas Mavericks
- Indiana Pacers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Note: The Pelicans currently have two open roster spots, but Emeka Okafor‘s second 10-day contract will fill one when it becomes official.
- New York Knicks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Orlando Magic
- Sacramento Kings
- Toronto Raptors
The teams listed above represent a mix of playoff-bound squads and rebuilding non-contenders. Teams like the Bulls, Mavericks, and Knicks could use their open roster spots to take fliers on young players via 10-day contracts, while clubs like the Timberwolves, Thunder, and Raptors may be eyeing the buyout market for veterans who could fortify their respective benches.
Teams with two open spots:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Washington Wizards
NBA rules generally prohibit teams from carrying fewer than 14 players on their 15-man squads. However, clubs are permitted to dip to 13 – or even 12 – in special circumstances, as long as they get back up to 14 within two weeks. Roster moves made last week by the Hawks, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, and Wizards left them below the limit, so they’ll each have to add at least one player by the end of the All-Star break.
Note: Roster info current as of Tuesday, February 13 at 2:00pm CT.