- The Lakers have been in a rebuild mode for several seasons as they have gone through numerous head coaches, front office hires, and roster changes. However, Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register writes that the Lakers are not cut out to be in a rebuild mode but rather to shortcut through the phase in an attempt to compete.
The Lakers are expecting Lonzo Ball to return soon from his injured left knee, possibly before the end of the current road trip, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. The injury, which has officially been classified as a sprained MCL, took place January 13.
- Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. was slightly surprised to hear his name brought up in trade rumors for the first time in his career. Appearing on a podcast with Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, Nance said he realizes it’s part of life in the NBA. “At the end of the day, it’s a business,” he said. “If something like that were to happen, if I were to get traded to a different team, it would be a team that would value me. I try to look at it like that, just as an opportunity.”
Nuggets veterans Kenneth Faried and Emmanuel Mudiay could be had in trades at this year’s deadline, league sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who suggests that the asking prices for those players likely wouldn’t be too high. I identified both Faried and Mudiay as potential trade candidates in my look at the Northwest on Wednesday.
If the Nuggets become a seller, Will Barton would also be a very intriguing trade chip, Kyler writes. However, that may be wishful thinking on the part of rival teams. Denver currently holds a playoff spot in the West and Barton has played the second-most minutes on the club, so it seems unlikely that the Nuggets would move him. Ultimately, the team may not end up trading anyone — Kyler suggests there’s a sense around the NBA that Denver isn’t looking to make a deal as aggressively as several other teams.
Here’s more from Kyler:
- Sources close to the Heat acknowledge that teams have called about Hassan Whiteside, but say he probably won’t be made available at the deadline, writes Kyler.
- The Mavericks “have had eyes” for Julius Randle, and would be a potential trade partner for L.A. if the Lakers move the big man. Kyler refers to Dallas a “open for business” in terms of trades.
- According to Kyler, the prevailing thought around the NBA is that Willy Hernangomez is the player most likely to be moved by the Knicks, though he’s unlikely to net a significant return.
- While many league insiders think Nikola Mirotic will end up in Utah, the Jazz don’t currently seem to be on board with sending a first-round pick to the Bulls, says Kyler.
- Team sources tell Kyler that Garrett Temple and Zach Randolph are more likely than not to finish the season in Sacramento, but the Kings have been “very open and receptive” to trying to find their veterans new homes.
- Although the Magic are viewed as a team that could be active at the deadline, the team is reluctant to take back long-term salary and would be happy to ride out the season and make changes in the summer if necessary, per Kyler.
Lakers ownership and management continue to voice their support for Luke Walton, with controlling owner Jeanie Buss the latest to praise the club’s head coach. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN details, Buss was asked on Tuesday whether Walton will remain the Lakers’ head coach through the season and the 2018 offseason, and she essentially dismissed the idea that it’d even be up for debate.
“Luke Walton is the Lakers’ coach, period,” Buss said. “There’s no worrying about it, there’s no speculation. He’s done a terrific job. He is somebody that the entire front office, the organization is behind.”
Walton’s job performance was questioned – most notably by LaVar Ball – when the Lakers lost nine consecutive games at the end of December and start of January. However, Walton’s Lakers have looked very good since snapping that streak. The club has won seven of its last nine games, including three in a row — L.A. is coming off a Tuesday night upset of the Celtics.
While the Lakers didn’t respond immediately to Ball’s criticisms earlier this month, Buss and Magic Johnson tweeted support for their head coach a week and a half ago, and Buss’ comments this week further cement Walton’s job security in Los Angeles. The Lakers’ private stance reportedly lines up with its public stance, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne has previously suggested that Walton’s job status was “not even a conversation” for the franchise.
Combo guard Lou Williams hasn’t made any progress with the Clippers regarding an extension, Sam Amick of USA Today reports. Williams is enjoying a career year and has an expiring contract that could draw interest from numerous contenders, but it sounds like the veteran wouldn’t mind staying put and reaching an agreement to stay in L.A. “I’m putting everything on the line out here for this organization, and you know the season I’m having I would like to be rewarded for it and just appreciated,” he told Amick.
In other Pacific Division developments:
- Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball has missed the last four games with a left knee injury and he may remain sidelined during the team’s upcoming five-game road trip, ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk reports. Ball is expected to join the team on the trip, which begins Friday in Chicago. The Lakers are 2-8 in games he’s missed. “Whether he plays or not [on the trip], that all depends on the knee,” coach Luke Walton told reporters. “We are not going to rush him back from a sore knee. Once that gets better, we will get him back on the court.”
- Kings GM Vlade Divac‘s job is safe despite the club’s disappointing season, writes The Sacramento Bee’s Jason Jones. Divac’s contract runs through the 2019/20 season and it wouldn’t do the organization any good to begin another rebuild with a different GM at this point, according to Jones, who adds that the way that next season unfolds will determine if Divac sticks long-term.
- With the Kings resting veterans and going all-in on their youth movement in the second half, Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee takes a closer look at several of the team’s young players, exploring what the team wants to see down the stretch from Bogdan Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox, and others.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
As the Knicks consider their options at the trade deadline and look ahead to the summer, the front office is prioritizing the addition of an athletic wing, sources tell Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. According to Bondy, one player on the team’s radar is Lakers swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The idea of trading for Caldwell-Pope and his $17.75MM cap hit probably isn’t practical for the Knicks, since KCP will be an unrestricted free agent in a few months. The club is more likely to target the fifth-year wing in free agency this offseason, Bondy writes.
As Bondy points out, the recent jail sentence Caldwell-Pope served for violating probation will be a red flag for the Knicks and other potential suitors. However, if New York’s front office does its homework on KCP and is confident that off-court issues won’t be an ongoing problem, the club could have the opportunity to land the UFA-to-be at a discounted rate, given that legal history.
Caldwell-Pope, who will turn 25 next month, failed to land a lucrative long-term deal during the 2017 offseason and settled for a one-year contract with the Lakers. He has played fairly well in L.A., posting career-best rates in a few categories, including 3PT% (.357). However, given the lack of teams projected to have real cap room in 2018, it remains to be seen whether KCP will have better luck securing a big payday this time around.
While the Knicks could create a chunk of cap space this summer, player options for Enes Kanter, Ron Baker, and Kyle O’Quinn complicate that equation — if all three players pick up their options, New York’s cap room would all but disappear, leaving the club with the mid-level exception. As for the Lakers, they’ll have plenty of flexibility to re-sign Caldwell-Pope if they so choose, but they figure to focus on higher-profile targets when free agency opens in July.
- Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball is making progress from a knee injury that has sidelined him for the past three games, but he still isn’t close to returning, tweets Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. Coach Luke Walton said Ball is several steps away from playing again.
Coming off a rare season in which no coaches were fired, the NBA may be preparing for a shakeup that will affect a third of the league, writes Frank Isola of The New York Daily News.
Isola suggests as many as 10 teams could be looking at coaching changes at the end of the season, if not sooner. The actual number will depend on how things play out, but several more names may join David Fizdale of Memphis and Earl Watson of Phoenix as coaching casualties for 2017/18.
Both Los Angeles teams could be open to changes, with the Lakers far out of the playoff race at 16-29. The front office was slow to defend Luke Walton after recent derogatory comments by LaVar Ball, and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently suggested that hiring former Fizdale, a former assistant with the Heat, would give the organization a better shot at LeBron James. However, Walton still has an important ally in majority owner Jeanie Buss.
Across town, Doc Rivers is doing a remarkable job with a depleted roster, but he may not remain with the Clippers if they decide to rebuild by following through with rumored trades involving DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams. Rivers, who has one more year left on the extension he signed in 2014, was removed from his front office duties before the start of the season. Isola says Rivers may return to television if he leaves the Clippers, though he would become a candidate for possible openings in New York and Orlando.
There will be no shortage of prominent candidates if the Knicks decide to move on from Jeff Hornacek. Isola identifies ABC/ESPN analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy as potential replacements, along with former Pelicans coach and Knicks player Monty Williams, reigning G League Coach of the Year Jerry Stackhouse and Villanova coach Jay Wright, although there is speculation that Wright would only leave the college ranks to take the Sixers’ job.
- The Lakers have recalled rookie big man Thomas Bryant from the G League, the club announced today (via Twitter). Bryant scored a team-high 23 points on Friday to help lead the South Bay Lakers to a win.
- Frank Urbina of HoopsHype identifies six teams that he believes should be active at the trade deadline, including three sellers (Bulls, Lakers, Grizzlies) and three buyers (Cavaliers, Pacers, Bucks).