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Spend Christmas With Us

December 25th, 2017 at 11:10am CST by Arthur Hill

One of the many great things about Christmas is a full slate of NBA games that begins at 11am Central and stretches throughout the day. We at Hoops Rumors welcome our readers to use this post to comment on all of today’s action.

The games tip off with a showcase of some of the league’s brightest young stars as the Knicks host the Sixers. Philadelphia center Joel Embiid has been medically cleared to play, joining teammate Ben Simmons and New York’s Kristaps Porzingis and Frank Ntilikina in a look at the NBA’s future.

The spotlight game of the day comes next as the Warriors host the Cavaliers in a rematch of the past three NBA Finals. Both teams come into the contest near the top of their conferences and a fourth straight Finals clash seems likely, if not inevitable. Even though Stephen Curry will be sidelined and Isaiah Thomas isn’t quite ready to return, Cleveland-Golden State games are always special.

The Wizards and Celtics are next in a rematch of their thrilling series in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals. It’s a battle of two of the league’s best point guards as John Wall faces Kyrie Irving in Boston’s first home Christmas Day game in 69 years.

Following that, last year’s top two vote-getters in the MVP race will be on display as Russell Westbrook and the Thunder host James Harden and the Rockets. The addition of Chris Paul has helped Houston post the league’s best record at 25-6. The additions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were supposed to do the same for Oklahoma City, which may be coming together with four straight wins after a slow start.

The night will end at Staples Center as the Lakers host the Northwest Division-leading Timberwolves. Lonzo Ball will miss the game with a sprained left shoulder, but Rookie of the Year candidate Kyle Kuzma is still worth watching as L.A. faces Jimmy Butler and the new-look Wolves.

The staff of Hoops Rumors extends Merry Christmas wishes to all our readers. Thank you for your loyalty throughout the year and please consider spending part of your holiday with us.

Shoulder Sprain Sidelines Lonzo Ball

December 24th, 2017 at 5:37pm CST by Austin Kent

The Lakers will be without rookie point guard Lonzo Ball when they tip off against the Timberwolves on Christmas Day, the team has announced. Although Ball played 36 minutes for Los Angeles in their Saturday night loss to the Trail Blazers, he actually injured his left shoulder in the second quarter.

Results of an MRI conducted today show that the guard suffered a sprain in that shoulder and will be sidelined for the club’s prime time tilt under the national holiday spotlight. He’ll be re-evaluated in a week’s time, leaving his status for the team’s Wednesday and Friday night tilts up in the air. The guard hasn’t been definitively ruled out for those games but there’s reason to believe that he would sit them.

The setback comes at an unfortunate time for the rookie as Ball had started to turn around his infamous shooting woes of late. As Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweeted on Saturday, Ball has averaged 17.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game on .469 shooting over the course of his last five games.

'Business' distracting Lakers players

December 24th, 2017 at 12:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The business side of the NBA may be distracting the Lakers as the trade deadline draws near, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Coach Luke Walton criticized his team’s effort after Saturday’s loss to Portland and suggested that some players were “pouting” on the bench. Veteran center Andrew Bogut, who was part of two financial-related trades last season, said that reaction is understandable.

The Lakers reportedly want to clear enough cap room to offer two maximum contracts in free agency, which means players with high salaries beyond this season such as Luol Deng and Jordan Clarkson are expendable, along with Julius Randle, who will have a $14.5MM cap hold this summer. Bogut said he has discussed the situation with the team’s younger players and urged them to not let it affect their performance.

The Warriors may have showcased their frontline of the future Friday night when rookie Jordan Bell started at center alongside Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, Slater writes in a separate piece. Bell became the first Golden State center in nearly four years to post a 20-point, 10-rebound game, continuing his impressive start since being taken with the 38th pick. “The reason he had 20 and 10 is because he had so much space,” Kerr said. “The Lakers were playing every passing lane, so he was just roaming and had plenty of easy hoops. We were kind of waiting to see that combination.”

Lakers Abandon Hope Of Luol Deng Trade

December 24th, 2017 at 8:56am CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers have given up hope of trading veteran forward Luol Deng, deciding the price would be too steep, Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s Full Court Press. Other teams are aware of L.A.’s desire to unload Deng’s hefty salary and are demanding a lot in return for taking it on.

“You talk to teams around the league, no one is bailing the Lakers out with Deng’s contract,” Wojnarowski said. “They’re not. Teams have asked for multiple first-round picks. They’ve asked for Brandon Ingram. They’ll ask for Kyle Kuzma. The Lakers have essentially given up on the idea that they can trade Deng.”

Deng has two more seasons and $36.81MM left on the four-year, $72MM deal he signed in the summer of 2016. The Lakers have received very little for that money, as Deng was limited to 56 games last season and has only gotten off the bench once this year.

A report this week said the organization is unwilling to part with even one first-rounder to get rid of Deng, so a trade was never realistic. As we outlined on Friday, the most likely step is for the Lakers to stretch the final two years of Deng’s contract. If they do it before August 31 of next year and stretch the money over five seasons, it would provide a $7.362MM cap hit each year. If they hold onto Deng for another year and stretch the final season across three years, it would count $6.27MM annually.

The Lakers are hoping to be major players in the free agent market next summer and would like to clear as much cap room as possible in hopes of offering two max contracts.

Lakers, Mavericks Discussed Randle-Noel Swap

December 23rd, 2017 at 8:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers and Mavericks had “initial” trade talks involving Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel, according to Adrian Wojnarowski on ESPN’s Full Court Press special.

Discussions broke off after Noel suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb that required surgery. The team didn’t offer a timetable for recovery after the December 6 operation, but Noel said doctors told him four to six weeks. That would have him back around mid-January, which is well in advance of the February 8 trade deadline. It remains to be seen if the Lakers will still be interested.

Both teams have obvious motives to make a deal. The Lakers are trying to clear cap room in hopes of offering two max contracts in next summer’s free agency, and Randle will have a $12.5MM cap hold. L.A. chose not to extend Randle’s rookie contract in October, and a report last month said it’s “unlikely” he will remain with the team beyond this season. Noel would bring an expiring contract, which is what the Lakers are looking for. Randle, a Dallas native, might have interest in signing long-term with the Mavericks when he becomes a restricted free agent in July.

Noel has been a disappointment in Dallas since being acquired from the Sixers at last year’s trade deadline. He was averaging 4.0 points and 4.1 rebounds through 18 games and had fallen out of the rotation before his surgery. Because he signed a $4.2MM qualifying offer to return to the Mavs this season, Noel has the option to refuse any trade.

Lakers Believe They Can Trade Jordan Clarkson

December 23rd, 2017 at 5:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers are confident they can unload Jordan Clarkson at some point to help with their pursuit of free agents next summer, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on the network’s Full Court Press special.

L.A. reportedly wants to be able to offer a pair of max contracts in July, with LeBron James and Paul George considered to be prime targets. To make that possible the team has to trim salaries, including Clarkson, who has two seasons left on the four-year, $50MM contract he signed in the summer of 2016. He will make $12.5MM next season and $13.4375MM in 2019/20.

“They believe they can trade Jordan Clarkson and get his money off,” Wojnarowski said. “They prefer not to do it at the trade deadline. Clarkson has helped them win games this year, and because they don’t have their pick, they want to win as many games as they can. So I think there’s some confidence there that they can find a deal for Clarkson after the season, to get his money off. But there’s got to be a sequencing here. And it gets back to, are they going to chase one max-salary slot, or two?”

A former starter, the fourth-year guard has adjusted to a reserve role over the past two seasons and has remained productive. He is averaging 13.8 points through 30 games and shooting a career-best 46% from the field.

To open two full-max slots, the Lakers will also have to get rid of Luol Deng, who has only appeared in one game this season and is owed $36.81MM over the next two years, along with Julius Randle, who will have a cap hold of roughly $12.5MM. L.A. may decide to stretch Deng’s contract after this season, which would make it count $7.362MM against the cap for each of the next five years.

New Lonzo Ball Player Comparison; Free Agency Backup Plans

December 22nd, 2017 at 6:31pm CST by Austin Kent

While Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has upped his shooting percentages over the course of the last few weeks, his inability to score consistently could prevent him from ever becoming a superstar, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN writes.

For a number of reasons, ranging from the wonky left-eye-dominant shooting stroke to his instinctive pass-first mentality, Ball may never develop into the scorer that he’d likely need to be in order to have his jersey raised in the Staples Center, as Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson so kindly requested at his introduction press conference.

Arnovitz suggests that while there may be hurdles for Ball to become the next Stephen Curry, he could still have an instrumental impact on the Lakers by becoming their Draymond Green. His feel for the game and style could inspire the team to play the right way, in line with head coach Luke Walton‘s vision, even if he never becomes a dominant offensive weapon.

If it’s a “long shot” for the Lakers to sign LeBron James next summer, as has been reported, the franchise would be wise to start targeting Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes.

Lakers Not Interested In Using First-Round Pick To Move Deng

December 22nd, 2017 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

While clearing Luol Deng‘s salary from their books would be the most effective way of clearing cap room to sign two maximum-salary free agents in 2018, the Lakers don’t intend to sacrifice any future first-round picks to facilitate a Deng deal, source tell Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link).

As Marks notes, this past offseason, the Lakers were able to move one of the two ill-advised contracts they signed in the summer of 2016, sending Timofey Mozgov to Brooklyn. However, that deal cost the team a former second overall pick in D’Angelo Russell.

Deng’s four-year, $72MM deal was the Lakers’ other misstep from 2016’s free agent period, with that massive contract quickly turning into a negative asset. Moving it in a trade similar to the Mozgov swap would likely mean attaching at least one future first-round pick, if not more. For a rebuilding team, parting with so many first-rounders would be “reckless,” Marks writes.

Assuming the Lakers’ stance on Deng doesn’t change, working out a buyout and/or waiving him via the stretch provision look like the most viable paths to creating cap room. I examined the stretch provision in detail on Thursday, using Knicks center Joakim Noah as a case study, but Deng – whose contract is very similar to Noah’s – is another top candidate to be stretched.

Deng is owed $18MM in 2018/19 and $18.81MM in 2019/20. If the Lakers stretch him anytime before August 31, 2018, his salaries for those two seasons would be spread across five years at a rate of $7.362MM annually. If L.A. decides to roll its cap room over to 2019, the team could keep Deng for one more season, then waive him later and spread the final year of his deal across three seasons at a rate of $6.27MM per year.

There’s also a scenario in which the Lakers could extend and stretch Deng, potentially further reducing his annual cap hits by stretching them across more seasons. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report broke down that idea last month, though it’s not clear if the franchise is considering it.

Latest On Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

December 22nd, 2017 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is in the midst of serving a 25-day jail sentence as a result of violating his probation, writes Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times. As part of a work-release program, Caldwell-Pope is allowed to leave the Seal Beach Police Department Detention Center to participate in Lakers’ practices and games, but he’s not permitted to leave the state during his 25-day sentence.

Caldwell-Pope was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence back on March 29, and was sentenced to a 12-month probation period. He was required submit to and pay for random drug testing during that time as part of the agreement. However, according to Ganguli, court records show Caldwell-Pope failed to comply with those terms, having missed several drug and alcohol screenings.

Per Ganguli, court records show that Caldwell-Pope must wear a GPS monitor whenever he leaves the detention facility, and must submit to a breath test upon returning. If he violates any of the terms of his new agreement, KCP will be sentence to 93 days in Oakland County Jail.

Caldwell-Pope’s 25-day sentence initially had him ticketed for Oakland County Jail, but he petitioned the court to serve his sentence at the Seal Beach Detention Center instead, and that petition was approved. Ganguli describes the pay-to-stay Seal Beach facility as one that has “a reputation as a refuge for wealthy offenders.” It costs $120 per day for inmates who are part of the work-release program.

While Caldwell-Pope’s current situation is a rare one for NBA players, his 25-day jail sentence was fortuitously timed — nine of the Lakers’ next 12 games are at home, and tonight’s road game is in California (Golden State). As such, KCP should only miss two more road games: December 31’s contest in Houston and January 1’s game in Minnesota.

Lakers GM Pelinka Feels Team Can Lure Free Agents To LA

December 19th, 2017 at 10:37pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Lakers elected to go in a completely new direction last season and Kobe Bryant‘s former agent turned general manager, Rob Pelinka, was at the forefront of that change. With young talent in abundance and ample resources, Pelinka feels the team can soon lure the right players to the city of angels, USA TODAY’s Sam Amick writes. “We have as much cap flexibility, or cap health, as any team in the league. We know that this is a destination city for players to want to be in,” Pelinka said. “We have a legacy with our franchise that really can’t be duplicated, and we’ve got a pass-first, ball-sharing point guard (in Lonzo Ball), which players want to play with. So I think the culmination of all those forces is, like you said, we feel like we’ve become a destination again. Now it’s going to be Magic’s job, and my job with Jeanie’s guidance to complete the puzzle with the right pieces as we move forward.”