Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Bryant, Weems, Moreland

October 20th, 2015 at 9:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jim Buss, Lakers executive vice president of basketball operations, doesn’t regret signing Kobe Bryant to a two-year, $48.5MM extension back in 2013, regardless of how Bryant’s tenure with the franchise ends, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. “You give Kobe Bryant $50MM for two years,” Buss told Amick. “Are you kidding me? What did he bring us? In this day and age, what did he bring us, for 20 years? And if that isn’t what you’re supposed to do, then I have no idea what life is all about. You pay the guy. You believe in the guy. If he ends up [staying healthy], that’s fantastic. Well everybody [in the media] cut me up for that, but I’d say over 200 fans have come up to me and said, ‘Thank you so much for letting my kid see Kobe Bryant for two more years.’ And I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m glad I can see him for two more years.’ ”

Buss also took the time to refute a report by Henry Abbott of ESPN which indicated that the organization was anxious for Bryant to depart so it could begin rebuilding in earnest, Amick adds. “It’s [expletive], that’s exactly what that was,” Buss said when asked about the article. “The organization absolutely loves him. You know why? Because he has made a living, as we [have] with the Lakers for the last 20 years, because of this man. Magic Johnson carried us [to] this part [of their history] … and Kobe Bryant has carried us for 20 years. So every person that works in that organization, why would they hate him? Why would they want him out of there? There’s only a basketball or a Kobe hater that would want that. There’s no other reason.”

Here’s more out of the Pacific:

Sonny Weems has impressed the Suns‘ coaching staff with his playmaking ability, a part of his game that Weems credits his time playing overseas for developing, writes Matt Petersen of NBA.com. “When I first went over there [Europe], I was just the guy they got to score,” Weems said. “I paid attention over there instead of just going over there to play basketball. I learned a few things watching the European guards over there. It’s kind of a thing I picked up these last two or three years when I was in Russia. It just stuck with me.”
Power forward Eric Moreland is fighting long odds to secure a regular season roster spot with the Kings, but the level of hustle and energy he has exhibited has impressed coaches and may help him stick with the team, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Coach George Karl indicated Moreland deserves a roster spot on opening night, Jones adds. “It’s going to be difficult to get minutes between Cuz [DeMarcus Cousins], Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein when you want to play forward,” Karl said. “But I think he’s a good insurance policy. I think he and Quincy Acy both will serve as insurance policies and there may be situations where he can get on the court.”

Lakers Notes: Buss, Upshaw, Frazier, Roster

October 20th, 2015 at 2:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss admits his pitches to free agents in recent years have lacked oomph because he couldn’t promise them immediate success, but he’s confident he has the core in place now to change that, as he explains to Sam Amick of USA Today. Buss is particularly high on No. 2 pick D’Angelo Russell, Amick notes.

“I think we’ve done a great job [rebuilding],” Buss said. “Yeah, I think we’re in dynamite position. Not good position – dynamite. I think we’ve turned the corner. I don’t know if you discount that terminology, ‘turn the corner.’ But when you’re headed down the wrong road, and you can finally get off that road and turn the corner, that’s huge in my opinion.”

Buss set a timeline for turning the Lakers around that his sister Jeanie, the team’s primary owner, interprets as a mandate to get to the Western Conference Finals by 2017, and he believes the team is ahead of schedule and just needs to land a major free agent this summer, as Amick details. See more on Buss and the Lakers:

Warriors consultant Jerry West thinks the criticism of Buss is off-base, as he tells Amick for the same story. “He’s really smart … but he’s the easiest target there is,” West said of Buss. “And I will tell you, it’s grossly unfair sometimes. Grossly unfair. It’s almost like they want him to be a reincarnation of his dad, but he can’t.”
Issues surrounding Robert Upshaw “that go beyond talent” proved too worrisome for the Lakers, who waived the big man today, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, though whatever the issues are, they aren’t outrageous, Pincus cautions. Coach Byron Scott cited a “big-time learning curve on both ends” for Upshaw, according to Times colleague Mike Bresnahan (Twitter link). In any case, Scott said the Lakers hope Upshaw and Michael Frazier, whom they also cut today, clear waivers and sign with the team’s D-League affiliate, notes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
Both Bresnahan and Oram speculate that Metta World Peace and Jabari Brown are on the bubble for the last regular season roster spot on the Lakers, with Bresnahan suggesting that World Peace has a slight lead (Twitter links).

Lakers Waive Robert Upshaw, Michael Frazier

October 20th, 2015 at 1:33pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers have waived Robert Upshaw and Michael Frazier to drop their roster to 17 players, the team announced. Upshaw, a troubled but intriguing prospect, has a $35K partial guarantee while Frazier is assured of $50K. The Lakers will be responsible for those amounts if they clear waivers. The team still has 12 fully guaranteed contracts plus five more without full guarantees, so more decisions await before the team has to cut down to 15 players for opening night.

It appeared Upshaw would sign with the Lakers much sooner than he did this past offseason as he continued to deal with personal matters. Both Fresno State and Washington dismissed the now 21-year-old center as he dealt with substance abuse issues, and he went undrafted this past June in spite of talent that would suggest he would have merited a pick. He struggled on offense, as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times points out (Twitter link), averaging just 2.5 points in 14.1 points per game across four preseason appearances, laying to rest speculation that he would beat out Robert Sacre, who has a fully guaranteed salary, for a regular season roster spot.

Frazier, 21, also struggled to score in his four preseason games, posting 2.0 PPG in 13.4 MPG. The shooting guard went undrafted out of Florida this year, though he was the 55th-best prospect, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com.

Tarik Black, Jabari Brown, Marcelo Huertas and Metta World Peace are still with the Lakers on non-guaranteed deals, while Jonathan Holmes has a partial guarantee worth $100K. Holmes dislocated his right shoulder during Monday’s game, and he’ll be immobilized for the next couple of weeks, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. The partial guarantee covers about a month’s worth of games, but if he’s still unable to play after that, the Lakers will have to shell out more of his salary until he’s able to play, regardless of whether they waive him, as Pincus explains.

Who do you think the Lakers should keep for opening night? Leave a comment to let us know.

And-Ones: Cavs, Davis, Aldridge, Kobe, Teodosic

October 20th, 2015 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers are the pick to win it all and LeBron James is the favorite for MVP in the league’s annual GM survey, as John Schuhmann of NBA.com presents. More than half the executives who responded favor the Cavs, while the Warriors garnered only 17.9% of the vote, the third-lowest percentage for a defending champ in the 13-year history of the GM survey. Still, neither of last year’s Finals teams has Anthony Davis, whom a whopping 86.2% of respondents selected as the player they’d most want to build their teams around.

LaMarcus Aldridge drew 79.3% of the vote for the offseason acquisition who’ll make the greatest impact, and the Spurs garnered the same percentage for the team that had the best offseason, unsurprisingly. See more on Aldridge’s decision amid the latest from around the NBA:

Aldridge thought he would re-sign with the Trail Blazers when he put off thumb surgery last season, and he thinks the Blazers did all they could to keep him, but the lure of playing closer to his home in Texas proved too great when the time came for a decision, as he told Chris Mannix of SI.com. Aldridge said to Mannix that the idea that he left Portland because he couldn’t get along with Damian Lillard was overblown, and that while he and Lillard mutually acknowledged that they could have communicated better with each other, they don’t have a poor relationship. “But I never had an issue playing with him or anything like that or with him being the face or them promoting him or anything like that,” Aldridge said in part. “If I had an issue like that then why go to the Spurs? They don’t promote anybody.”
Kobe Bryant‘s presence was one of the best parts of meeting with the Lakers this summer, Aldridge insisted to Mannix for the same piece, striking back at the notion that he didn’t want to play with the Lakers star.
The GM poll also shows 28-year-old shooting guard Milos Teodosic, who plays for CSKA Moscow but whose NBA rights aren’t tied to any team, as the second-best international player outside the NBA aside from Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Dario Saric. Plus, more GMs want to see revamped lottery odds than any other rules change.

And-Ones: Krzyzewski, Ennis, Lakers, Bulls

October 19th, 2015 at 1:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski will step down from his national team duties after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as he told Andy Katz of ESPN.com. The news is not surprising, since Krzyzewski had originally wanted to step away after the 2012 Games. He didn’t indicate a preference for any specific successor but said he’d like to see a coach experience with international competition step into the position.

“I think it’s time to move ahead. During the next season there will be a number of decisions made about the future of USA Basketball with Rio [the roster] and coaching,” Krzyzewski said to Katz. “There has to be a succession … a planned succession with really good people so we can keep the continuity of the program going.”

While we wait to see if the next USA Basketball coach has NBA ties, here’s the latest from around the league:

At least other two teams have interest in James Ennis of the Heat, scouts have told Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, which complicates matters for Miami as it debates keeping Ennis for opening night, when his non-guaranteed salary would become fully guaranteed, Winderman notes.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has said he believes his team has more assets it could throw into trades than it had last season, but people around the league are pessimistic on what the Lakers can offer, as Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com details. In any case, the Lakers player with the greatest trade value is D’Angelo Russell, according to the consensus of the insiders who spoke with Holmes.
New Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg hasn’t observed any tension between stars Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose and is confident they can mesh on the floor, as Hoiberg tells Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times recently heard from a source who said Butler was frustrated with the point guard’s approach to the game. “I think they’ve got a very good relationship and that’s from sitting down and talking to both of them individually, talking to them together,” Hoiberg said. “There’s no issue there. I think those two would be the first to tell you that everything that’s been reported out there is not true. I think it could be one of the most dynamic, best backcourts in the league. I think those two play very well off each other.”

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Young, White, Mitrovic

October 19th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Warriors have largely the same roster they did when they won the title in June, but with a handful of players entering the final season of their contracts and Steve Kerr on a health-related leave of absence, this year’s team has a different feel, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Stephen Curry says it’s “weird” not having Kerr around and acknowledges the challenges of everyone coalescing once more, as Aldridge relays.

“We are, technically, the same team,” Curry said. “We have everybody minus David Lee back, and Jason Thompson. But we’re different in that regard. Because everybody’s in a different place in their careers. Maybe stuff’s going on off the court. You’ve got to kind of separate what we did last year from this year, even though it’s the same personalities in the locker room. Support each other, encourage each other, figure out how we can mesh all the different storylines together into one goal, which is doing what we did last year.”

See more from the Pacific Division:

Nick Young calls the trade rumors that surrounded him this summer “confusing” and “motivating,” but the Lakers didn’t find a taker, and Young and coach Byron Scott are entering this season preaching optimism about their continued partnership, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. “Me and Byron are good, but I’m using it as motivation,” Young said. “I’m just trying to do my part and stay alive. I’m trying to do everything he tells me to do. Anything I got to do to stay out there on the court.”
Suns camp cut Terrico White will play for Phoenix’s D-League affiliate, a source tells Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (Twitter link). White cleared waivers this weekend after the Suns released him Thursday. NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to as many as four players they waive, so White appears to be one of Phoenix’s four.
Kings draft-and-stash prospect Luka Mitrovic is expected to miss several months because of a left knee injury, Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi tweets. Mitrovic, the last pick of this year’s draft, signed an extension with Crvena Zvezda of Serbia this summer. Sacramento holds his NBA rights as a result of the cap-clearing trade with the Sixers this summer.

Pacific Notes: Staten, Murray, Henderson, Kerr

October 16th, 2015 at 6:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Juwan Staten, who was waived by the Warriors earlier today, will sign with Golden State’s D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). Colin Bryant, Staten’s agent, confirmed the news to Adam Johnson of D-League Digest (on Twitter). NBA teams can retain the D-League rights to up to four players they waive. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers have officially signed Tracy Murray for the remainder of the season as the team’s shooting coach, Los Angeles announced. “I’ve known Tracy a long time, and he was one of the purest shooters I’ve ever seen,” said coach Byron Scott. “I think he’ll be a benefit to our players, especially our young guys, and I look forward to working with him as a member of our staff.” Murray appeared in 659 games during his 12 year NBA career.
The Kings have offered point guard Marshall Henderson a spot on their D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns, Spears relays (via Twitter). The 24-year-old, who was waived by Sacramento on Thursday, is also garnering interest from teams overseas, the Yahoo scribe adds.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who took a leave of absence from the team after experiencing complications related to back surgery he had undergone in July, is expected to return to the team soon, Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com relays. Of Kerr’s impending return, interim coach Luke Walton said, “I think it’s great. Obviously Steve’s one of those guys just having him around makes everything better, so he wouldn’t be coming down with us at all if he was still as bad as he was. So I think it shows signs of improvement. I don’t think it means he’ll be back within the next two days, but all we can ask for is that he keeps getting better.”

Lakers Pick Up 2016/17 Option On Julius Randle

October 15th, 2015 at 2:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers have exercised their team option for the 2016/17 season on Julius Randle‘s rookie scale contract, the team announced (Twitter link). The move is largely procedural, as Randle was in no real danger of seeing the option declined. It locks in a $3,267,120 salary for what will be the third year of Randle’s deal.

The power forward is the team’s third leading scorer so far in the preseason with 12.8 points in 24.5 minutes per game. GM Mitch Kupchak sees Randle as a long-term starter, and the team has made an effort to surround him with veteran mentors, signing Brandon Bass and Metta World Peace in part because of what they can teach the former Kentucky Wildcat who doesn’t turn 21 until next month. Randle missed almost all of last season after breaking his right leg in the opening game.

He was the only member of the Lakers with a decision pending on a rookie scale team option before leaguewide deadline of November 2nd this year. The team is still poised to enter next summer with loads of flexibility beneath a projected $89MM cap, with only about $23MM in guaranteed salary on the books for 2016/17.

Pacific Notes: Thompson, Cauley-Stein, Nance

October 15th, 2015 at 2:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

Jason Thompson sees the difference between the Kings and the Warriors as “kind of night and day,” notes Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area. The big man is starting his first NBA season with a team other than Sacramento thanks to a pair of trades that took him to Golden State by way of Philadelphia.

“You can tell it’s a first-class organization,” Thompson said of the Warriors. “No offense to Sac, but there was no stability in the seven years that I was there. You could just tell, from Day 1, when the trade went through, how differently things went on and off the court. Regardless of this being my eighth season, I’m trying to learn what it takes to win and be around that atmosphere. I’m kind of soaking up all of the information with a sponge. It’s not going to change overnight, but you can just tell things are sharper and things are going to be more crisp as preseason and as practices go.”

Thompson, a starter for most of his time with the Kings, said he’s OK with the uncertainty regarding his role, Poole adds. See more from the Pacific:

By contrast, Kings rookie Willie Cauley-Stein knows his role and is comfortable with being the team’s “junk man,” as he said to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Just how the career of this year’s No. 6 overall pick will turn out depends largely on whether he can rebound consistently, Voisin believes.
Larry Nance Jr. thinks the Lakers used this year’s No. 27 overall pick on him because of his jumping ability and his 6’9″, 230-pound frame, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “I think I’m just something different. I’m someone that’s long, lanky, lean,” Nance said. “I want to run the floor and be as athletic as I can and really change the pace of the game when I come in. When you put me on the court, don’t worry about me, I’ll find my own stuff on offense.”
Lakers coach Byron Scott likes the poise he’s seen from Nance so far, but the power forward told Bresnahan for the same story that he still feels he’s only about 85-90% recovered from the torn right ACL he suffered in March 2014, even though he’s been medically cleared for almost a year.

Pacific Notes: Rondo, Rivers, Lakers

October 14th, 2015 at 6:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The reports that Kings point guard Rajon Rondo is already butting heads with coach George Karl are not true, and are simply the result of Rondo having fun with members of the media, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee relays (via Twitter). Jones insists that there are no issues between the strong-willed pair. The rumors of a disconnect between the point guard and coach began as a result of comments that Rondo made to Manny Vieites of Cowbell Kingdom in which Rondo said in response to a query about his relationship with Karl, “It’s not been going too well. We got into a couple of arguments the last couple of days, but hopefully we continue to talk and get better.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Austin Rivers believes that his career has been righted since arriving in Los Angeles to play for the Clippers, as well as his father, Doc Rivers, writes Jonathan Abrams of Grantland. “I was just myself,” Austin said of his time with the Clippers during the 2014/15 season. “I stopped thinking. I stopped trying to show everybody I could play. I don’t need to show anybody anything. Just go be myself, and if I do that, then I can really show how good of a player I can be. I almost was mad at myself. I was so pissed that for the past two years, I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself, just for no reason.”
Despite several key additions during this past offseason, the Lakers still are significantly behind the rest of the pack in the Western Conference playoff picture, opines Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com in his season preview for the franchise.
The Suns are experimenting with utilizing 6’9″ power forward Cory Jefferson at the center position, a move that may aid him in making the regular season roster, Zach Buchanan of The Arizona Republic writes. “He’s that guy who puts pressure on the basket and on the rim and it opens a lot of things up,” coach Jeff Hornaceck said. “He sets screens and, defensively, he can come from the weak side and block shots. He’s a little outsized for maybe that position, but he handles it pretty well.”