Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Knicks, Others Eye Kevin Seraphin

July 28th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks, Lakers and Wizards continue to show interest in Kevin Seraphin, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported interest from the Lakers early this month, and Scotto added the Wizards a few days later, but this appears to be the first time New York has come up in connection with the center.

The Knicks are also among the teams with interest in Carlos Boozer, but it’s not clear if New York sees the pair of big men as an either-or proposition. The Knicks and Lakers have their $2.814MM room exception available, but the Wizards have his Bird rights, so they can outbid other teams.

The Wizards were expected earlier this month to attempt to find a team willing to sign-and-trade for Seraphin, a maneuver that would ostensibly allow Washington to create a trade exception. In any case, Seraphin seemed a long shot to return to the Wizards at season’s end, as he’s reportedly been looking for a chance to compete for the starting job, though, according to Scotto, Washington at least touched base with him this month. The Wizards have Marcin Gortat entering year two of a five-year deal to man the pivot. Starting would also be a difficult proposition for Seraphin in New York, where free agent signee Robin Lopez seems firmly entrenched, and the same is probably true of the Lakers, who traded for Roy Hibbert.

The Suns and Mavericks also reportedly showed interest earlier this month, though it’s unclear if they’re still in the mix. The Spurs apparently had tentative interest in case David West signed elsewhere, but West took the minimum to play for San Antonio.

Which team needs Seraphin the most: The Knicks, Lakers or Wizards? Leave a comment to let us know.

Latest On Carlos Boozer

July 28th, 2015 at 9:12am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks, Rockets and Mavericks continue to have interest in signing Carlos Boozer, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Scotto first identified the Knicks as among the teams eyeing the Rob Pelinka client earlier this month, though Marc Berman of the New York Post reported soon thereafter that the Knicks had engaged in internal conversations about him but hadn’t made a formal pursuit. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com pegged the Mavs and Rockets as among the teams in on Boozer just before free agency began, while Broussard later heard that the Mavs were one of four teams in talks with the former All-Star.

The Knicks and Mavericks have access to the $2.814MM room exception. The Rockets are in a tough spot, since they only have roughly $2.3MM left on their mid-level exception to spend but would trigger a hard cap if they gave any of it to Boozer. Houston also has No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell who remains unsigned.

Several other teams, including the Clippers, Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat, have reportedly been interested in Boozer over the last month, but it’s unclear if any of them remain in the mix. Boozer and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest.

Kobe Bryant Notes: Minutes, Free Agents, Jackson

July 27th, 2015 at 9:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers can only use Kobe Bryant at power forward against Western Conference teams on a limited basis, Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk opines. Lakers coach Byron Scott plans to gives Bryant some minutes at power forward next season, as he told NBA.com’s David Aldridge. “There’s some games, against some teams, where he’ll probably play four,” Scott said. “With his tenaciousness, the way he guards people and when his mind is set, if I say ‘Kobe, you’ve got him,’ he takes that as a challenge.” Helin doubts Bryant will see much action there against some of the better Western Conference teams, pointing out that he cannot match up defensively with the likes of Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, Serge Ibaka, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Dirk Nowitzki and Draymond Green. Scott will likely split up most of the minutes at power forward between Julius Randle and Brandon Bass, Helin concludes.

In other news regarding Bryant:

Bryant’s failure to reach out to the team’s newcomers is a non-issue for Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Bass were silent during their introductory press conference when asked if Bryant had contacted them. In a SiriusXM NBA Radio interview, Kupchak laughed off the controversy: “Kobe doesn’t call every single player we sign or trade for. I don’t even know if he’s in the country, to be honest with you. There was much made of it. But I thought it was kind of comical.” However, Bryant did attend FC Barcelona’s soccer practice last week in Los Angeles, Medina notes.
Knicks president and former Lakers coach Phil Jackson confirmed during a Q&A session with author Charley Rosen posted Monday on ESPN.com that Bryant has a lot of animosity toward him. “Yes, quite often I could feel his hatred,” Jackson told Rosen. “I’m sure Kobe was [upset] when I wrote in “The Last Season” that he was uncoachable. And, yes, we were often at loggerheads. He wanted more freedom and I wanted him to be more disciplined. This is a normal source of friction thing between coaches and players on just about every level of competition.”

And-Ones: Miller, Haywood, Hammon

July 26th, 2015 at 10:32pm CST by Will Joseph

Mike Miller landing with the Thunder seems like an unlikely outcome, Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman writes. Miller was reportedly traded from the Cavs to the Blazers and is expected to be released. Joining the Thunder would be an interesting move because Miller played under new Thunder coach Billy Donovan at Florida between 1998-2000, as Slater points out, and the two are very close friends, Slater adds. However, Miller, 35, who is coming off his worst season, reportedly wanted out from Cleveland because he wants more playing time and that would be hard to find with the Thunder, Slater adds. The team also won’t have a spot on the roster for him, Slater notes.

The Sixers discussed trading for Brendan Haywood with the Cavs before the big man was reportedly dealt to the Blazers, reports SI.com’s Jake Fischer, who cites a source (on Twitter).
Spurs assistant Becky Hammon has gained traction as a potentially serious head-coaching candidate, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes after several conversations with league executives. More importantly, from Berger’s perspective, the culture around the league toward a female head coach has changed drastically. One executive from the Eastern Conference told Berger that Hammon “would be high on my list.” Another said, “Why not? She has the qualities necessary, and with an organization’s backing, she could do it. She’s obviously learned under the best.”
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak wanted to meet with Nick Young to tell Young not to consider the signing of Lou Williams a slap in the face, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports (on Twitter). The Kupchak and Young met recently and afterward Young, who has been the subject of trade rumors this summer, said he felt confident he would remain with the team.

Pacific Notes: James, Rivers, Lakers, Kings

July 24th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Summer league point guard Mike James impressed the Suns, but the team doesn’t seem to have a need for another point guard, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Multiple teams are in pursuit, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link), but he’s under contract with Laboral Kuxta Vitoria in Spain, Coro points out, suggesting that it would likely require a guaranteed deal with an NBA team to make it worthwhile for him to exercise his buyout clause. James, who’s not to be confused with the 12-year veteran by the same name, is inclined to play one more season in Spain, Charania adds.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Austin Rivers‘ brief tenure with Relativity Sports has met an end, tweets Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal. Rivers joined the agency after splitting with David Falk this past season. Relativity represented him as he came to a two-year deal for nearly $6.455MM to stay with father Doc Rivers and the Clippers.
The deals that Caron Butler, Quincy Acy, and Seth Curry agreed to with the Kings are all two-year, minimum salary arrangements that are fully guaranteed the first year and include player options for the second season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The performance of the Lakers‘ Summer League squad was underwhelming, leaving some around the league skeptical of the long-term future of a number of the team’s younger prospects, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes. “You don’t want to draw any conclusions from a few summer games obviously,” one league executive told Deveney. “But I think in general, the way to put it is that they probably value their assets more than the rest of the league values them. Everyone gambles on young guys. You just don’t know. For [the Lakers], they could all turn out to be fine, but they’re a long way from that now.”
The new Kings arena cleared another legal hurdle Friday, as a judge issued a ruling in favor of the city of Sacramento and against plaintiffs who asserted that the team and the city struck a side deal, writes Tony Bizjak of The Sacramento Bee. The arena is already under construction.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Chandler, Young, Barnes

July 24th, 2015 at 12:51pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most teams chasing top-tier centers thought it better to go after the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe before circling back to Tyson Chandler as something of a fallback option, but the Suns found it wise to chase Chandler before pursuing Aldridge, as Rob Mahoney of SI.com examines. Chandler quickly committed to Phoenix, and he helped them become a finalist in the Aldridge sweepstakes.

“I think when you have a guy like that that you target, you go aggressively after him. And that’s what we decided to do with Tyson,” GM Ryan McDonough said to Mahoney. “It did help us that there were so many free agent big men on the market, especially high-level players — guys who have been All-Stars, All-NBA, and all that stuff. I think a few teams wanted to kind of talk to each of the guys and get a feel for them. Some of the players wanted to do visits with multiple teams, and be wined and dined a bit. Tyson really didn’t want any of that.”

There’s more from Phoenix amid our latest look around the Pacific Division:

The Suns seemingly made their three-player trade with the Pistons in an effort to clear cap room for Aldridge, but McDonough told Mahoney that the deal that sent out Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger is one the team would have done regardless, citing a desire for more roster balance and future flexibility.
Nick Young feels more confident that he’ll begin the coming season with the Lakers after a recent meeting with GM Mitch Kupchak, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. That jibes with a dispatch last week from Bill Oram of the Orange County Register, who heard that the Lakers had stopped looking for trade partners who’d take Young.
Harrison Barnes confirmed Thursday that he wants a long-term future with the Warriors, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group details. He and the team reportedly share a mutual interest in a rookie scale extension. “I mean, we just won a championship,” Barnes said. “Of course I’d love to keep this group together for many years to come, you know what I’m saying? So that’s obvious.”

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Smith, Hibbert

July 22nd, 2015 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

New Lakers Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Brandon Bass had an incredulous silence when asked in a press conference today whether they’d heard from new teammate Kobe Bryant, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com shows via Instagram. Indeed, none of the three have heard from or touched base with the Lakers star, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Forward Josh Smith said that he considered joining the Clippers last season after he was waived by the Pistons, Bill Oram of The Orange County Register writes. “It was an option,” Smith said. “It was a definite thought process and conversation I had with my family.” Smith instead signed with the Rockets, but now comes to Los Angeles on a one-year, minimum salary arrangement.
When asked why he chose to sign with the Clippers, Smith indicated that it came down to having a defined role, something he didn’t feel that he had in Houston, Melissa Rohlin of The Los Angeles Times relays. “We did some special things in Houston but it was more of a visual, concrete type of situation-scenario for me here,” Smith said. “When you have vision and it’s not kind of foggy on what’s your role and your purpose on the team, you got to make a decision you feel is best. My whole thing was I was looking at scenarios more so than being wowed by red-carpet layouts.”
New Lakers center Hibbert waived part of his 15% trade kicker to join the team, a move he considered a “no brainer” because the franchise made it known that they wanted him, something the Pacers did not do, Medina tweets. The big man gave back all but $78,185 of what otherwise would have been a $2.3MM payout for being dealt. Hibbert had moved to Los Angeles at the end of last season, knowing he would likely be dealt away from Indiana, though he didn’t know it would be to the Lakers, Oram adds (Twitter link).

Mitch Kupchak On: Russell, Hibbert, Upshaw

July 22nd, 2015 at 7:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers held a press conference earlier today where the team officially introduced offseason acquisitions Lou Williams, Brandon Bass, and Roy Hibbert to members to the Los Angeles media. GM Mitch Kupchak answered a number of questions regarding the franchise, hat tip to NBA.com, and shown below are some of the highlights:

When asked what impact Bass, Williams, and Hibbert can have on the team, Kupchak said:

“It’s a tough league. It’s a tough conference. We’ve tried to do our best to identify and create a young core, and also bring some veteran players around a young group. Not only can those veteran players hopefully contribute, but they have solid character, and they can be mentors for our young players. We’re gonna do our best to win as many games as possible, and it’s very difficult to do that with all young players. So part of what we tried to do was surround our young players with some veteran players that would be good mentors and also give us a chance to win a bunch of games.”

Discussing the performance of No. 2 overall pick D’Angelo Russell in Summer League play, Kupchak said:

“I think he learned a lot. I met with him once or twice since Summer League ended, and he knows that to make the next jump in this league he’s going to have to work awfully hard and get in the gym every day, work on his body. I think they all understand that what happened in college is now behind them. This is the real deal. It’s great to get drafted in the first round. It’s great to get drafted [in round] two. But that’s over now. Now it’s time to put that behind you and prove yourself in this league. There’s no other way to prove yourself now other than to perform.”

On undrafted big man Robert Upshaw’s future with the team, the GM said:

“It’s unlikely that Robert will contribute to the team next year to win games. I think you know Robert and how he’s bounced around at the college level. He’s a player that we looked at in Summer League, and we’re continuing to have conversations with his representative. If we did something with Robert, it would be based on potential going forward. … We’ve made commitments to some rookies because they got drafted very high. But to look at a guy that wasn’t drafted and say, “This is a guy that’s gonna be in the rotation.” That’s not realistic at all.”

When addressing the Lakers’ depth at guard, Kupchak said:

“We’re talking about it internally right now. If you look at Nick Young and Kobe Bryant as backcourt players, then we have six. But we may look at those guys at the three spot, and then you only have four. And one of those four would be Jabari Brown, so now you’re really down to three: D’Angelo, Jordan Clarkson and Lou. So, depending on how you look at it, we may look to bring another guard on board. We may not.”

On the team’s overall size in the frontcourt, Kupchak said:

“We’re not a big team. We have Roy, clearly who’s big. Then we have Robert [Upshaw], who’s 7-foot, and our next-tallest player is Ryan Kelly, who really at 6’10” or 6’11” is a stretch four. You wouldn’t expect him to block shots and get 15 rebounds and patrol the paint. So really, if you look at our team, you can make an argument that we don’t have big players.“

Pacific Notes: Pierce, Clippers, Suns

July 20th, 2015 at 9:31pm CST by Will Joseph

Paul Pierce, a native of California, is happy to be back home after signing with the Clippers, but the Lakers would have never been an option, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. Pierce signed a three-year deal for approximately $10MM.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to come home, finally,” Pierce said. “I grew up a Laker fan but playing on all the Boston Celtic teams . . . there’s no way I could go there — so this was the next best choice. And it’s always been a dream to play in front of my family and friends.”

Here’s more on the Clippers and Pacific Division:

Despite reports that indicated a rift between Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan played a role in the center agreeing to sign with the Mavericks before ultimately re-signing with the Clippers, Paul said he’s delighted to have the big man back, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com writes. “DeAndre, he’s like my big little brother. We talk a lot more than people realize,” Paul said. “It doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is we brought in [Pierce], who I’m probably the happiest about because of his championship pedigree, being that voice in our locker room. We brought in [Lance Stephenson], Wesley Johnson, brought Austin [Rivers] back, Josh Smith. Big summer for us.
Suns president Lon Babby said re-signing Brandon Knight was the team’s most important move, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic tweets. Knight, who signed a five-year, $70MM contract with the Suns, said he did not talk to any other teams, Coro also tweets.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr expects James McAdoo, who is expected to compete for a reserve spot with the Warriors in training camp in late September, to contribute next season, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com writes. McAdoo split time between the Warriors and D-League last season.

Fallout From/Reaction To Ty Lawson Deal

July 20th, 2015 at 1:47pm CST by Chuck Myron

Ty Lawson‘s drinking habit had concerned teams even when he entered the NBA, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who hears from several sources who say that it helped dissuade the Celtics from trading for him while they were in talks with the Nuggets before the February deadline. The video that depicts him smoking from a hookah and predicting that the Nuggets would trade him to the Kings as he watched Denver select Emmanuel Mudiay in the draft was a turn-off for potential suitors, too, Lowe writes. Lowe and others have more on the trade agreement, as we’ll pass along here:

The Lakers were the only team other than the Rockets to express interest in Lawson shortly before the deal, according to Lowe, though Chris Mannix of SI.com heard the Pistons also did.
Nick Johnson, one of the players heading to the Nuggets, didn’t get along with the coaching staff at the Rockets D-League affiliate while on assignment last season, several league sources told Lowe.
The Nuggets face a scramble to complete the trade before the close of business today so that they can waive Pablo Prigioni, as they reportedly intend to do, before his partial guarantee of $440K becomes a full guarantee of nearly $1.735MM, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks details. Teams can waive physicals and the requirement that the players report, but it would be up to the Rockets to do so with Lawson, Marks notes. Also, players in the final year of their respective contracts must certify a trade before it goes final, so Denver has to get in contact with Prigioni, Kostas Papanikolaou and Joey Dorsey, Marks explains (All four Twitter links).
Lawson is on board with the trade, agent Happy Walters told Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. “He’s excited,” Walters said. “I spoke to him once about it. He’s close with James [Harden], tight with Corey [Brewer], knows Trevor [Ariza] and Dwight [Howard] and is real excited. It’s an opportunity for him. He’s been deep in the playoffs before, but this is something he feels really good about.”
Houston’s new point guard has his baggage, but the Rockets didn’t relinquish much in the deal, making it a risk that the rigors of the Western Conference demand that they take, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
Lawson might not be the third star the Rockets have been seeking to complement Harden and Howard, but Michael Lee of The Washington Post points out that he’s the sort of facilitator that Harden has said he’d welcome.
What’s your reaction to the deal? Leave a comment to let us know.