Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Robinson, Bullock, Ellington

April 3rd, 2015 at 8:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers are keeping close tabs on the health of guard Nate Robinson, and if he is healthy enough to play by next week the team will consider re-signing him, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets. Robinson has already had two 10-day contracts with the team, so any new deal would need to cover the remainder of the season. Los Angeles currently has 15 players on its roster, so a corresponding personnel move would be required. The most likely candidate to go would be Lester Hudson, who is inked to a 10-day pact that expires on Tuesday.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Reggie Bullock is finally getting some playing time for the Suns, and the swingman is using the exposure to show Phoenix why he should be part of its plans for next season, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “I wanted to play when I first got here but I’m still a young player in this league,” Bullock said. “The coaches know what I’m capable of, defending and shooting the ball. I’m just staying ready for when my name is called and continue to build and take this confidence to next season.“
Injured Lakers guard Wayne Ellington is done for the season courtesy of a separated right shoulder, and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Los Angeles’ coach Byron Scott says that the team’s rebuilding plan hinges on the NBA draft and pursuing marquee free agents, but the Lakers’ front office would “absolutely” consider re-signing Ellington, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes.
When Sim Bhullar signed his 10-day deal with the Kings he made history as the first NBA player of Indian descent, the significance of which is not lost on the big man, Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press writes. “It’s a big moment in the history of the NBA and the history of my country in India,” Bhullar said. “I know my family’s going to be proud of me and everybody’s going to be proud of me and cheer me on the court.”

Lakers Sign Dwight Buycks To 10-Day Contract

April 3rd, 2015 at 7:54pm CST by Chuck Myron

7:54pm: The Lakers have officially signed Buycks, the team announced.

1:47pm: Scott specified that it’s a D-Leaguer the team is close to signing, as Medina notes in a full story. So that’s seemingly further indication that Buycks is the guy, though it appears we’ll soon find out definitively one way or the other.

FRIDAY, 1:41pm: The Lakers are close to signing a player, according to coach Byron Scott, though he didn’t say who, Medina tweets. The Lakers announced Thursday that Ellington will miss the remainder of the season, so that’ll help the team’s case for a hardship exception.

THURSDAY, 2:05pm: The Lakers are waiting for approval from the NBA for a hardship exception, according to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, who argues that it should be an open-and-shut case with Bryant, Randle, Young and Price all out of action (Twitter link). Wayne Ellington was also scheduled to undergo an MRI on his right shoulder, to which he suffered a mild separation during Wednesday’s game, according to Pincus and Medina (Twitter links).

12:46pm: There’s “nothing definitive” about any potential Lakers signing, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).

11:21am: The Lakers are signing point guard Dwight Buycks to a 10-day contract, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Charania’s tweet indicates that the signing has already taken place, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement. The team already has 15 players under contract, but there’s a chance the Lakers won’t have to clear another player to sign Buycks thanks to the hardship provision. The league had earlier granted the team an extra roster spot via hardship to carry Jabari Brown on a pair of 10-day deals. The Lakers couldn’t use that temporary roster relief to sign Brown to his two-year deal Wednesday, so the team waived Steve Nash to make room. Even without Nash, the Lakers have four players who’ve been out at least three games and who are seemingly expected to miss significantly more time, so the hardship remains a possibility.

Kobe Bryant and Julius Randle are done for the season, and there’s a decent chance that’s the case for Ronnie Price, too. Nick Young hasn’t played since February 22nd with a small fracture on his left kneecap. The Lakers are thin at the point with Jordan Clarkson and Jeremy Lin the team’s only healthy players at the position.

Buycks has been on the Lakers’ radar for the while, having reportedly worked out for the team in November in a head-to-head audition with Gal Mekel. The 26-year-old Buycks has since played for China’s Tianjin Steel and has been with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate for the past month. He’s a one-year NBA veteran thanks to having spent last season with the Raptors, though he played in only 14 games for Toronto, averaging 3.1 points and 0.7 assists in 10.4 minutes per contest. The 6’3″ Buycks, who went undrafted out of Marquette in 2011, has shown an all-around game in the D-League the past few weeks, adding 6.8 rebounds per game to go with averages of 18.2 PPG and 6.2 APG in 34.4 MPG. He was a scoring force in China, producing 26.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 5.1 APG in 37.4 MPG.

Lakers Notes: Rondo, Dragic, Hill, Brown

April 2nd, 2015 at 2:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s a “safe bet” that the Lakers will pursue Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic, with Rondo the first priority, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The team’s interest in the two is no secret, as reports have indicated for months that the Lakers have been targeting the pair of point guards who changed places via trade this season. Neither is a lock to re-sign with their respective clubs, as reports have also indicated, so it seems the Lakers have at least a decent chance to land an upper-tier free agent, which they haven’t done the past two summers. Here’s more on the purple-and-gold:

The Lakers are leaning toward picking up their $9MM team option on Jordan Hill, unless they become confident that a star free agent big man will sign with them, executives tell Deveney for the same piece. The team wants to be active in free agency, Deveney writes, but opting in with Hill would give them more than $44MM in commitments, not counting Jordan Clarkson‘s non-guaranteed salary, their own first-round pick and the first-rounder they’re receiving from the Rockets.
Jabari Brown feels as though a 22-point outing in his final game on the last of his 10-day contracts with the Lakers helped his case to secure his new deal. as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times relays. Coach Byron Scott continues to be impressed, as Bresnahan also notes. “Every game it seems like he shows you a little bit something else,” Scott said. “He seems a little bit more confident, a little bit more comfortable every game.”
The Lakers haven’t made progress in the win-loss column this season, as they’re just one defeat away from tying last year’s 55 losses, but Scott points to the departures of Pau Gasol, Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks as reason why that’s not a shock, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Crawford, Len

April 1st, 2015 at 9:20pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers believe they have a potential All-Star in Jordan Clarkson, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles News writes. “The more he gains experience, he will learn the pace of the game, how to slow it down and use his speed when he has to do so,”coach Byron Scott said. “His ceiling is pretty high.” Clarkson will make roughly $845K next season, although his salary is non-guaranteed.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Jamal Crawford is nearing a return to the court, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports. If the shooting guard continues to progress the plan is for Crawford to play against the Lakers on April 7th, according to Markazi. The 35-year-old has missed the last 14 games because of a calf injury and it was previously reported that there was a chance he wouldn’t return at all this season.
Alex Len is expected to miss a week because of a broken nose, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. Len should only miss two games, but the team doesn’t have an easy path to add a free agent big man if they find it necessary. The Suns currently have a 15-man roster, after inking Jerel McNeal to a 10-day contract earlier today. Phoenix is four and a half games behind Oklahoma City for the eighth seed in the conference with seven games remaining.
Eric Bledsoe started more games this season than in his first four seasons combined and the team believes he is still getting acclimated to the increase in playing time, writes Paul Coro in a separate piece. “Sometimes, you just don’t have the energy. We ask him to do a lot defensively and offensively. The great players will do it and they’ll bring it every night. He’s on that verge,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. Bledsoe has played 2.1 more minutes per game since the Suns dealt Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas at this year’s deadlines.

Lakers Waive Steve Nash, Re-Sign Jabari Brown

April 1st, 2015 at 12:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers have waived Steve Nash and re-signed Jabari Brown, the team announced via press release. The team refers to its contract with Brown as a multiyear deal. Brown had been with the Lakers on two 10-day contracts thanks to the hardship provision, which allowed the Lakers to carry him even though they already had 15 players. The league hands out an extra roster spot for only 10 days at a time, and with the team unable to sign Brown to anymore 10-day deals, the Lakers are clearing Nash, who’s already announced his retirement, from the roster.

The team will still pay out Nash’s $9.701MM salary for this season, barring the thoroughly unlikely outcome that another team claims him off waivers. However, there’s little added cost with Brown’s deal, since it has to be merely a prorated minimum-salary arrangement. The lack of any other way aside from the minimum-salary exception to sign Brown means it’s a two-year deal for him, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times points out (Twitter link). Next season’s salary is non-guaranteed, according to fellow Times scribe Mike Bresnahan (on Twitter).

Nash hasn’t played the entire season because of nerve issues that resurfaced during the preseason, and 41-year-old has said that the only reason he delayed his announcement, which didn’t take place until last month, was so the Lakers could use his contract as a trade chip. The team didn’t end up trading him, even though the Lakers reportedly offered him to the Celtics as part of a Rajon Rondo package, and the two-time MVP drew scorn from Lakers fans as he was an infrequent presence around the team during the first half of the season. He also lost fans when he said he was sticking around this season in large measure just so he could collect his salary. Nash was a landmark acquisition for the Lakers in 2012, but his body failed to allow him to live up to his three-year deal worth more than $27.9MM.

Brown, a college teammate of fellow Laker Jordan Clarkson, was with the Lakers during the preseason and spent most of 2014/15 with L.A.’s D-League affiliate. The 22-year-old Brown performed well on his 10-day deals, averaging 9.4 points in 24.5 minutes per game across 10 appearances, and he made 11 out of 24 total three-point attempts.

And-Ones: Lakers, Robinson, Draft

March 29th, 2015 at 7:29pm CST by Will Joseph

Opposing players, according to Byron Scott, have told the Lakers head coach that they’d love to play in the purple-and-gold, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. Scott would not name any players because of tampering rules and did not say how many potential free agents expressed interest to him in joining the Lakers, Medina noted. Still, Scott believes the Lakers “will have a real good summer,” in terms of free agency, according to Medina.

“You have a lot of free agents out there who would love to play for us. They’ve been making it pretty clear,” Scott said. “You have guys during the games come by the bench saying, ‘Hey Coach, I would love to be in L.A. next year.’ That makes you feel good there are players out there that want to be here. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we’re taking it in a different direction. They know this organization and the history of the organization is going to be back.”

Here’s more from around the NBA:

There’s still a chance that the Clippers could sign Nate Robinson for the rest of the season after a 10-day evaluation of Lester Hudson, according to Arash Markazi of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Naturally, their decision on what to do with Robinson will hinge heavily on how Hudson performs.
France’s Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot said he would withdraw his name from the 2015 Draft if he deems workouts with teams after the NBA season unsuccessful, as he told the French outlet Be Basket and as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia transcribes. The 19-year-old is averaging 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in 19 minutes per contest for the Olympique Antibes, according to Carchia. The swingman announced in February he planned to enter this year’s draft.
Daemen College big man Gerald Beverly, who was recently named a Division II All-American, signed with agent Roger Montgomery of the Montgomery Sports Group, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Love, Lakers, Sacre, Len

March 28th, 2015 at 6:54pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook teaming up and playing for the Lakers is a real possibility, opines Nick Dudukovich of Fansided.com. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com discussed the rumors of Love leaving Cleveland either this season or next on his podcast, which airs on ESPN Cleveland. Windhorst notes that out of all the stars in the league, the player that Love has the best relationship with is Westbrook.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Robert Sacre would like to play for Los Angeles next season, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I would love to be back here. It would be fun,” said Sacre. “You’re a Laker. What else can you ask for? There’s no other franchise like it. It’s an honor to wear purple and gold.” Sacre has a non-guaranteed salary for the 2015/16 season, which is worth slightly more than $981K.
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic believes that Alex Len is the center of the future for the Suns. Phoenix picked up Len’s rookie scale option before the season and the team is likely to make the same decision regarding Len’s 2016/17 option, although that is just my speculation.
Pablo S, Torre of ESPN The Magazine chronicles Jeremy Lin‘s time to date for the Lakers and his career up to this point. Lin is in the last season of a three-year deal worth slightly over $25MM that he originally signed with Houston. The point guard will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

2015/16 Salary Commitments: Lakers

March 26th, 2015 at 9:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.

We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.

We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Lakers’ cap outlook for 2015/16…

Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:

Kobe Bryant — $25MM
Ryan Kelly — $1,724,250
Julius Randle — $3,132,240
Nick Young — $5,219,169

Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:

Tarik Black — $845,059
Jordan Clarkson — $845,059
Robert Sacre — $981,348

Players with options:

Ed Davis (Player Option) — $1,100,602
Jordan Hill (Team Option) — $9MM

The Lakers’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:

Guaranteed Salary: $35,075,659
Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $12,772,068
Total: $47,847,727

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Southeast Notes: Harris, Jefferson, Heat, Wittman

March 26th, 2015 at 2:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers, Knicks, Sixers and Hawks have been linked to soon-to-be restricted free agent Tobias Harris, but the belief is that the Magic would match just about any offer of less than $13MM a year, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who looks at Harris and other top free agents. It’s unclear whether those four non-Orlando teams are interested, Harris is interested in them, or both, though the Knicks are reportedly planning a pursuit amid conflicting reports about whether he’s eager to play for them. Kyler wrote earlier this month that there’s a sense that the Sixers will make a play for Harris, too. Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:

It’s likely that Al Jefferson will turn down his $13.5MM player option for next season, Kyler writes in the same piece, adding that while the belief is that he’d like to remain with the Hornets, there’s also a sense that the 30-year-old will go to the highest bidder in free agency.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel wonders whether the Heat will sign a big man to help a thin frontcourt rotation in the wake of Hassan Whiteside‘s injury. Whiteside is out at least a few more days with a hand laceration that will probably take two weeks to heal completely, as Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post relays. The Heat were reportedly among the teams with interest in signing JaVale McGee earlier this month.
Coaches rarely last in the NBA, but SB Nation’s Tom Ziller argues that the Wizards have been too patient with Randy Wittman.

Pacific Rumors: Cousins, Jordan, Stoudemire

March 26th, 2015 at 11:52am CST by Chuck Myron

Two coaching changes and more losing for the Kings have thrown DeMarcus Cousins for a loop this year, but he’s determined to learn from adversity, as Michael Lee of The Washington Post details.

“It’s been a circus, man. It’s been a complete circus,” Cousins said of this season. “We got off to a hot start. Unfortunately, I got sick, so it ruined the look of the team. I take some blame for that. I know for a fact, if I wouldn’t have gotten sick, things wouldn’t have happened the way it happened. It was no way it could. At the same time, a lot of it is not my fault and we all know why. But this has been a disappointing year.”

George Karl‘s up-tempo system doesn’t really fit Cousins but the center will keep an open mind about it, Lee writes. Cousins is in the first year of a four-year max extension. Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:

DeAndre Jordan said he loves the city of New York but isn’t thinking about his free agency this summer, as he told reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post, after the Clippers beat the Knicks on Wednesday.
Amar’e Stoudemire‘s said his interest in joining the Suns after his buyout with the Knicks was “extremely high,” according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News. “But I wanted to compete for a championship this year,” Stoudemire added. “That’s one reason why I didn’t choose the Spurs, because I knew it’d be a letdown for all my Phoenix Suns fans. I couldn’t do it. It was a tough decision, but I wanted to win this year.”
Wesley Johnson is finds it frustrating to be hitting free agency for a third year in a row, observes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The Lakers have a general affection for him, and Johnson has been considering a new deal with the team this summer, in spite of L.A.’s hesitance to give him more than a one-year deal the past two offseasons, as Bresnahan also relays. “It’s one of those things where you definitely don’t want to jump ship when something’s going bad,” Johnson said of the Lakers. I actually want to be a part of it to see if we can get back on the right foot. We’ll see what happens this offseason, see what direction they’re going.”