Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Kobe, Draft, Hard Cap, Datome

March 11th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kobe Bryant thought for a moment after he found out he’d torn his rotator cuff that he might be done with the game, but he insisted he’s never seriously considered not playing next season, as he told reporters Tuesday, including Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Bryant left open the possibility that he’ll play beyond 2015/16, the last year of his contract with the Lakers, and he added that he probably won’t decide whether to play in 2016/17 until next season is through, as Holmes notes. Here’s more from around the league:

Prominent agent Arn Tellem, in a piece for Grantland, argues that teams have begun to regard the back end of the draft’s second round as less about finding the best available player and more about acquiring the rights to prospects willing to play overseas. Among Tellem’s proposals is to move to a system of draft-eligibility similar to baseball’s in which all players would be automatically eligible at age 18. Tellem would also like to see a rule that would require teams to tender guaranteed minimum-salary offers to retain the rights to second-round picks, though that salary would be cut in half if the draftee instead spends the season playing in the D-League. His ideas likely have an influential audience, since Tellem’s Wasserman agency has close ties to Adam Silver and D-League president Malcolm Turner, notes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter links).
Silver, meanwhile, tells Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune that he continues to support a harder salary cap in the wake of the league’s proposal for one in the last round of collective bargaining in 2011, arguing that it would create more parity.
The Celtics appear lukewarm about soon-to-be free agent Gigi Datome, and while he told Italian media that he’d like to receive more offers from NBA teams than he does from overseas, clubs from Spain, Russia and Turkey are ready with proposals, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.

And-Ones: Franklin, Draft, Matthews

March 10th, 2015 at 10:38pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Based strictly on his skills on offense, Jahlil Okafor is likely to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA draft, Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes. The Duke freshman doesn’t project as a good enough defender to become an impact pro on both sides of the ball, and he isn’t a good enough athlete to have an extremely high ceiling, Howard-Cooper adds. “His offensive ability on the box,” one NBA executive said of the draft appeal of Okafor. “I’m not a huge Okafor guy. But I think the general consensus is that he’s the best player in college basketball.” Both ESPN and DraftExpress have Okafor projected to be the first player selected in this year’s draft.

Here’s more from around the league:

Jamaal Franklin, who currently plays for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, is likely to receive an NBA callup soon, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Franklin appeared in 21 games for the Grizzlies last season, averaging 1.9 points in 7.7 minutes per game.
Karl-Anthony Towns has overtaken Okafor for the top spot in Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com‘s (Insider subscription required) latest mock draft.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said that he likes Quincy Miller, who is inked to a 10-day pact, and the team is considering signing him for the remainder of the season, Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets.
Wesley Matthews is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair his torn left Achilles on Wednesday, the Blazers announced. Matthews, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is out for the season courtesy of the injury.

Western Notes: Jerrett, Kanter, Brown

March 10th, 2015 at 6:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

It took Lakers coach Byron Scott some time to come around to the merits of Jabari Brown, who inked a 10-day deal with Los Angeles earlier today, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. Scott did not sound as complimentary about Brown when he was on the Lakers’ training camp roster earlier this season, Medina notes. “I thought the first two or three weeks of training camp he wasn’t necessarily going through the motions. But he was trying to find his way,” Scott said. “The last few days and last few games, he started to become a little more aggressive and that’s what I wanted to see from day one. That’s what I told him to when I let him go. I told him, ‘I wished you had started out that way being aggressive. When you’re trying to make a team, that’s what you have to do.’ He didn’t start off that way.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Jazz have excelled defensively and in the standings since trading Enes Kanter at the deadline, having found an identity, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News examines.
Though the decision to sign Brown was Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak‘s, Scott is glad to have an extra player on the team’s bench, Medina adds. “I’m all for it if that’s what Mitch wants to do,” Scott said. “We talked about Jabari a few days ago and wanted to bring him. We needed a body or two anyway. But it gives us a chance to see if we’d like to have the guy on our summer league team as well.”
The Jazz have assigned Grant Jerrett to the Idaho Stampede, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Jerrett has only appeared in one game for Utah since being acquired from the Thunder on February 19th. He previously appeared in five games for Oklahoma City, averaging 1.4 points in 5.0 minutes per contest.

NBA Teams With 16 Players In 2014/15

March 10th, 2015 at 3:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA’s hardship rule was little-known and little used when the season began, but the ability for teams to exceed the 15-man roster limit during the regular season has come into play more frequently in 2014/15. Multiple teams have also used the league’s suspended list to add a 16th player to their rosters. The Lakers became the sixth team to carry 16 players during the 2014/15 regular season when they signed Jabari Brown to a 10-day contract today. Here’s a look back at the five other instances in which teams carried 16 men this season:

Indiana signed A.J. Price on November 6th into the 16th roster spot created through the league’s injury hardship provision. The team’s initial plan was reportedly to sign Gal Mekel instead, but visa issues tripped up that would-be deal. Mekel’s visa might have been ready by the 7th, but teams only have two days to use the hardship provision once the NBA grants it, so Indiana wasn’t in position to wait. The Pacers waived Price to get back down to 15 players on November 28th, and the Cavs claimed him off waivers. Cleveland ultimately let go of Price on January 7th.
The Thunder used the injury hardship provision to sign Ish Smith on November 7th. They kept Smith as a 16th man until November 26th, when they elected to waive Sebastian Telfair and hang on to Smith even as they cut back down to 15 players. Oklahoma City finally parted ways with Smith at the trade deadline, sending him to the Pelicans, who promptly waived him. The Sixers claimed him off waivers and still have him on the roster, so a contract that was supposed to be a temporary arrangement persists.
The Grizzlies were an odd candidate to go up to 16 players on November 19th, since they were carrying only 14 players. However, a stomach virus befell several Memphis players, leaving the team shorthanded. The injury hardship exception would have required that the team have four players who’d already missed multiple games, but that wasn’t the case for the Grizzlies. Instead, they used the league’s 20-game suspension of Nick Calathes to place him on the suspended list and sign both Kalin Lucas and Hassan Whiteside to boost their roster to 16 players. They waived Lucas and Whiteside the next day to return to 14 players, though they probably would have been better served keeping Whiteside as a 15th man, since he went on to sign with the Heat and enjoy a breakout campaign.
Jeff Adrien became the 16th member of the Timberwolves when he signed with the team on November 29th thanks to the injury hardship provision. Minnesota reduced its roster to 15 players when it completed the unbalanced Corey Brewer trade on December 19th. Adrien stayed on as one of 15 players until the Wolves released him on January 7th.
The Sixers traded for Andrei Kirilenko on December 11th, but he never reported to the team. Philadelphia quietly exercised its right to suspend him for failing to do so, a move that wasn’t discovered until the team traded for Jared Cunningham on January 7th without giving up a player in the move. The Sixers quickly released Cunningham, but they had 15 players on the roster before he arrived, so they took advantage of the ability to place Kirilenko on the suspended list to squeeze Cunningham onto the team as a 16th player, even if only temporarily. They went back up to 16 players thanks to Kirilenko’s suspension when they signed Larry Drew II to a pair of 10-day contracts in late January and once more when they added Tim Frazier on the first of his pair of 10-day deals after Drew’s second 10-day pact expired. They stayed at 16 players through the trade deadline before waiving Kirilenko to return to 15 players on February 21st. They released Frazier from his 10-day deal early to claim Thomas Robinson off waivers on February 24th.
A suspension for Larry Sanders allowed the Bucks to add Jorge Gutierrez as a 16th man when they signed him to a 10-day contract in January. The NBA stipulated that the Sanders suspension would last at least 10 games, but they left the maximum length open-ended, leaving some uncertainty about whether the team would be able to re-sign Gutierrez when his contract came to an end. The 10th game of Sanders’ suspension coincided with the final day of Gutierrez’s deal. However, the Bucks evidently received the clarity they were seeking, and they re-signed Gutierrez to another 10-day contract shortly thereafter. Sanders’ suspension ended after 12 games, and Milwaukee didn’t sign Gutierrez to a deal for the rest of the season, bringing a close to the 16-man roster dynamic before the Bucks ultimately released Sanders in a buyout deal.

Lakers Sign Jabari Brown To 10-Day Deal

March 10th, 2015 at 1:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:55pm: The deal is official, the Lakers announced. The team also confirmed that it used a hardship exception to add Brown without dropping anyone, so the Lakers now have 16 players.

1:19pm: The Lakers have a 10-day deal “in the works” with shooting guard Jabari Brown, as coach Byron Scott told reporters, including Bill Oram of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported that the Lakers planned a 10-day contract with Brown (Twitter link). It appears the Lakers are using the hardship exception they had intended to apply for so that they can add a player to their 15-man roster without dropping someone, though that’s not immediately clear. Brown has been playing for L.A’s D-League affiliate, as Wojnarowski notes.

Brown, who went undrafted out of Missouri this past June, was on the Lakers’ NBA roster during the preseason after signing a non-guaranteed training camp deal, but he played only nine minutes total during the preseason and failed to make it to opening night. The Lakers retained his D-League rights, and the first-year pro has impressed, averaging 24.4 in 34.9 minutes per game with a 39.2% three-point percentage for the L.A. D-Fenders.

The ability to add a 16th player is triggered when a team has four players who are expected to miss significant time, and when Ronnie Price joined Steve Nash, Julius Randle and Kobe Bryant among the long-term wounded for the Lakers, an opportunity sprang forth. Nick Young has also been dealing with swelling in his knee, and Scott indicated that was part of the catalyst for bringing Brown aboard, too, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).

Western Notes: Rondo, Neal, Lakers

March 9th, 2015 at 6:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rajon Rondo is willing to return to Mavs but probably will not get a contract offer he expects from the club heading into unrestricted free agency, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets. In fact, McMahon doubts the Mavs will come close to his asking price. Rondo said recently he would consider re-signing with Dallas despite a verbal altercation with coach Rick Carlisle late last month that led to a one-game suspension. Rondo will be one of the biggest names on the free-agent market this summer but he hasn’t improved his stock since he was traded by the Celtics in December. Rondo has struggled running Carlisle’s offense, averaging 9.4 points and 6.2 assists, compared to his career averages of 10.9 PPG and 8.4 APG. He’s also shooting 41.5% from the field, well below his career average of 46.9%.

In other news around the Western Conference:

The Timberwolves are interested in re-signing Gary Neal thanks to his strong play and veteran leadership, according to Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com. Neal, who becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer after making $3.25MM this season, was acquired from the Hornets at the trade deadline. He has averaged 18.8 points over the last four games and coach Flip Saunders said that Neal has been a good influence on his young players, Kennedy adds.
Julius Randle has been cleared to begin non-contact basketball activities but Lakers coach Byron Scott reiterated the rookie forward will not return this season, Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times reports. The lottery pick broke his right leg on opening night and also had a surgical procedure on his right foot in January. “This is all in preparation for getting him ready for summer league,” Scott said to Los Angeles beat reporters.
Danny Granger has been impressed by the Suns trainers and their ability to manage his knee issues, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Those same trainers helped Grant Hill extend his career and Granger, who has a player option of approximately $2.17MM on his contract for next season, could take that into consideration when deciding whether to exercise that option. He has not appeared in a game with Phoenix since the Heat dealt him at the trade deadline.
Kyle Anderson was recalled by the Spurs from their D-League affiliate in Austin on Monday, the team announced. Anderson has bounced between the two leagues in his rookie season, appearing in 27 games with San Antonio this season and 19 games in Austin, where he averaged 22.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists. Anderson provides some depth at the wing positions, though the Spurs do not have any reported injuries.

Pacific Notes: Kobe, Cousins, Rondo, Whiteside

March 9th, 2015 at 1:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak insists the team won’t make building a team to win in the short-term around Kobe Bryant a priority at the expense of the future, and Bryant is on board with that, as the Lakers star told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

“It’s a balance of both,” Bryant said. “You always want to set the franchise up for the long term. Mitch and I are on the same page. What he said in the interview is not something that we haven’t talked about before. It’s nothing different. You don’t want to compromise the future of the franchise for one season. You try to balance that.”

There’s more on the Lakers amid the latest from around the Pacific Division:

Teams around the league are making plans to try to trade for DeMarcus Cousins in case he and George Karl don’t get along, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said on ESPN radio Sunday and as ESPN colleague Marc Stein notes within his weekly power rankings. Cousins and Karl have nonetheless been complimentary of one another since the Kings put them together last month. Still, a source familiar with Karl’s thinking recently told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck that Sacramento wouldn’t rule out trading Cousins.
Lakers co-owner executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss is believed to be among those who like Rajon Rondo, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes as he argues that the Lakers and other teams shouldn’t pay a premium for the point guard.
The Lakers chose to sign Wayne Ellington instead of Hassan Whiteside after the big man auditioned for the team this past summer, Whiteside said to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has learned how better to navigate leadership boundaries since Mike D’Antoni‘s belief that Kerr wanted his job helped prompt D’Antoni to leave the Suns during Kerr’s tenure as GM in Phoenix, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.

Western Rumors: Rondo, Knight, Neal

March 9th, 2015 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo considers it an “honor and a compliment” that Kobe Bryant is trying to recruit him to the Lakers, but the point guard said Sunday that his focus is on the present day with the Mavericks, notes Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Rondo on Sunday didn’t deny interest in playing for the Lakers, Holmes adds in a separate piece, but Bryant downplayed the significance of his conversations with Rondo on Sunday when the Lakers star chatted with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. There’s more on the Mavs’ most significant in-season acquisition amid the latest from around the West:

The Celtics had “serious doubts” about whether Rondo was worth the max before trading him in December, and that was one of the reasons Boston pulled off the swap, sources told Holmes for the second of his two pieces linked above. That echoes a recent dispatch from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who heard that it’s unlikely the Mavs point guard receives a full max deal in free agency this summer.
Several GMs who spoke with Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops believe Brandon Knight is worth $12MM a year. The Suns traded for Knight, a restricted free agent at season’s end, at last month’s deadline.
Gary Neal was reportedly angling for a buyout from the Timberwolves last month, but he said this weekend that he’d love to stay with Minnesota, observes Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune. Wolves coach/executive Flip Saunders hinted at interest in a long-term future with the guard whose deal expires this summer, as Hartman also relays. “A lot of people questioned whether we were going to keep him, but I said from the beginning he was a guy that we traded for that we liked,” Saunders said. “We wanted him to come in and we were hoping it could be a long-term-type situation, but we’ll wait and see.”

Pacific Notes: Green, Griffin, Lakers, Bryant

March 8th, 2015 at 9:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors‘ Draymond Green should be Defensive Player of the Year, argues Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders. It’s a somewhat surprising choice, given the widespread opinion that the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan is the front runner for the award, but Dowsett contends Green’s versatility and performance against the pick-and-roll make him the league’s most valuable defender. If he were to win DPOY, it would strengthen Green’s bargaining position heading into restricted free agency this summer.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders wonders if Green is worth a max contract. At 6’7″ and 230 pounds, the Warriors’ standout is a uniquely stocky small forward who can also play power forward effectively and guard every position except for center. However, his per-game stats fall below what you’d expect from a max level player.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers says there’s still no timetable for Blake Griffin to return from his staph infection, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The timetable remains the same as it was before for Griffin, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com adds (on Twitter). The original estimate was 4-6 weeks, and Monday will mark four weeks since his surgery.
The Lakers will have plenty of options in June’s draft, writes Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders. Los Angeles, of course, needs to have its pick fall in the top five or it will be transferred to Philadelphia. Assuming the Lakers keep their pick, Davis writes that Duke’s Jahlil Okafor or Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns would form a solid front-line nucleus with injured rookie Julius Randle. If they decide to go for backcourt help, options include Emmanuel Mudiay of the Chinese Basketball Association and Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell.
It may not be a coincidence that Kobe Bryant was on the Lakers‘ bench tonight for the first time in many games, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The Lakers are hosting the Mavericks, and Bryant may want a closer look at soon-to-be free agent Rajon Rondo.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Clippers, Lin, Nuggets

March 7th, 2015 at 10:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers‘ desire to find a veteran who could play right away led to today’s signing of Nate Robinson, according to Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. Robinson, who agreed to a 10-day contract, is expected to ease the loss of Jamal Crawford, who is sidelined with a calf contusion. “We looked at a lot of different guys,” coach Doc Rivers said. “We looked at another three, we almost brought in a two, there’s a four out there we could’ve brought in. At the end of the day, I just said, ‘Who’s the best player of the group?’ (The staff) said Nate, and I said, ‘Let’s sign Nate,’ and I know Nate.”

There’s much more from the Western Conference:

There were reports this week that Blake Griffin could rejoin the Clippers for Sunday’s game against the Warriors, but that now appears doubtful, Kavner reports in a separate story. Sunday marks the four-week anniversary of the first game Griffin missed with a staph infection in his elbow, roughly the time he was expected to be out of action. But he hasn’t received clearance to play yet from team doctors.
The emergence of Jordan Clarkson virtually ensures a break-up between Jeremy Lin and the Lakers, writes Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. Clarkson’s rise has meant less playing time for Lin, who will become a free agent this summer. Clarkson, a rookie, will earn just slightly more than $845K next season, making him a low-cost solution at point guard. “I’m not going to answer any of those free agency questions until after the season,” Lin said after Friday’s loss to Memphis. “I’ll discuss that later.”
Mike D’Antoni might be the answer to reviving fast-paced basketball in Denver, opines Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post. D’Antoni, 63, became famous for his up-tempo style during his time as coach of the Suns, Knicks and Lakers. He said he would love to get back into coaching after a year away from the game and would have strong interest in the Nuggets’ job. “You get addicted,” he said. “There’s some really good basketball being played in the league right now, from Golden State to Atlanta.”