Lakers Rumors

LeBron James’ Return Imminent?

After initially being upgraded from out to doubtful for Sunday’s game vs. the Bulls, Lakers forward LeBron James is now being listed as questionable to play this afternoon, according to the team (Twitter link via Marc Stein).

James is expected to test his injured right foot during pregame warmups today to see if he’ll be able to play, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

While the latest updates don’t mean James will definitely be activated on Sunday, they suggest his return to the court is closer than previously believed. Reports on Thursday indicated that James was optimistic about playing again during the final week of the regular season — if he’s able to suit up today, he’d be back with two full weeks still left in the season.

James last played exactly one month ago, on February 26 against Dallas. He sustained a foot injury in that game and was diagnosed with a tendon injury in his right foot a few days later, with the team ruling him out for at least three weeks. He has since resumed doing on-court work.

The Lakers have played well without James, going 8-5 in the 13 games he has missed, but they’d certainly welcome his return to the lineup as they attempt to secure a postseason berth. L.A. is currently in a three-way tie for seventh place in the West — the Lakers, Timberwolves, and Pelicans are all 37-37.

Lakers Notes: LeBron’s Status, Reaves, Walker

With reports indicating that LeBron James is nearing a return from his right foot injury, the Lakers have upgraded his status for Sunday’s game against the Bulls from out to doubtful, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

James has missed the last 13 games after suffering a tendon injury in late February. He tweeted on Thursday that he’s working out three times a day in an effort to return as soon as possible.

“Progressing as normal,” coach Darvin Ham said when asked about James after Friday’s game. “Just doing the work that needs to be done for him to get his foot all the way together.”

The Lakers have managed to remain competitive without James, posting an 8-5 record and climbing into eighth place in the Western Conference.

There’s more from L.A.:

  • Austin Reaves discusses his contract situation in an appearance on the Point Forward podcast with former NBA guard Evan Turner (video link). Reaves has become a breakout star in his second NBA season, but the Lakers have limitations on what they can offer when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. “I would like to be here (with the Lakers),” Reaves said, “you know, but it’s the NBA, it’s a business at the end of the day. … I want to make as much money as I can and be as successful as I can, no matter where it’s at.”
  • Reaves may play for Germany in the World Cup, according to Robert Arndt of the German website Spox. Reaves’ grandmother is German, and he received a German passport several months ago.
  • The Lakers got a huge boost from Lonnie Walker on Friday night as they topped the Thunder to move to .500 for the first time this season, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Walker, who started 32 games earlier this season, has found himself outside the rotation after L.A. picked up D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura before the trade deadline. Walker came off the bench Friday to score 20 points in 24 minutes and impressed his teammates with his mental toughness. “We don’t win this game without him,” Anthony Davis said. “He comes in, is playing well and I don’t know, I’ve never been through it where I’m playing and then get benched or whatever, but I can only just imagine how it messes with the mind. To be mentally strong to go from a starter to move to the bench, don’t play. Then come in and play big minutes, help the team win. You got to be a strong-minded individual for that.”

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Gilbert Arenas Provision

Gilbert Arenas hasn’t played in the NBA since 2012, but his legacy lives on in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The NBA introduced the Gilbert Arenas provision in the 2005 CBA as a way to help teams retain their restricted free agents who aren’t coming off standard rookie scale contracts. While Arenas isn’t specifically named in the CBA, the rule colloquially known as the Arenas provision stems from his own restricted free agency in 2003.

At the time, the Warriors only had Early Bird rights on Arenas, who signed an offer sheet with the Wizards starting at about $8.5MM. Because Golden State didn’t have $8.5MM in cap room and could only offer Arenas a first-year salary of about $4.9MM using the Early Bird exception, the Warriors were unable to match the offer sheet and lost Arenas to Washington.

Introduced to help avoid similar instances of teams losing promising young free agents, the Arenas provision limits the first-year salary that rival suitors can offer restricted free agents who have only been in the league for one or two years.

The starting salary for an offer sheet can’t exceed the amount of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which allows the player’s original team to use either the mid-level exception or the Early Bird exception to match it. Otherwise, a team without the necessary cap space would be powerless to keep its player, like the Warriors were with Arenas.

An offer sheet from another team can still have an average annual salary that exceeds the non-taxpayer’s mid-level, however. The annual raises are limited to 5% between years one and two and 4.5% between years three and four, but a team can include a significant raise between the second and third years of the offer.

As long as the first two years of a team’s offer sheet are for the highest salary possible, the offer is fully guaranteed, and there are no incentives included, the third-year salary of the offer sheet can be worth up to what the player’s third-year maximum salary would have been if not for the Arenas restrictions.

Based on a projected $136,021,000 salary cap for 2023/24, here’s the maximum offer sheet a first- or second-year RFA could receive this coming summer:

Year Salary Comment
2023/24 $12,405,000 Value of non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception.
2024/25 $13,025,250 5% raise on first-year salary.
2025/26 $37,405,638 Maximum third-year salary for a player with 1-2 years in NBA.
2026/27 $39,088,892 4.5% raise on third-year salary.
Total $101,924,780 Average annual salary of $25,481,195.

It’s important to note that in order to make the sort of offer outlined above, a team must have enough cap room to accommodate the average annual value of the contract. Because if the offer sheet isn’t matched, the player’s new club will spread the cap hits equally across all four years (ie. $25.48MM per season).

In other words, a team with $26MM in cap space could extend this offer sheet to a first- or second-year RFA. But a team with only $20MM in cap space would have to reduce the third- and fourth-year salaries in its offer sheet to get the overall average salary of the offer down to $20MM per year, despite being able to comfortably accommodate the first-year salary.


The application of the Arenas provision is infrequent, since first- and second-year players who reach free agency rarely warrant such lucrative contract offers. First-round picks sign four-year rookie deals when they enter the NBA, so the Arenas provision generally applies to second-round picks or undrafted free agents whose first NBA contracts were only for one or two years.

The Arenas provision hasn’t been used at all in recent years. Based on our data, it was last relevant during the 2016 offseason, when multiple teams made use of the Arenas provision as they attempted to pry restricted free agents from rival teams.

One notable example from that summer was Tyler Johnson‘s restricted free agency with Miami. The Heat had Early Bird rights on Johnson, who had only been in the NBA for two seasons. The Nets attempted to pry him away with an aggressive offer sheet that featured salaries of $5,628,000, $5,881,260, $19,245,370, and $19,245,370. It wasn’t the maximum that Brooklyn could have offered Johnson, but the massive third-year raise was a tough pill for Miami to swallow.

Overall, the deal was worth $50MM for four years. If the Heat had declined to match it, the Nets would have flattened out those annual cap hits to $12.5MM per year, the average annual value of the deal. However, due to the Arenas provision, Miami was able to match Brooklyn’s offer sheet with the Early Bird exception, even though the Heat wouldn’t have been able to directly offer Johnson a four-year, $50MM contract using the Early Bird exception.

When a team matches an Arenas-provision offer sheet, it also has the option of flattening those cap charges. However, that option is only available if the team has the cap room necessary to accommodate the average annual value of the deal. Otherwise, the club has to keep the unbalanced cap charges on its books. In the case of Johnson, the Heat didn’t have enough cap room to spread out the cap hits, so they were forced to carry those exorbitant cap charges in years three and four.

When Johnson’s cap hit for the Heat jumped from $5,881,260 to $19,245,370 in 2018/19, it became an albatross — the team eventually sent him to Phoenix in a salary-dump deal at the 2019 deadline.


This coming offseason, the best candidate for an Arenas-provision offer sheet is Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who has emerged as an important rotation player for the club during its push for a playoff spot.

If the Lakers negotiate with Reaves directly, they’d be limited to offering him a little over $50MM on a four-year deal using the Early Bird exception. However, a rival team with the necessary cap room could offer him up to nearly $102MM, as detailed above.

A four-year, $102MM deal seems awfully ambitious for Reaves, but it’s possible that a rival suitor could test the Lakers’ limits by using the Arenas provision to put an offer sheet of $60MM or more on the table for the young guard. If Los Angeles matched such an offer, the contract would look the same in the first two years as the one L.A. could offer, but would include larger salaries in years three and four.

Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, Raptors guard Dalano Banton, and Heat center Omer Yurtseven are among the other players who will become eligible for restricted free agency this offseason with just two years of NBA experience under their belts and would be subject to the Arenas provision.


Finally, just because a club is given the opportunity to use the Arenas provision to keep its restricted free agent doesn’t mean that club will necessarily have the means. Here are a few situations in which the Arenas provision would not help a team keep its restricted free agent:

  • If a team only has the taxpayer mid-level exception or room exception available, it would be unable to match an offer sheet for a Non-Bird free agent if the starting salary exceeds the taxpayer mid-level, room exception, and/or Non-Bird exception amount.
  • A team would be unable to match an offer sheet exceeding the Non-Bird exception for a Non-Bird free agent if that team has used its mid-level exception on another player. The club could use Early Bird rights to match if those rights are available, however.
  • If the player is a Non-Bird or Early Bird free agent with three years of NBA experience, the Arenas provision would not apply — only players with one or two years in the league are eligible.
  • If the player is eligible for restricted free agency but doesn’t receive a qualifying offer, the Arenas provision would not apply.

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in past years by Luke Adams and Chuck Myron.

L.A. Notes: Russell, SGA, AD, George, Clippers

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell will miss Friday’s key matchup against the Thunder due to a right hip injury. Dennis Schröder will start in his place.

It’s not too serious, but serious enough where we need to manage him,” Ham said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). Ham added that Russell is considered day-to-day.

The Thunder, meanwhile, will have their best player available, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is active after previously being listed as questionable with a nagging abdominal strain (Twitter links via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman).

The Mavericks, Lakers, Thunder and Pelicans are all currently tied at 36-37 in the Nos. 8-11 spots in the West. The Wolves (No. 7) sit at 37-37, while the Jazz (No. 12) are 35-37.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

  • In a lengthy interview with McMenamin, Lakers star Anthony Davis expressed confidence in the team’s retooled roster, and it sounds as though he would like to see the group stick together beyond this season. “If we actually have a full summer, full training camp, go through an entire season, who knows the position we’ll be in,” Davis said. ” … The team we have now, we feel like not only can we make noise this year, and I like our chance against anybody to be honest. You put anybody against us, I like our chances. … Who knows what we could be, what threat we could be next year and then years to come if they work it out and are able to keep this group together.” As McMenamin notes, beyond Davis, LeBron James and Max Christie, no other player has a fully guaranteed contract for 2023/24, so the Lakers will have a lot of decisions to make this summer.
  • The Clippers were glad that Paul George avoided a major injury when he sprained his knee. He’s expected to be reevaluated in two-to-three weeks, but if the Clippers clinch a top-six seed and a berth in the playoffs, George potentially returning in a first-round series is considered “optimistic,” according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Eric Gordon will start in George’s stead for the rest of the season, Youngmisuk writes.
  • It’s impossible to replace a player of George’s caliber, so multiple players will have to step up to make up for his lost production on both ends of the court. Law Murray of The Athletic believes Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Gordon, Terance Mann and Norman Powell are the top candidates for more responsibilities with George sidelined. Powell has been out with a shoulder injury, but he has been getting on-court work in and is close to a return, per Murray.

Optimism LeBron James Could Return Before Regular Season Ends

1:48pm: James sent out a tweet saying he was not reevaluated today and there’s no target date for his return. He added that he’s “working around the clock” to give himself the “best chance of coming back full strength,” whenever that might be. However, he did not dispute that he was optimistic about returning before the regular season ends.


12:46pm: The Lakers announced on Thursday that LeBron James has started on-court work, but there’s no specific timeline for his return (Twitter link via Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times).

However, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, and Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report (All Twitter links), James is optimistic he could return in the final week of the regular season and play a few games. Head coach Darvin Ham previously said the Lakers expected James to return before the season ended.

As Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group notes (via Twitter), the Lakers play at Houston and at the Clippers on April 4 and 5, followed by home games against the Suns and Jazz on April 7 and 9. Goon believes the final three games are logic target dates for James, as they’re all in Los Angeles.

James last played on February 26 against Dallas after sustaining a foot injury. On March 2, he was diagnosed with a tendon injury in his right foot and was scheduled to be reevaluated in three weeks, hence today’s update.

Bolstered by trade deadline additions and strong play from Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, among others, the Lakers have gone 7-5 since James went down with the injury. They’re currently 36-37, the No. 10 seed in the West, but the standings remain extremely tight — only one game separates the Nos. 7-12 seeds.

Getting the team’s leading scorer, second-leading rebounder and top assist man back would obviously be beneficial for the Lakers in their effort to make the playoffs. James, 38, has been limited to 47 games this season, but continues to play at a very high level, averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 36.1 minutes per night

Lakers Notes: Reaves, Russell, LeBron, Davis, M. Leonard

After scoring a career-high 35 points Sunday night, Austin Reaves was rewarded with a spot in the Lakers‘ starting lineup, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. With two days off between games, coach Darvin Ham and his staff had time to prepare Reaves for starting duties as he took the place of Malik Beasley. Woike notes that it’s Ham’s first change to the starting unit since the trade deadline that wasn’t forced by injuries.

Reaves delivered 25 points and a career-best 11 assists in his first start since January 4 as the Lakers topped the Suns to move into a tie for ninth in the Western Conference playoff race.

“It’s going to be hectic,” Reaves said of the competition for postseason spots. “But this is why you play the game. You want high-pressure moments and you really want to play under the lights.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

  • D’Angelo Russell says he’s “at peace” after returning to the Lakers in a trade last month, but he’ll also be able to adjust if his long-term future isn’t in L.A., according to Helene Elliott of The Los Angeles Times. Russell, who has provided a scoring spark, topped 25 points Wednesday for the fourth time in his 11 games with the team. He’s enjoying the chance to display how much he has grown as a player and a person since L.A. drafted him in 2015, but he also knows more change could be coming in a few months. “I’m a free agent this summer. I’ve been traded midseason, so to get comfortable somewhere it’s not easy for me,” he said. “So, until I am, I won’t be comfortable. I won’t feel like it’s home.”
  • LeBron James will have his right foot tendon injury reevaluated this week, but there’s still no set timetable for him to return, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Ham believes the team is benefiting by responding to challenges with James sidelined. “Bron, with him being out, it’s revealed that we have a lot of different weapons that are very capable players on both sides of the ball that can help us achieve the goal we’re trying to achieve,” he said. “And when he comes back, he’s just going to add to it.”
  • Buha notes that the medical staff still considers the right foot stress condition that caused Anthony Davis to miss 20 games earlier this season to be an “active injury,” and it hasn’t been decided whether he’ll play in both games of the team’s lone remaining back-to-back on April 4 and 5.
  • Sources tell Buha that the Lakers were interested in signing Meyers Leonard, who worked out with them in January, before he joined the Bucks. L.A. is opting to keep its open roster spot for now after workouts with Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley earlier this week.

Ham Confirms Bradley, Thompson Worked Out

Centers Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley worked out for the Lakers on Monday, Darvin Ham confirmed, but the head coach said there’s no “imminent” plan to sign either to the team’s final roster spot, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets.

The Lakers wanted to make sure that if they feel the need to sign another player, they’ve already worked him out, Ham explained. Los Angeles could have a need for another big since Mohamed Bamba may miss the rest of the regular season with a high left ankle sprain.

AD Expected To Play Final Back-To-Back In April

  • Lakers star Anthony Davis is expected to play in both games of the team’s final back-to-back set in early April, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report said on his #thisleague UNCUT podcast with Marc Stein (Twitter link via Fox Sports Radio). According to Haynes, Davis was given the option of either playing last week’s back-to-back at New Orleans (a win with Davis) and at Houston (a loss without him), or the back-to-back set on April 4th and 5th at Utah and at the Clippers. He obviously chose the latter.

Lakers, Reaves Have Mutual Interest In New Deal In Offseason

In the wake of Austin Reavescareer night on Sunday, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reports that the Lakers and Reaves’ camp have mutual interest in keeping the guard in Los Angeles beyond this season.

Because Reaves only received a two-year deal from the Lakers when he signed his first standard NBA contract in 2021, he won’t become eligible to sign a contract extension before he reaches restricted free agency this summer. Additionally, the team will only hold his Early Bird rights at that time, rather than his full Bird rights.

As Buha notes, that means L.A. will be limited to offering Reaves approximately $51MM over four years if they negotiate with him directly. At one point, that would have looked like more than enough financial flexibility to bring back Reaves, but his strong play this season has increased his value. Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link) suggested today that the 24-year-old’s market could be in that four-year, $50MM range, if not higher.

Reaves would have the ability to sign an offer sheet with a rival team that exceeds the Lakers’ best offer. However, the Gilbert Arenas provision would apply to such an offer sheet, meaning it couldn’t exceed the Early Bird amounts in years one or two but could include a substantial third-year raise. And despite only holding Reaves’ Early Bird rights, the Lakers would have the ability to match such an offer via the Arenas provision.

As Buha observes, how Reaves performs down the stretch and possibly in the postseason will help determine how his free agency plays out. But the former Oklahoma Sooner has established himself as a reliable rotation player in his second NBA season, averaging 12.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists with an impressive .518/.380/.854 shooting line in 54 games (27.8 MPG).

For his part, Reaves doesn’t sound like someone seeking change of scenery, having expressed gratification on Sunday for the opportunity to play for the Lakers.

“It’s special,” Reaves said after scoring 35 points in a victory over Orlando, per Buha. “I mean, I grew up a Lakers fan. To do it for this organization, especially, is surreal. Sometimes I gotta stop and really think about what I am doing. … All I’m really happy about is the win.”

Pacific Notes: Reaves, M. Williams, Lue, Kings

He’s unlikely to get any votes, but Austin Reaves still appreciated the “MVP” chants from Lakers fans Sunday night, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Reaves came off the bench to deliver 35 points in a narrow win over Orlando that lifted L.A. into a tie for ninth place in the tight Western Conference playoff race.

“For them to recognize what I do — obviously not an MVP-caliber player, those guys are really good — but for them to do that for me is special, it means a lot to me,” he said.

It was a career-high scoring night for Reaves, but it wasn’t out of character. Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times points out that Reaves has become a dependable part of the offense since LeBron James was sidelined by a foot injury three weeks ago. He has failed to reach 13 points just once since James got hurt, and he has helped the Lakers post a 6-5 record without their star.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Suns coach Monty Williams indicated that rotation changes may be coming after Sunday’s loss at Oklahoma City, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Williams was frustrated after watching a double-digit lead slip away in the fourth quarter. “This one’s on me,” he said. “I’ve got to get guys in the game that can create a rhythm, especially on defense. We’re giving up way too many 30-point quarters, consecutively. That’s on me. I have to figure out the guys who can play together defensively as opposed to the starters to increase the momentum from an offensive and defensive standpoint.”
  • Associate head coach Dan Craig picked up his first win guiding the Clippers Sunday night, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Craig was filling in for head coach Tyronn Lue, who was able to coach the team on Saturday, but didn’t make the flight to Portland because of a non-COVID illness. Craig said Lue is expected “back soon.”
  • The Kings didn’t have shooting guard Kevin Huerter and forward Trey Lyles in Saturday’s win over Washington, and both are listed as questionable for tonight’s contest at Utah, notes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Huerter has a strain in his right knee area, while Lyles is experiencing soreness in his right shoulder.