2024 NBA Offseason Preview: Los Angeles Lakers

In 2022/23, the Lakers started the season 2-10. Just before the February trade deadline, they were 25-31. After making a few trades, they went 18-8 to close the regular season. A play-in victory over Minnesota secured the West’s No. 7 seed.

After defeating the shorthanded Grizzlies in the first round in six games, the Lakers took out the Warriors — the defending champions at that point — in the second round in another six-game series. However, they were swept in the conference finals by the Nuggets, who went on to win their first title in 2023.

Head of basketball Rob Pelinka talked up continuity last offseason, ultimately re-signing Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and extending Jarred Vanderbilt.

One significant roster change was letting Dennis Schröder walk in free agency, essentially replacing him by signing Gabe Vincent. Due to a knee injury, Vincent was limited to just 11 games and largely struggled in the time he was on the court.

L.A. gave out three minimum-salary one-plus-one (one-year with a player option for year two) deals to Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish. The results were underwhelming. To this point, only Wood has made a determination on his player option for ’24/25, opting in and securing $3MM.

Last summer, the Lakers used their bi-annual exception to sign Taurean Prince, who shot 39.6% from three-point range in his 78 regular season appearances, including 49 starts (27.0 minutes per contest). Prince’s outsized role was a source of external consternation from fans and was reportedly an issue internally as well, perhaps playing a factor in Darvin Ham getting fired as head coach.

Prince is one of only two unrestricted free agents for L.A. in 2024, along with Spencer Dinwiddie, a late-season buyout addition. For what it’s worth, both Prince and Dinwiddie have expressed a desire to return — it remains to be seen if that feeling is mutual.

In ’23/24, Anthony Davis played a career-high 76 games and LeBron James played 71, his most in six years. While they were successful in the minutes their two stars played, the Lakers did not play well at all when James and Davis were off the court. Their overall net rating of +0.6 ranked 19th in the league, and they were 15th in offense and 17th in defense — the definition of mediocre.

At the end of January, the Lakers were just 24-25. Another late-season surge saw them finish 23-10 for an overall mark of 47-35. Once again, the L.A. won its first play-in game — this time over New Orleans — to claim the West’s No. 7 seed.

Despite leading for the majority of the minutes in the series, the Lakers were vanquished again by the Nuggets, losing their first-round series in five games.

As previously noted, Ham was let go last month, so the Lakers have been searching for a new head coach. UConn’s Dan Hurley, winner of back-to-back NCAA titles, emerged as a surprising frontrunner last week, but ultimately stayed in college with the Huskies. J.J. Redick, the presumed favorite for the job before Hurley, will formally interview for the position this weekend, per ESPN.

The ongoing search is drawing all the headlines right now. It’s a huge market, it’s the Lakers, and they have the league’s most famous and accomplished current player. It’s only natural. But what Pelinka will be able to do with the roster is the bigger and more pressing concern. The Western Conference is only going to get more competitive next season, with teams like Memphis, Houston and possibly San Antonio looking to move up the standings and leapfrog the Lakers.


The Lakers’ Offseason Plan

The Lakers enter the offseason in a difficult position. James and Davis remain as potent as any duo in the league, but James turns 40 years old in December and is expected to play only a couple more years.

The team will look to be aggressive in the offseason with its three tradable first-round picks — No. 17 overall in the upcoming draft, and future first-rounders in 2029 and 2031.

If a star player requests a trade, the best package the Lakers can put together simply would not be competitive with teams stacked with draft assets and young players. That doesn’t mean L.A. won’t continue to be linked to star players, but the ones who could be realistically attainable have red flags.

Take Trae Young, for instance, a very talented but ball-dominant point guard. Going all-in for Young would likely cause more problems than solutions due to his maximum-salary contract and defensive limitations.

Zach LaVine‘s value is at an all-time low after season-ending foot surgery limited him to 25 games. His max deal will pay him $89MM over the next two seasons, with a $49MM player option for ’26/27. The Lakers probably wouldn’t have to give up very much to acquire the two-time All-Star, but would he help or hinder the club going forward?

Finding players who can contribute both in the short and long term while maintaining some semblance of future flexibility is an extremely difficult needle to thread. Especially when other teams know you want to get better but don’t have a clear path to doing so.

L.A. had a recipe for success around James and Davis four years ago when the team won the championship — a top-tier defense with role players who knew how to move the ball and could make enough shots to keep defenses honest. But 3-and-D players aren’t easy to acquire, as just about every team in the league wants more of them.

Alex Caruso, who won a ring with that title team before the Lakers let him walk in free agency a few years ago, would be a great on-court fit. However, he’s entering the final year of his contract, and the Bulls have reportedly placed a high asking price for defensive stalwart in the past couple transaction windows.

Dorian Finney-Smith is another player who has been linked to L.A. He’s a good player on a fairly reasonable contract. He also isn’t a player who is going to move the needle on his own, and I don’t think he’s worth any first-round picks.

James has a $51.4MM player option for ’24/25 and is widely expected to return in some fashion, whether it comes via an extension or opting out and re-signing. In addition to Hayes and Reddish, Russell also holds a player option valued at $18.7MM.

If James opts out and re-signs, he would be eligible for a full no-trade clause. That could appeal to him as he enters his age-40 season, although it’s very difficult to envision any scenario in which the Lakers would consider trading him anyway.

Let’s say all four players simply pick up their options. That leaves the Lakers with $178.75MM committed to 12 players. They also have a $3.83MM cap hold for the No. 17 overall pick and a potential $2.29MM qualifying offer — which is also the cap hold — to make second-year wing Max Christie a restricted free agent. That’s a total of about $184.9MM for 14 players.

The first luxury tax apron is projected to be $178.7MM. The second apron would be just shy of $189.5MM.

I don’t have a great feel for Christie’s market value because he hasn’t been a regular part of the team’s rotation in his first two seasons. He’s only 21 and has shown glimpses of being a valuable role player, but it’s hard to say how that will translate to his next contract. I do think the Lakers will re-sign him though, assuming it makes sense financially.

The problem with the above scenario is the Lakers weren’t a contender in ’23/24 and running things back isn’t a solution. Handing out all those player options in 2023 free agency may have secured additional commitments, but it made navigating the team’s books a more difficult proposition this summer.

Russell’s situation is interesting because if he signs with a rival team in free agency, the Lakers wouldn’t have to worry about the restrictions of the aprons at all — they might not even be a taxpayer ($171.3MM). But they’d also lose their starting point guard and a potential mid-sized contract to use for salary-matching in trades.

You could make an argument that ’23/24 was Russell’s best regular season as a pro, averaging 18.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 6.3 APG while turning it over at a career-low rate (2.1 per game). He scored efficiently (.588 TS%), including a career-high 41.5% from three-point range, and appeared in 76 games, his highest mark in five years.

However, he was abysmal in the playoffs again, averaging more field goal attempts (14.6) than points (14.2) per game. He was also targeted by Denver defensively for the second straight year. If it were his first rodeo, maybe it wouldn’t be particularly noteworthy, but the 28-year-old has consistently struggled under the bright lights of the postseason, with a career TS% of .484 in 32 games (just over 1,000 minutes).

Russell has always been a streaky scorer who has never been known for his defense. But if he struggles to score at the time of the season you need him most, how valuable do his regular season contributions actually end up being?

There is no easy answer to that question, which is why his market value is particularly tricky to gauge. He provides a certain baseline of skills that appeals to teams, despite being streaky. But I also don’t think there’s a team out there that views Russell as any type of long-term solution at point. He’s entering his 10th season, so an improvement over last season would likely be marginal.

Russell exercising his option would probably be a best-case scenario for the Lakers because he would remain trade-eligible and under contract. He might be flawed, but they also don’t have a straightforward way to replace what he brings to the table.

That’s the biggest problem with the Lakers right now. Their most appealing player asset — aside from James and Davis, of course — is Reaves, a good player on a great contract. Beyond that, the outlook is pretty bleak.

Hachimura had a solid regular season before struggling in the playoffs. He’s owed $35.3MM over the next two seasons — not an onerous deal by any means, but also not particularly team-friendly. He might appeal to certain teams, but not enough on his own to return anything of significant value.

Vanderbilt defends, hustles and rebounds, but he’s not a great offensive player, and he only played 29 games last season due to a nagging heel injury. He’s 25 and will make a little under the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which certain teams can now use as a trade exception — an acquiring team potentially wouldn’t have to take salary back to acquire him.

Vincent is still owed $22.5MM over the next two years. It’s hard to view that contract as anything but a negative right now.

Guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, whom the team selected 17th overall in 2023, only played a total of 109 NBA minutes as a rookie last season. Injuries certainly were a factor, but he was also buried deep on the depth chart. This is not a slight at Hood-Schifino because he’s still very young and some things were out of his control. But after one year, the pick doesn’t look great for the front office — the three players selected immediately after Hood-Schifino were Jaime Jaquez, Brandin Podziemski and Cam Whitmore — two All-Rookie First Team members and an explosive athlete and scorer.

2023 second-rounder Maxwell Lewis played 103 minutes across 34 games as a rookie, averaging just 3.0 per contest. He’ll earn guaranteed salaries the next two seasons, with a $2.4MM team option for ’26/27.

If Russell declines his option and signs elsewhere, the Lakers would have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Free agents like De’Anthony Melton, Gary Trent Jr., Derrick Jones, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith and Naji Marshall could make some sense as targets, though they might not all be available.

One thing that’s certain is the Lakers will still trying to be competitive in ’24/25, as New Orleans controls their 2025 first-round pick, which is unprotected. That is the final piece of the Davis trade from five years ago.


Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

Non-Guaranteed Salary

  • None

Dead/Retained Salary

  • None

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Restricted Free Agents

Two-Way Free Agents

Note: Because they are no longer eligible to sign two-way contracts, the qualifying offers for Giles and Mays would be worth their minimum salary (projected to be $2,432,511 for Giles and $2,244,249 for Mays). Those offers would each include a small partial guarantee.

Draft Picks

  • No. 17 overall pick ($3,830,280 cap hold)
  • No. 55 overall pick (no cap hold)
  • Total (cap holds): $3,830,280

Extension-Eligible Players

  • LeBron James (veteran)
    • Extension-eligible as of August 18; player option must be exercised.

Unrestricted Free Agents

Other Cap Holds

Note: The cap holds for these players are on the Lakers’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.

Cap Exceptions Available

Note: The Lakers project to operate over the cap and over the first tax apron. If they’re below the first apron, they would gain access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($12,859,000). If they’re above the second apron, they would lose access to the taxpayer mid-level exception.

  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,183,000

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

International Notes: Mexico City Game, James, Teodosic, Harper

The NBA’s Mexico City Game in 2024 will feature a pair of Southeast rivals, as the Heat and Wizards will match up in the contest on Saturday, November 2, the league announced today in a press release. It will be the NBA’s 14th regular season contest and 33rd game overall in Mexico.

The game will be the fourth in Mexico for the Wizards, who last played there in 2019, and the third for the Heat. Since Miami’s last visit in 2022, the team has added Mexican-American forward Jaime Jaquez, which likely factored into the NBA’s decision to have the team return just two years later.

Here are a few more updates from around the international basketball world:

  • Reigning EuroLeague MVP Mike James has a new three-year deal in place with AS Monaco Basket, the team officially announced on Friday (via Twitter). The former NBA guard was initially said to be nearing an agreement a week ago before Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reported that James was considering testing the open market. According to Urbonas (Twitter link), Monaco improved its offer to ensure that a deal got done. James previously appeared in 49 NBA games from 2017-21 with the Suns, Pelicans, and Nets.
  • Former NBA guard Milos Teodosic, who played for the Clippers from 2017-19, will spend another season with Crvena Zvezda in Serbia. The team announced (via Twitter) that it has signed the 37-year-old to a new one-year contract (hat tip to Sportando).
  • Valencia Basket and Jared Harper, who suited up for the Suns, Knicks, and Pelicans from 2019-22, have parted ways, the Spanish club announced in a press release. A former All-NBAGL first-teamer, Harper spent the past two seasons with Valencia but will be a free agent this summer.

New Free Agency Rules Will Go Into Effect After Finals End

It’s possible that Friday’s contest between the Celtics and Mavericks will be the final game of the 2023/24 NBA season, with Boston holding a 3-0 lead and looking to complete the sweep. If the Celtics do finish off the series tonight, we’ll get our first look at the new rules related to free agency negotiations that the NBA and players’ union implemented in their most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In past years, teams have been prohibited from negotiating new contracts with free agents prior to June 30 at 6:00 pm Eastern time. That timeline will still apply to teams who wish to speak to other clubs’ free agents, but for the first time, teams will be permitted to negotiate contracts with their own free agents beginning one day after the NBA Finals end. So if the Celtics win on Friday, those negotiations could begin for players around the league on Saturday.

The rule change should put teams in a better position to retain their own free agents. A year ago, for instance, one reason cited for the split between the Sixers and James Harden was Philadelphia’s insistence on waiting until June 30 to negotiate potential contract terms after being docked two second-round picks for jumping the gun on free agency in 2022. Harden reportedly felt as if he was being ignored by management and wasn’t confident the team would make him a lucrative contract offer, prompting him to pick up his player option and ask for a trade.

That type of situation should be easier to avoid now that teams will have an exclusive window between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of free agency on June 30 to talk to their own free agents.

Of course, it’s been considered an open secret over the years that teams and player agents are in contact before they’re legally permitted to be, which is why so many contract agreements (including some complex sign-and-trade deals) are reported in the hours – or even minutes – after free agency opens at 6:00 pm ET on June 30. It will be interesting to see whether that same pattern of reporting occurs the day after the Finals end — in other words, if the Celtics win tonight, will we get a flurry of new deals reported this weekend for free-agents-to-be who are returning to their own clubs? Or will those updates take a little longer to materialize?

Free agent contracts still can’t be officially finalized until after the July moratorium lifts on July 6, so a player who verbally agrees to re-sign with his current team on June 22 could change his mind during the next couple weeks before he officially puts pen to paper. We’ve seen that occur on occasion in the past with free agents who reach tentative deals between June 30 and July 6, then renege on them, but it’s pretty rare and will probably continue to happen infrequently going forward.

Players who won’t be free agents this offseason but who will become eligible to sign contract extensions on July 6 will also be permitted to talk to their current teams about new deals a day after the Finals end, ESPN’s Bobby Marks confirmed to Hoops Rumors.

Like this year’s free agents, those extension-eligible players would also have to wait until after the moratorium ends to formally complete a new contract, unless they’re already extension-eligible, in which case they’re allowed to talk to their respective teams even before the Finals end and can continue to negotiate up until June 30.

Players who will become extension-eligible sometime after July 6 won’t be able to open negotiations during that post-Finals window and will have to wait until the new league year to explore new deals with their clubs.

Pistons To Hire Fred Vinson As Assistant Coach

Longtime Pelicans assistant Fred Vinson is leaving New Orleans after 14 years with the organization, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Vinson will be joining Monty Williams‘ coaching staff with the Pistons.

A professional player in the NBA and several other leagues around the world from 1994-2007, Vinson transitioned into coaching in 2008, spending two years with the Clippers before joining the Pelicans (the Hornets at the time). He worked under Williams from 2011-15, then remained with the team under three more head coaches (Alvin Gentry, Stan Van Gundy, and Willie Green).

As Wojnarowski notes, Vinson is highly regarded for his expertise as a shooting instructor. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer (Twitter link) refers to the veteran assistant as one of the NBA’s top “shot doctors,” pointing to improvements made by Lonzo Ball and Herbert Jones, among others. New Orleans ranked fourth in the NBA this past season with a .383 3PT%.

While the hiring of Vinson looks like a strong signal that Williams will be coaching the Pistons next season, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter links) cautions not to read too much into it. As Edwards points out, new Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon is close with Vinson from their time together in New Orleans, and Detroit was in need of a shooting specialist.

Langdon has reportedly been given the green light to make a head coaching change if he decides it’s in the best interests of the franchise, despite the five seasons remaining on Williams’ six-year, $78MM deal. However, the deeper we get into the team’s offseason without a move being made, the less likely it appears that a change will occur before the 2024/25 season.

Knicks Notes: George, Mitchell, Anunoby, Hartenstein

Paul George would be an “ideal fit” for the Knicks, but it won’t be easy to acquire him if he fails to reach a long-term deal with the Clippers, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. The 34-year-old forward has a $48.8MM player option for next season that must be picked up by June 29. He’s eligible for a four-year, $221MM extension with Los Angeles, but negotiations have been at an impasse.

George’s three-point shooting, pick-and-roll skills and constant movement would help him blend seamlessly with the rest of New York’s roster, according to Katz, who adds that George and OG Anunoby would become the best pair of perimeter defenders in the league. Katz points out that George has a history of playing alongside other stars and he’s a client of CAA, which was formerly run by Knicks president Leon Rose.

New York won’t have cap space to sign George if he opts out, and the Clippers wouldn’t be permitted to sign and trade him because they’re above the second apron. The Knicks would need George to opt in to make a deal possible, and Katz is skeptical that L.A. would be in a hurry to move him if he’s under contract for another season.

Sources tell Katz that the Knicks have considered George in the past, but they’ve never made a serious offer to acquire him. That could change if he and the Clippers agree that picking up the option and being traded this summer is the best course of action.

There’s more from New York:

  • Sources also tell Katz that the Knicks’ desire to add Donovan Mitchell isn’t nearly as strong as it was two years ago. There has been speculation that the Cavaliers guard could be available again if he doesn’t agree to an extension this summer. New York made an offer to Utah for Mitchell in 2022, but Katz notes that Jalen Brunson‘s emergence into a star has diminished the need for another scoring guard. Katz also examines Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, Dejounte Murray and DeMar DeRozan as potential additions. Katz cites sources who say that the Nets have been offered multiple first-round picks for Bridges, but they continue to view him as part of the foundation and hope to eventually pair him with another star.
  • After their playoff run ended, members of the Knicks organization expressed confidence about their chances of re-signing both Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein, per Ian Begley of SNY. Begley adds that the team expects competition for both players and could be outbid for Hartenstein because league rules limit their offer to about $16MM for next season and $72.5MM over four years.
  • In a subscriber-only piece, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post examines Rose’s draft history to see if it offers any clues about what the Knicks might do with picks No. 24 and 25 this year.

Heat Notes: Edey, Markkanen, Jovic, Offseason

Zach Edey could be an option with the 15th pick if the Heat are looking to add size in the draft, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Purdue center, who had a workout in Miami earlier this month, stands 7’4″ and weighs nearly 300 pounds. He would ensure that the Heat aren’t physically overmatched in the middle whenever Bam Adebayo is resting.

“Every team needs someone to hold down the paint,” Edey said. “You need someone to grab the rebound. You need somebody to block shots. You need someone to finish lobs. You need someone to do all those things. Like not everything has to be with me having the ball in my hands in a post-up. I think I can do a lot of things. Obviously at Purdue, we used a lot of post-ups. But if you really watch the games there’s a lot of ball screens and that’s what they run in the NBA, ball screens, seals, re-posts.”

The two-time Player of the Year in the NCAA hears that his potential draft spot is “between 10 and 25.” Several teams in Miami’s range could be in the market for size, so it’s not certain that Edey will still be on the board at No. 15. He said at the draft combine that he hopes to prove to teams that he’s capable of doing more in the NBA than just clogging the paint.

“Obviously I need to show people I can shoot the way I believe I can,” Edey said. “But I think for the most part I know what I’m good at. Like if teams have tons of film on me, obviously I think I’m quicker than teams think I am, I think I can shoot better than teams think I can. I have to show that. I’ve been in college for four years. They’ve got a lot of film on me. They kind of know what I can do.”

There’s more from Miami:

  • The Heat could have interest in trading for Lauri Markkanen, but getting Jimmy Butler in return is unlikely to appeal to the Jazz, Winderman states in a mailbag column. At 34, Butler doesn’t fit Utah’s timeline, Winderman notes, and his injury history and desire for an extension make him especially risky. A deal involving Tyler Herro and other pieces could be more realistic, but Winderman describes the Jazz as “lukewarm” to that possibility.
  • Nikola Jovic will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a minor left ankle sprain, sources tell Winderman (Twitter link). The Heat forward is still expected to be able to play for Serbia in the Olympics.
  • Responding to questions from readers, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald examines Butler’s future, negotiations with the Heat’s soon-to-be free agents and potential moves for the summer.

Suns’ G League Team Selects 14 Players In Expansion Draft

The Valley Suns, Phoenix’s new G League affiliate, were awarded the returning rights to 14 players as part of the 2024 expansion draft, the league announced in a press release.

Each existing G League team was permitted to protect up to 12 players and had until June 5 to provide that list of protected players to the league. The Valley Suns received the full list of unprotected players on June 6 and had until June 13 at 3:00 pm Eastern time to select up to 14 of those players, drafting no more than two per team.

Crucially, while Phoenix’s affiliate now controls these players NBAGL returning rights, that does not mean all of them – or any of them, for that matter – will suit up for the Valley Suns in 2024/25, since they’re not obligated to play in the G League.

Many could end up playing for teams in non-NBA leagues around the world or even getting another shot in the NBA, in which case the Suns’ rights wouldn’t amount to much. But if any of these players sign G League contracts for next season, the Valley Suns will get first dibs at bringing them to training camp.

Here are the 14 players selected by the Valley Suns in the expansion draft:

Of those names, Mudiay, Okafor, and Valentine are the most notable. All three are former NBA lottery picks who spent several seasons in the league and are still no older than 30 years old. Brown, Clark, Louzada, Maledon, Mulder, Weatherspoon, and Wigginton have also seen NBA regular season action in recent years.

Returning rights players are just one group of the many that make up a G League team, so if only a small handful of the players listed above sign NBAGL contracts, the Suns will have plenty of other paths to fill out their roster. Those paths are as follows:

  • Affiliate players: Players who are signed (generally to Exhibit 10 contracts) and then cut by the parent NBA club, as detailed here.
  • G League draft rights: Players who are selected in the G League draft in the fall.
  • NBA draft rights: Players who are drafted by an NBA team and sign a G League contract instead of an NBA contract.
  • Local tryout: Players who earn a shot via a local tryout.
  • G League player pool: Players who sign G League contracts and go undrafted (or sign their contracts after the draft). Newly signed players go through a waiver process and enter the league’s free agent pool if they go unclaimed.
  • Two-way contract: Players who are on a two-way contract with an NBA team and are transferred to the G League.
  • NBA assignment: Players who are on a standard contract with an NBA team and are assigned to the G League.

Celtics Notes: Tatum, Tillman, Brown, Game 4

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has made just 35.9% of his shots from the floor in the NBA Finals, including 29.6% of his three-pointers. While he has contributed in many other ways, including on the boards (8.7 RPG) and as a play-maker (7.3 APG), those poor shooting numbers have made teammate Jaylen Brown the odds-on favorite to be named Finals MVP, assuming Boston finishes off the Mavericks. That’s just fine with Tatum, as he tells Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

“Man, I want everybody to be at their best. I want everybody to contribute. Winning will take care of everything,” Tatum said. “Finals MVP or whatever, a champion is a champion. That’s the goal. I want for my teammates what I want for myself. I want everybody to shine. There’s enough attention for all of us. And so, I want everybody to give us theirs.”

Tatum has earned no shortage of individual accolades over the course of his seven-year career, including five All-Star berths, four All-NBA nods (including three as part of the First Team), an Eastern Conference Finals MVP (in 2022), and an All-Star Game MVP (2023). The one thing he feels as if his résumé is missing is a championship.

“I’ve been here before, and I know what it felt like to lose [in the Finals] and that was the worst feeling ever,” Tatum told Haynes. “That was the worst summer I ever had. I made the All-Star team five times. I’m All-NBA first team year after year. The only thing they said I haven’t done is win. I just vowed to myself that if I ever got back to the Finals, then I would literally do whatever I needed to do to ensure that we have a different outcome.”

Here’s more on the Celtics ahead of a potential close-out game on Friday:

  • Backup center Xavier Tillman averaged just 13.7 minutes per game after being sent to the Celtics at the trade deadline and hasn’t been a regular part of the postseason rotation, appearing in just six of the club’s first 16 playoff games. However, he came up big in Game 3 with Kristaps Porzingis unavailable, hitting a three-pointer, grabbing four rebounds, and blocking a pair of shots. Boston outscored Dallas by nine points in his 11 minutes of action. Al Horford said Tillman was “ready for the moment,” while Derrick White said the big man gave the team “big-time minutes,” per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. “Obviously we’d love to have KP out there,” Brown said, according to Jay King of The Athletic. “We are different when he is. But X stepped in that role, and I thought he was great.”
  • Within his story on Tillman, Fischer says that more than a dozen teams had legitimate interest in the big man prior to the trade deadline. Tillman had heard the Suns were another “strong possibility” if he didn’t end up in Boston, Fischer adds.
  • After nearly letting a 21-point fourth quarter lead slip away in Game 3, the Celtics credited their past experiences on this stage as the reason they were able to buckle down and hang on for the victory, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “All year long we’ve been hearing about the Celtics are the past, for the last six to eight months, that’s all we’ve been hearing is all the different shortcomings we’ve had in the past,” Brown said. “This is a new team, you know what I mean. We’ve learned from those experiences. And in these moments, you can see that we learned from it. We stepped up to the plate, and we found a way to win.”
  • Both Brown and Tatum also pointed to last year’s postseason experience – which ended with a home loss to the No. 8 Heat – as a source of motivation this time around. “I mean, last year, just falling short on your home floor, it definitely hurt,” Brown said, per Bontemps. “It was embarrassing, in my opinion. I felt like the team was relying on me. JT got hurt in Game 7 and I dropped the ball. To me, it was embarrassing. It drove me all summer. Drove me crazy.”
  • Bontemps, Chris Herring, and Brian Windhorst of ESPN shared their biggest takeaways from Game 3 and weighed in on what to expect in Game 4.

Stein’s Latest: Van Gundy, Cassell, Lakers, Cavaliers

Current Celtics special adviser Jeff Van Gundy, who’s just one win away from claiming his first NBA championship, is being eyed as a possible assistant coach for recently extended Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, sources tell longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein (Substack link).

Van Gundy is being considered to replace former Clippers assistant coach Dan Craig, who is headed to the Bulls. According to Stein, L.A. team president Lawrence Frank has long been an appreciator of Van Gundy’s acumen. Van Gundy last coached in the NBA for the Rockets in 2006/07, though he has been serving on USA Basketball’s staff since 2017.

Here’s more from Stein:

  • Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell, one of the remaining contenders for the Lakers’ head coaching vacancy, had been viewed as a possibility to reunite with Doc Rivers on the Bucks this offseason. Now, with ex-Los Angeles head coach Darvin Ham back in Milwaukee, it is considered more likely that Cassell with remain in Boston, assuming he doesn’t get a head coaching job (the Cavaliers also have an opening). Rivers has worked with Cassell as an assistant off and on for nine seasons.
  • ESPN broadcaster J.J. Redick and Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego are still seen as the leading contenders to land the Lakers‘ head coaching gig, sources inform Stein. He adds that the Cavaliers, meanwhile, seem to be honing in on Borrego and Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson.

Texas Notes: Wembanyama, Carter, Shead, Luka

With Spurs rookie center Victor Wembanyama already seemingly on the cusp of superstardom, Andrew Lopez of ESPN wonders if San Antonio will be able to make itself an appetizing landing spot for free agents.

The 7’4″ Rookie of the Year averaged 21.4 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 3.9 APG and 3.6 BPG across his 71 healthy contests with the club in 2023/24.

Should the Spurs cut veterans Devonte’ Graham and Charles Bassey, they could easily open up close to $20MM in cap space this summer to upgrade their roster around Wembanyama.

Lopez acknowledges that San Antonio did sign free agent All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge while he was still in his prime, and, later, an aging Pau Gasol after a pair of All-Star berths on the Bulls. Otherwise, San Antonio has generally grown internally, signed role player free agents, or improved via trades.

During remarks made at the end of the 2023/24 regular season, general manager Brian Wright indicated that he hoped to use the 20-year-old Wembanyama to lure top-tier free agents eventually.

There’s more out of the Lone Star State:

  • The Spurs, possessors of the Nos. 4 and 8 lottery picks in this month’s forthcoming draft, still need a long-term point guard compatriot for Wembanyama. Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News argues in favor of San Antonio considering Providence guard Devin Carter. The 2023/24 Big East Player of the Year seems likely to be available with the eighth pick, McDonald speculates.
  • University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson revealed that former Cougars point guard Jamal Shead is slated to work out for the Rockets this Friday, reports Joseph Duarte of The Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • All-NBA Mavericks guard Luka Doncic conceded that he has been frustrated by the officiating in the ongoing NBA Finals, in which Dallas trails the Celtics 3-0. The All-NBA guard was whistled for his sixth foul and thus ejected from a critical Game 3 matchup Wednesday with 4:12 left in regulation. Per Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Doncic is looking to move past his frustrations with the recent refereeing. “Go back to playing fun,” Doncic said of his intended approach on Thursday. “We talk about how we come back from [21] points in the fourth quarter in the Finals. We were having fun. We were defending. We were running. Our pace was great. Just taking good shots.” During a conversation with ESPN’s Malika Andrews (Twitter video link), Doncic ultimately still felt responsible for the team’s eventual 106-99 loss in Game 3. “It was tough, probably wasn’t the smartest thing,” he said of fouling out.