Anthony Davis

Pacific Notes: Curry, James, Davis, Clippers

August 17th, 2024 at 8:31am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Warriors‘ biggest offseason priority was to bring in a high-level, established scorer next to Stephen Curry, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. That’s why Golden State targeted both Paul George and Lauri Markkanen, though the team came away with neither. While the general sentiment is that the Warriors did well for itself to bring in players like Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson, Slater ponders whether the team is failing Curry.

Slater acknowledges that striking out on Markkanen may not have been management’s fault. According to Slater, Markkanen’s availability felt more like a mirage and him extending with Utah always seemed like the intended outcome.

Curry hasn’t shown any signs of unease or unrest with the roster, Slater adds. The two-time MVP is extension-eligible, and there has been no indication that either side feels less than optimistic about getting a deal done, though it won’t happen in the near future as Curry unwinds after the Paris Olympics.

While Curry could choose to sign a one-year extension by the October 21 deadline for the sake of security, it’s possible he’ll prefer to play out the season to see if the young players develop and if the new veterans fit in well. It would also be helpful to see if Draymond Green stays out of the league’s spotlight this season and if Andrew Wiggins bounces back, Slater writes. If Curry doesn’t sign an extension by Oct. 21, he’ll be eligible again next summer.

The Warriors themselves believe they improved this season, with internal team models providing a positive outlook for their veteran additions. One rival’s metric model projects the club to finish fourth in the West, Slater notes. Still, Curry’s decision on an extension before the deadline of Oct. 21 may provide a hint of his confidence level in the roster.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Paris Olympics are another major reason the Lakers should continue to be aggressive in looking for roster upgrades, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reports. LeBron James and Anthony Davis played major roles in the gold medal run, with James earning Olympics MVP honors. In Buha’s view, Davis has established himself as a top-10 NBA player and James remains firmly in that conversation too, so the tandem remains more than capable of contending for championships. Two-way wings are still a need for the team, Buha writes, but they could look to get creative in optimizing their stars with the talent on board, perhaps by playing Davis alongside another big more often or using their young shooters like Dalton Knecht and Max Christie.
In a similar piece, Michael Pina of The Ringer opines that the Lakers needed to bring in more veteran talent around James this offseason. The only players currently on Los Angeles’s standard roster who weren’t on last year’s team are Knecht and Bronny James. For my money though, I’ll be curious to see how they deploy their young talent this season. While the team didn’t make major veteran moves, Knecht was widely regarded as one of the biggest draft steals and players like Christie, Maxwell Lewis or Jalen Hood-Schifino could play themselves into the rotation or show enough promise to be used to trade for vets.
The new Clippers arena, Intuit Dome, had its grand opening on Thursday, Law Murray of The Athletic relays. The arena’s features, like the halo board, have gone viral through the last year and it marks the first time since 1998 that the Clippers won’t shares Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena with their rival Lakers. The 2024/25 regular season home opener for L.A. is against Phoenix on Oct. 23.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Davis, Russell, D. Johnson

August 10th, 2024 at 6:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

The two Lakers who collected gold medals in this year’s Olympics have differing plans for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. LeBron James, who won MVP honors while leading Team USA to a 6-0 record, responded “I can’t see myself playing in L.A.” when reporters asked about the possibility, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape. However, Anthony Davis said “I think so,” per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link).

James’ outlook makes sense considering that he’ll turn 40 later this year and will be 43 when it’s time for the 2028 Olympics. Even after signing a new two-year contract with the Lakers, there’s a good chance he’ll be retired – and possibly part of a team’s ownership group – four years from now.

Davis is only 31 and should have a few more years of high-level basketball left, assuming his body holds up. He played 76 games last season, his highest total in four years, and was able to avoid significant injuries. It’s possible that all three of Team USA’s centers — Davis, Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo — will return to the team for 2028.

There’s more on the Lakers:

After watching James perform at an elite level during the Olympics, Dan Wolken of USA Today calls out Lakers management for not putting a better team around him. While James has lost some of the athleticism he had at his physical peak, Woken notes that he’s still an exceptional passer who knows how to make the right plays and can drive to the basket as well as anyone when he needs to. Wolken criticizes general manager Rob Pelinka for not making any moves to improve the roster around James and basically wasting the final years of his career.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report suggests a three-team trade that would give the Lakers some additional depth and create a way to sign free agent guard Markelle Fultz. Pincus’ proposal sends D’Angelo Russell, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Cam Reddish and Christian Wood to the Hornets, who would ship Tre Mann and Nick Richards to L.A. and Vasilije Micić to the Jazz. Utah would also receive a 2031 protected first-rounder from the Lakers. L.A. would get trade exceptions worth $13.8MM for Russell and $3MM for Wood, while Charlotte would get a 2025 first-rounder from the Jazz (the second best of the three they own) and a $1.1MM trade exception for Richards. Pincus argues that the move makes the Lakers younger while giving them proven backups at point guard and center. Fultz can add backcourt depth by signing a contract starting at the $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception.
The G League South Bay Lakers have parted ways with head coach Dane Johnson, the team announced (via Twitter). Johnson served as the Lakers’ Summer League coach last month in Las Vegas.

Team USA Notes: South Sudan, Adebayo, Embiid, Holiday, Tatum, Ivey

July 31st, 2024 at 7:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Team USA nearly lost to South Sudan in an exhibition game. It was a much different story at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, as the Americans secured a 103-86 victory and clinched a berth into the quarterfinals.

Canada, France and Germany have also advanced to the quarterfinals. Puerto Rico is the only team that has been officially eliminated.

“It’s not the goal,” Anthony Davis said of making the quarterfinals, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “It does give us a sense of satisfaction as far as being able to play next week. But there’s a lot that we can get better at, a lot that we can clean up, and we’ll use Saturday’s game against Puerto Rico to tighten the screws again and then just see where it takes us from there.”

Bam Adebayo was Team USA’s leading scorer with 18 points and Kevin Durant, coming off his dominant outing in the opening win over Serbia, added 14.

We have more on Team USA:

Adebayo received extended minutes because coach Steve Kerr gave Joel Embiid the night off, Brian Windhorst of ESPN notes. Jayson Tatum, who never left the bench against Serbia, was in the starting lineup. Jrue Holiday came off the bench after starting the opener, while Davis replaced Embiid in the starting five. Embiid and Holiday will return to the lineup against Puerto Rico. “We have an embarrassment of riches on this roster, that’s the best way to put it,” Kerr said. “I mean these guys are all champions, All-Stars, Hall of Famers, however you want to put it. So the whole thing is are we committed to the goal? That’s it.”
Tatum wasn’t upset about getting benched in the opener, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets. “It’s a unique situation and it’s not about one individual player,” Tatum said. “The competitor in you wants to play, obviously. But I’m not here to make a story, making it about myself. We won. I was just glad to get back out there and play again today. There was a lot of chatter over the last few days but I was in good spirits, I had a good attitude about it. I’m not holding any grudges or anything.”
South Sudan coach and Rockets assistant Royal Ivey anticipated that Team USA wouldn’t overlook his team again, Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews writes. “In London, they weren’t prepared for us. We came there and tried to hit them on the chin, but we almost had a knockout. And now, this time, they were prepared,” Ivey said. “They were ready for the punches we threw. They blocked them, and they threw haymakers at us. And that’s a fight for you.”

Team USA Notes: Ceiling, Serbia Win Takeaways, Embiid, Holiday, White

July 29th, 2024 at 5:34pm CST by Tristan Tucker

On paper, the U.S. Olympic men’s team looks like one of the best collections of talent since 1992, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon writes while pondering the team’s upside.

“I don’t know if Magic, Michael and Larry, if they coined that [nickname] themselves and walked around calling themselves the Dream Team or if that was the nickname that fans and media gave them, [but] I feel like we’re going to have the same vibe,” Stephen Curry said of how this year’s team compares to the Dream Team.

The Americans certainly looked the part in their blowout win over Serbia on Sunday, but it wasn’t smooth sailing up to that point. The U.S. almost lost to Germany and South Sudan in consecutive exhibition games. As Vardon writes, it’s a testament to how the talent around the world has grown. When the 1992 team competed, only nine other players outside of the U.S. team were in the NBA. This year, an Olympic-record 47 athletes are in the NBA and 35 more have at least some league experience.

“It’s the strongest field ever,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “The game gets better and better globally, more and more NBA players, but also teams are more and more comfortable playing against us, and so we know that every game’s going to be difficult and we have to prepare for that and be ready because these teams are coming after us.”

While the Americans look like the favorite for the gold medal, Vardon cautions that it’s far from a guarantee. In a similar piece, The Ringer’s Michael Pina writes that Team USA’s low three-point rate is seemingly one of the team’s only weaknesses.

We have more from the U.S. Olympic team:

Kevin Durant‘s near-perfect game against Serbia highlighted their 110-84 win. LeBron James‘ 23-point, nine-assist and seven-rebound game showed that the U.S. team should continue to rely on its older guys, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes in a takeaways piece from the first game. Jones also contemplates whether Joel Embiid should continue to start, writing that Kerr may simply just like the effective frontcourt pairing of Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis off the bench. Jones also observes Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton picking up DNPs in the first game and ponders if Kerr’s rotation choices will be consistent or fluctuate on a matchup basis.
Embiid had a rough showing in his first official Team USA outing, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. He finished with four points and two rebounds in just over 11 minutes and didn’t seem 100%. His decision to play for Team USA over France earned him boos from the crowd in Paris and Sielski wonders — even if he was hampered with an injury or illness — if adapting his game benefits either him or his team. Embiid is one of the best players in the world but he has always been the featured player on his teams and may be taking more of a backseat on the Olympic squad, Sielski writes.
Jrue Holiday and Derrick White played similar roles in the team’s first game as they do for the reigning-champion Celtics, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes. Both players complement star-filled rosters on either team and often take the task of guarding the opposing team’s best player. “It makes it easy for me and Jrue,” White said. “We just try to go out there and do what we do and try to help us impact winning whenever we can. I know we’ve got a lot of talented guys on the team.”

Olympic Notes: Team USA, Exum, Aldama, Theis, France

July 27th, 2024 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Team USA big men Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis have both missed practice time ahead of the club’s pool-play opener vs. Serbia on Sunday due to illnesses, while Kevin Durant was unable to suit up in any of the pre-Olympic exhibition games as a result of a calf strain. However, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes, head coach Steve Kerr expressed optimism on Saturday that none of his 12 players will be unavailable vs. Serbia.

“I’m confident we’ll have everybody ready (Sunday),” Kerr said.

The U.S. squad beat Serbia by 26 points earlier this month in Abu Dhabi, holding star center Nikola Jokic to 6-of-19 shooting in that game. But the Serbians were resting some key players, including Bogdan Bogdanovic. Team USA is prepared for a more competitive game on Sunday.

“Jokic, with what he’s able to do, obviously we know what he does at NBA, but maybe a little bit higher usage in the international game,” Davis said. “It’s going to be fun.”

Here are a few more notes on the Olympic tournament, which tipped off on Saturday:

NBA veterans like Josh Giddey and Jock Landale led Australia to a win over Spain on Saturday in the first Group A game, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details. However, the Boomers were missing one notable NBAer, as Dante Exum was unavailable due to a compound dislocation of his finger. While at least one report has suggested Exum will miss multiple games, he hasn’t technically been ruled out for Tuesday’s contest vs. Canada yet and is working to return as soon as possible. “The biggest thing at the moment is trying to just let the wound heal because it was a compound dislocation,” he said (Twitter link via Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com). “So just making sure everything [is right], but I’ll put a ball in my hand tomorrow and see how it feels and go from there.”
Although Spain couldn’t pick up a win on Saturday, Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama was impressive in defeat, racking up 27 points and six three-pointers. As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, those six threes represented a Spanish Olympic record.
Pelicans center Daniel Theis helped lead Germany to a win over Japan on Saturday with 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting. He suggested after the game that last year’s World Cup title puts a spotlight on the Germans in this year’s event. “I think we kind of got a target on our back. Everybody wanted to be the world champion,” Theis said, per Barkas of Eurohoops. “One of our biggest strengths is we never underestimate any opponent. We did not do it last year. We have not done it this year. Whoever we played, we never took anybody lightly. So we take everybody seriously, and that is a big strength for us.”
The top two picks in this year’s NBA draft are French, but neither Zaccharie Risacher nor Alex Sarr is representing France at this year’s Olympics. Marc J. Spears of Andscape takes a closer look at why the youngsters aren’t in Paris with the French national team this year and why they’re likely to be factors at the 2028 Olympics. France won its opener on Saturday over Brazil, with Victor Wembanyama and Nicolas Batum each scoring a game-high 19 points.

Olympic Notes: Durant, Team USA, Jokic, Murray

July 19th, 2024 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Suns star Kevin Durant, who is recovering from a strained calf, participated in Team USA’s practice in London on Friday, per Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It was the first time Durant has practiced with the team ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The United States will face South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday in its last pre-Olympic tune-up games. Durant is day-to-day and is considered questionable to play in those contests.

“I’m going to see how I feel after practice today,” Durant said.

Here are some more notes ahead of the Olympics, which begin next week:

Team USA has gone 3-0 in exhibition contests vs. Canada, Australia and Serbia thus far. While the Americans’ roster is brimming with talent and skill, and their record is unblemished in unofficial games, not everything has been clicking so far, particularly the awkward fit of Joel Embiid, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer. Embiid is used to being the center of his team’s offense, but he has looked out of sorts playing under a different set of rules and with a reduced role, Pina observes. On the other hand, the team’s defense — led by Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo — has been extremely impressive ahead of the Olympics, says Pina.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic undoubtedly raises the ceiling of the Serbian national team, but participating in international events for his home country also comes with increased scrutiny, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. “It’s a big burden, because it’s kind of like, he’s the best basketball player in the world,” said Nuggets assistant Ognjen Stojakovic, who has coached for Serbia since last summer. “People identify themselves with athletes and sports. They all have high expectations, especially for the national team. … There’s so much pressure on Nikola to play. And not just Nikola, for every athlete to play in all those big competitions.” Serbia is in Group C, alongside the U.S., South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was held out of Canada’s exhibition game vs. France on Friday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The Canadian national team said Murray was rested for precautionary reasons. The 27-year-old battled a left calf strain and a right elbow injury during the playoffs, but Denver was eliminated from contention more than two months ago.
In case you missed it, Suns forward/center Bol Bol will miss the Olympics for South Sudan due to personal reasons.

Team USA Notes: Brown, White, Australia Game, AD, Kawhi

July 16th, 2024 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing at the Las Vegas Summer League on Monday, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown was asked about his reaction to not making USA Basketball’s Olympic team, either as one of the initial 12 players or as a replacement for Kawhi Leonard. Brown made it clear that, despite his apparent frustration, he was proud of teammate Derrick White for taking Leonard’s spot.

“I called Derrick right away,” Brown said, per Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. “Just to make sure there’s no confusion, my love for you and all of that. He knew that, and he did. You don’t always gotta make everything public. Me and D-White are good.”

Still, Brown – who said he “wasn’t surprised” at being passed over for Team USA – reiterated that he believes Nike was involved in that decision. As Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes, Brown has criticized Nike over the years and isn’t sponsored by the company, whereas White is.

“I do for sure,” Brown replied when asked if he thinks Nike influenced the roster decision. “There will be more stuff to come with that. As of now, I’m not gonna comment on it.”

Here’s more on Team USA:

As Joe Vardon of The Athletic relays, White told reporters in Abu Dhabi over the weekend that he was scheduled to be on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, but that he’d “much rather” be with Team USA. “I got the call and I was ready to go,” White said. “… I just had to talk to the family and try to figure out how we can make it work and as quickly as possible. I’m super thankful and grateful and excited to be here.”
Team USA still wasn’t at its best in Monday’s exhibition game against Australia, but key contributions from Anthony Davis and Anthony Edwards helped the team secure a six-point victory, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and The Athletic’s Vardon detail.
With Joel Embiid still trying to round into form and Davis having been the team’s most effective big man through two exhibition contests, head coach Steve Kerr may face a tough decision when determining his starting center for the Olympics, Vardon writes in another story for The Athletic.
Team USA is still playing NBA basketball, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic, who says the squad will need to adjust to better the international rules and style to ensure it wins gold in Paris.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said on Monday that he and the Clippers were “very disappointed” with USA Basketball’s decision to replace Leonard on the Olympic roster, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Frank’s comments are noteworthy, since even though Team USA managing director Grant Hill took responsibility for the move, reporting at the time indicated that Leonard’s camp and the Clippers were involved in making the decision, too. “No, it was USAB’s call and I was quite frankly very disappointed with the decision,” Frank said. “Kawhi wanted to play. We wanted him to play. I was there the first two practices, he looked very good. Was a full participant in everything that they did. I wasn’t there for the third practice where ultimately that was the point where they decided to go in a different direction (last Wednesday). I expressed to them I really wish that they would’ve given Kawhi more time.”

L.A. Notes: Davis, Lakers, DeRozan, Batum, Clippers, Christie

July 9th, 2024 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

After LeBron James downplayed any concerns over what has been a quiet offseason so far for the Lakers, his star teammate Anthony Davis followed suit from Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas, as Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times relays. Davis pointed out that injuries to presumptive rotation players like Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent had an impact on last year’s team and that having better health luck in 2024/25 could make a difference.

“We don’t know what we could have been if we had those guys, especially in the playoffs,” Davis said. “You know especially Vando because he’s a big part of what we do defensively. But, so we look at the lineup, and you know we come in ready to work.

“And last year is last year. We can’t say, ‘Oh this is the same team.’ It could be a different result. For us it’s about coming in with the mindset of getting to work and seeing how it plays out.”

Of the 15 players who finished last season on the Lakers’ roster, 13 remain under contract for the coming season. The only two newcomers to this point are the team’s two draft picks, Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles-based teams:

Although DeMar DeRozan was said to be on the short list of “impact” Lakers targets that LeBron James would have been willing to take a significant discount for, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium stated during an appearance on The Rally (Twitter video link) that it came down to the Kings and Heat for DeRozan. “I’m told the Lakers never went beyond expressing just simple interest in DeRozan,” Charania said. “There were no offers or tangible conversations with the Bulls on a sign-and-trade deal.”
Speaking to reporters after he agreed to re-sign with the Clippers, veteran forward Nicolas Batum indicated that he chose to reunite with his former team and former head coach (Tyronn Lue) after receiving interest from over half the league. “I had several options, a lot of options, I actually had 17,” Batum said (French link via BasketUSA.com).
The Clippers, who had the NBA’s oldest roster last season, haven’t exactly been a player development hub in recent years, according to Law Murray of The Athletic, who takes a look at how the team could change that going forward, starting with this year’s second-round pick Cam Christie.

Lakers Notes: Bronny, Knecht, LeBron, Redick, St. Jean

July 7th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Bronny James had an uneven debut with the Lakers on Saturday at the California Classic summer league, writes Anthony De Leon of The Los Angeles Times. The 55th overall pick of last month’s draft, James finished with four points (on 2-of-9 shooting), two assists, two rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes.

“Overall [I need to] just be aggressive, believe in myself and know that I can make plays for myself and my teammates,” James said. “Playing my game on the defensive end, especially because I believe I know how to play.”

“He’s going to play — granted, if he’s healthy — throughout this whole thing,” summer league coach Dane Johnson said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We’re going to try to integrate him and try to get him as many reps as we can. Because he needs more experience playing. And especially the NBA game. It’s a little different than college, so getting reps in the NBA, in an NBA setting with good players will help him in the long run.”

First-rounder Dalton Knecht also showed signs of rust, De Leon notes, putting up 12 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals, but going just 3-of-12 from the floor in 26 minutes. The Lakers lost to the Kings by 14 points.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

ESPN insiders McMenamin, Kendra Andrews and Baxter Holmes provide their takeaways from Bronny’s debut.
LeBron James was ecstatic that the Lakers drafted his son Bronny, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “For me to see my son to be able to, you know, be in the NBA alone. I mean, it’s always been a dream of his and for us to be side by side … there’s a loss of words, to be honest,” LeBron said after his first practice with Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics.”I mean, the kid has worked so hard to get back to this point. There’s just so much that’s happened over the last year with him to have this happen less than a year from his incident to be with our friends and our family. When they announced his name, it was something that was super surreal, and it’s kind of still, our family still don’t even have enough words to explain the feeling that we had.” Both LeBron and Anthony Davis — another member of Team USA — were optimistic about the hiring of J.J. Redick as head coach, Bontemps adds.
Replacing Darvin Ham with Redick has been the Lakers’ biggest offseason move to this point. Will a new coach be enough to improve a team with a roster that’s mostly the same as 2023/24? Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group explores that topic.
The Lakers are hiring Greg St. Jean as an assistant coach on Redick’s staff, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). St. Jean, who was an assistant in L.A. when the Lakers won the title in 2020, has worked for Dallas and Phoenix in recent seasons, Scotto notes.

L.A. Notes: Bridges, George, Tucker, Gentry, Thompson, Bronny James, Hood-Schifino

July 2nd, 2024 at 8:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers have some interest in free agent forward Miles Bridges, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports. Bridges averaged 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season for the Hornets but his history of domestic violence allegations may have turned off some potential suitors. A sign-and trade would likely be required for the Clippers, with Norman Powell ($19.2MM) and Terance Mann ($11.5MM) among the potential trade pieces if something comes to fruition, Turner writes.

Law Murray of The Athletic confirms that the Clippers are exploring the possibility of adding Bridges, but he believes that the forward has more interest in the potential union than the team does. According to Turner, people close to Bridges view the Clippers as a fit due to the organization’s apparent willingness to give players second chances.

Los Angeles reached a deal earlier in free agency with guard Kevin Porter Jr., who also faced domestic violence allegations, and previously signed Joshua Primo, who was waived by the Spurs after he was accused of exposing himself to multiple women.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

An interesting side note on the failed Clippers-George negotiations, which led to his departure to Philadelphia: George, a California native, was “increasingly turned off” by the Clippers’ belief that he would stay with the team just so that his family could attend the games, according to The Athletic’s Murray.
In the same story, Murray reports that the Clippers are expected to part ways with P.J. Tucker this offseason, either by trading or waiving him. Tucker picked up his $11.54MM option for next season. Using the stretch provision to reduce his impact on the 2024/25 cap would be an option if he’s waived, Murray notes.
The Lakers are interested in adding longtime NBA coach Alvin Gentry to J.J. Redick’s staff, Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Gentry coached Anthony Davis and Redick in New Orleans.
Klay Thompson upset a member of his family by choosing to go the Mavericks instead of the Lakers, ESPN relays. Father Mychal Thompson, who played for the “Showtime Lakers” in the 1980s, wanted Klay to follow in his footsteps, he said in a SiriusXM NBA interview. “I’m really disappointed. I was hoping, as you can assess, that he would be a Laker,” Mychal said. “And it was close. It came down to the Lakers and the Mavs, but the Mavs won out. But you know me, I was hoping and praying he’d finish his career with the Lakers.”
There are many skeptics, but Redick said second-round pick Bronny James “earned” his way onto the Lakers, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Rob (Pelinka) and I did not give Bronny anything,” Redick said. “Bronny has earned this. … Bronny has earned this through hard work.” LeBron James‘ son said he’s ready for the spotlight. “For sure, amplified amount of pressure,” Bronny said. “I’ve already seen it on social media and stuff, and the internet and stuff and talking about that I might not deserve an opportunity. But I’ve been dealing with st life. So it’s nothing different, but it’s more amplified, for sure. But I’ll get through it.” Bronny will sign a standard contract.
Lakers 2023 first-rounder Jalen Hood-Schifino won’t be on the club’s Summer League roster, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times tweets. He’s still rehabbing from back surgery.

Load More Posts