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Lakers Talk Deal For Cousins With Kings

June 25th, 2015 at 3:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

THURSDAY, 3:15pm: The Lakers are unwilling to part with Julius Randle in the Cousins trade talks, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The scribe adds that Randle has dropped 20 pounds and improved his outside shot.

WEDNESDAY, 10:18pm: The Kings and Lakers have exchanged frameworks for potential deals for Cousins, and talks are expected to intensify on Thursday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports relays. The Kings have also started to engage with teams and explore possible trade scenarios beyond the Lakers, Wojnarowski’s sources have informed him. Sacramento is reportedly seeking the No. 2 overall pick, Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and other draft assets in return for Cousins, Wojnarowski adds. The Kings would also want to unload forward Carl Landry‘s contract in any deal, according to the Yahoo! scribe’s sources. Los Angeles is currently unwilling to part with Randle, and are reluctant to do so with Clarkson as well, according to Wojnarowski.

3:06pm: Cousins “would not be unhappy” if the Lakers acquired him, a league source tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, and he’d be thrilled if the Kings traded him to a large market or a playoff team, as Medina heard a source familiar with Cousins’ thinking.

WEDNESDAY, 2:23pm: The Lakers are offering the No. 2 pick as the teams continue to talk, reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. L.A. would probably have to include Randle, too, according to Bresnahan, but it’s not clear if he is indeed in any proposal so far.

TUESDAY, 9:17am: The Magic aren’t involved, a league source tells Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). Randle and the No. 2 pick are “in play” for a trade that brings Cousins to the Lakers, a source tells Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his mock draft. Still, Sacramento would rather take back veterans, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported overnight.

4:46pm: Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has also made it clear publicly that he doesn’t want to trade Cousins, and that’s been the case privately as well, according to Jones, as well as Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter links).

MONDAY, 3:54pm: The Lakers, Kings and Magic have had exploratory talks about a proposal that wound send DeMarcus Cousins to the Lakers, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. However, the Kings and Sacramento vice president of basketball and franchise operations Vlade Divac continue to insist that Cousins is off limits, Stein notes. Still, the Lakers have “actively pursuing” trade possibilities over the past few weeks to find a way to get the talented 24-year-old to L.A., as Stein details.

Stein mentions the Magic’s Nikola Vucevic as someone who could theoretically step in for Cousins at center in Sacramento, but it’s unclear if Vucevic has been a part of the talks. Stein lists Julius Randle and the No. 2 pick as trade assets for the Lakers, but it’s similarly uncertain whether the Lakers have spoken about giving them up. The Nuggets have drawn increasing mention as a team likely to go after Cousins since Denver’s hiring of ex-Kings coach Michael Malone this month, according to Stein. Still, they don’t have the sort of trade chips that would allow them to compete with the Celtics, whom Stein reported last month were also likely suitors, the ESPN scribe writes. Realistically, a host of teams would seemingly have interest in trading for Cousins, who’d become the top trade candidate on the market if the Kings relent and give him up.

Divac has said time and again that he values Cousins and isn’t looking to trade him, at one point calling him “untradeable.” The notion that he might be on the block was ignited earlier this season amid Sacramento’s pair of midseason coaching changes. Cousins, who connected with Malone, released a statement expressing support for then-candidate George Karl, whom the team has since hired. The Kings also hired Divac late in the season to a role that put him in charge of basketball operations and displaced GM Pete D’Alessandro, who’s now with the Nuggets. Cousins has asked not to be traded, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee notes (Twitter link).

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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Pacific Notes: Dellavedova, Lacob, Thompson

May 30th, 2015 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Australian center Andrew Bogut tried to get the Warriors to sign countryman Matthew Dellavedova in 2013, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. After Dellavedova went undrafted, Bogut petitioned GM Bob Myers to take a chance on the guard, but Golden State didn’t have a roster spot available. Instead, Dellavedova signed with the Cavaliers’ summer league team, earned a place on the roster and will face the Warriors in the NBA Finals.

There’s more tonight from the Pacific Division:

  • Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob hasn’t addressed a crowd since he was booed off the court three years ago, writes Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group. With Golden State in the NBA Finals, the response would assuredly be different, but Lacob wants to wait until he has a championship trophy in hand to speak to fans again. The booing incident came during Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement ceremony in March of 2012, less than two years after Lacob and Peter Guber purchased the team. Public opinion about ownership has changed since then, especially after the Warriors compiled the NBA’s best record and lost just three games while storming through the Western Conference playoffs. “I don’t think he thinks about it as redemption in any sense like that,” said Joe’s son, Kirk Lacob. “I think the booing thing just adds … it’s just another cool part of the story, hopefully.”
  • With Game 1 of the NBA Finals five days away, Warriors coach Steve Kerr is confident that Klay Thompson will be ready, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Thompson suffered a concussion in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals and will not be able to practice until he is symptom free. “He’s going through the [concussion protocol] process, but all is going well,” Kerr said today.
  • Julius Randle, the Lakers‘ top pick in the 2014 draft, is almost fully recovered from a broken leg, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. Randle has made steady progress since fracturing his tibia in the team’s season opener and hopes to be ready for summer league action in July. “The last time I checked probably about a month ago, the bone was 95% healed,” Randle said. “I feel great.”
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Medina On Lakers Offseason, Roster

April 14th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News reported earlier today that the Lakers will explore potential trades for swingman Nick Young this summer. In a separate piece, Medina runs down where each of the players on Los Angeles’ roster stands as the team heads into the offseason. Here are some of the highlights…

  • Ed Davis is almost assuredly going to opt out of his deal and become an unrestricted free agent this summer, Medina notes. The Lakers are interested in inking him to a long-term deal as long as the cap hit is a reasonable amount, Medina adds.
  • There is mutual interest between the team and Wayne Ellington in having the player return to Los Angeles next season, Medina notes. While Ellington views the Lakers as his top choice, he desires long-term security in his next deal, Medina adds. The guard will be an unrestricted free agent when the season ends.
  • Los Angeles has little interest in bringing back Carlos Boozer, and the player is likely to seek out a team on which he can have a larger role, the Daily News scribe relays.
  • Wesley Johnson‘s potential continues to intrigue the Lakers, but the team is frustrated with his inconsistent play, Medina notes. How well the team fares in the draft and free agency will dictate whether or not the swingman is re-signed, Medina opines.
  • The Lakers don’t view Jeremy Lin as a great fit for the team’s system, and it’s not clear yet if Los Angeles has any interest in re-signing the point guard. For his part, Lin will consider returning to the Lakers if the team has interest, but he will place a higher priority on finding a team that runs a pick-and-roll oriented offense, the Daily News scribe notes.
  • Los Angeles still hasn’t made a decision regarding Jordan Hill‘s team option worth $9MM for next season. The big man’s time with the Lakers could be at an end if the team decides it wants to maximize its cap space, Medina writes.
  • The team expects injured rookie Julius Randle to play in this year’s summer league, Medina notes. Randle’s rookie campaign ended 14 minutes into his first regular season contest when he suffered a broken leg.
  • Ryan Kelly did not feel comfortable with the Lakers using him as a small forward at times this season, and the team plans to use him at power forward, his natural position, more often next season, Medina relays. Kelly appeared in 51 games and averaged 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per contest this season.
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Western Notes: Rondo, Neal, Lakers

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

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

In other news around the Western Conference:

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

January 27th, 2015 at 12:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

Those close to Kobe Bryant are certain that he’ll play again next season, particularly since this season is likely to have ended with a torn rotator cuff, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Bryant plans to help the Lakers recruit in free agency this summer, Bresnahan also hears (Twitter link), and the team plans to use the location of its training camp for next season, set for Hawaii, to lure free agents, too, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter). The present for the Lakers seems like it’s fast giving way to the future, and there’s more related to the Lakers and next season amid the latest on the purple-and-gold:

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Western Notes: Murry, Randle, Green

January 5th, 2015 at 5:23pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Jazz waived Toure’ Murry yesterday, and his agent, Bernie Lee, doesn’t think Murry was given a fair chance in Utah, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports. “Utah just didn’t see value in giving [Toure’] a real opportunity to prove himself, which is their right,” Lee said. “I had a sense things were working against him early when during the Jazz’s first open scrimmage in the preseason the team-employed radio voice used the forum to crush his future NBA prospects. Just an odd situation through and through. He went to Utah as a young developing point guard who played 51 games for an extremely visible team and today leaves Utah having played his last game as an assigned player in the NBADL [D-League] having been asked to play the four.  Perspective and opportunity are a funny thing in basketball.”

Lee also added that Murry will explore free agent opportunities if he clears waivers, Sierra notes. “If there isn’t a spot for him immediately, he will enter the NBA D-League and go on to continue to develop and prove himself as an NBA-caliber PG.”

Here’s more from out west:

  • Lakers rookie Julius Randle is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday morning to replace the screw in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, the team announced. This injury was a source of concern from NBA teams leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, and possibly caused Randle’s stock to fall, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes. Randle was already out for the season thanks to a broken leg he suffered during his first regular season game.
  • Warriors coach Steve Kerr has nothing but praise for Draymond Green, who is almost assuredly set to garner a huge pay raise when he hits restricted free agency this summer, Rusty Simmons of The San Franciso Chronicle writes. When asked if Green could be named Defensive Player of the Year, Kerr said, “I wouldn’t argue with that. Draymond has to be mentioned for a lot of different things because of the impact he’s had. Most Improved Player would be a possibility. I don’t know if he’s going to make the All-Star team, but he would have my vote. He’s just been brilliant, and he represents kind of who we are as a team — the versatility, the scrapping, the toughness.”
  • Spurs rookie Kyle Anderson was expected to spend more time in the D-League than in the NBA this season, but injuries to key players have altered those plans, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News writes.
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Celtics Notes: Randle, Rondo, Trade Exceptions

December 22nd, 2014 at 4:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

The refusal of the Lakers to include Julius Randle in a trade for Rajon Rondo helped prevent the Celtics and Lakers from completing a deal involving the point guard, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports amid his weekly power rankings. The teams had harbored mutual interest in engineering a swap involving Rondo, Spears adds. The Lakers took Randle one spot after the Celtics drafted Marcus Smart, Rondo’s replacement, in the draft this year, though Randle played in only one game before suffering a broken leg that’s expected to be season-ending. Here’s more on the Celtics:

  • Rondo was never going to re-sign with Boston if it meant enduring more rebuilding, and the presence of the Lakers as a potential suitor for Rondo in free agency this summer worried the Celtics, as TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com.
  • The Celtics took Jae Crowder‘s $915,243 salary into the $3.8MM Joel Anthony trade exception rather than the $1,334,092 that they had left of the Kris Humphries trade exception, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That was the missing bit of information regarding the C’s deft use of trade exceptions in the Rondo deal, which I explained in detail last week. The Anthony exception, which expires October 17th, 2015, is now worth only $152,757, since Boston used it to take in Jameer Nelson‘s $2.732MM salary, too. Check out our complete list of the active trade exceptions for teams around the league.
  • The 2016 second-round pick that the Mavs owe the Celtics as part of the Rondo trade will be the better of Dallas’ own pick and Memphis’, which the Mavs acquired in a previous deal, Pincus also reports (Twitter link).
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Lakers Notes: Randle, Bryant, Roster

October 29th, 2014 at 7:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers have already suffered some significant blows to their roster with both Steve Nash and Julius Randle being lost for the season with injuries. Even if the franchise is approved for Disabled Player Exceptions, they will still have two of their maximum 15 roster spots occupied by injured personnel. If Los Angeles loses another player to injury the team could apply for a temporary hardship increase that would allow the franchise to carry up to 16 players, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter links). This scenario could help the team maintain its depth in the wake of another player loss, but once one of the injured players was able to return to action, the 15 player max would resume, Pincus notes.

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

  • The only bright side to the Lakers losing Randle for the season is that the team will be in contention for a top-five lottery pick next summer, J.A. Adande of ESPN.com opines. Los Angeles’ 2015 first-rounder is owed to the Suns but is protected for picks one-through-five, notes Adande.
  • The Lakers should take a page out of the Sixers’ playbook and try to hit bottom this season, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes. This includes trying to convince Kobe Bryant to waive his no trade clause and dealing the future Hall-of Famer, Ford opines. Ford lists the Knicks, Nets, Mavs, and Hornets as teams that would potentially be interested in obtaining Bryant.
  • The loss of Randle will hurt the Lakers much more than losing Nash, Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders opines. Los Angeles wasn’t expecting much from Nash, and had Jeremy Lin and Ronnie Price on board to make up for any time that Nash would have missed. With Randle, this season was important for his development, and the team was planning to run a large portion of their offense through him, Koutroupis notes.
  • The Lakers and Bryant have faced criticism for the two year, $48.5MM contract extension he signed back in 2013. Hornets owner and former NBA great Michael Jordan defended Bryant for inking the pact, DeAntae Prince of The Sporting News writes. “Can I criticize him for maximizing his opportunity from a financial standpoint? No,” Jordan said. “Does his decision have an effect on how the team will structure certain things? Maybe.”
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Julius Randle To Miss Season With Broken Leg

October 29th, 2014 at 2:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:44pm: Randle will miss the entire season after undergoing surgery to repair the leg today, reports Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

11:24pm: The concern Tuesday night was that Randle would miss four to six months, but it will be difficult to know for sure until after he undergoes an evaluation following surgery, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). The regular season ends in about five and a half months.

8:41am: Lakers lottery pick Julius Randle suffered a broken tibia in his debut Tuesday, the team confirmed via press release. TNT’s Rachel Nichols was the first to report that the No. 7 overall selection from this year’s draft had fractured his leg (Twitter link). There’s no timetable for recovery yet on what the Lakers caution is an initial diagnosis, but the injury will almost certainly knock the rookie out for several months, if not the entire season, putting further strain on a roster that will already be without Steve Nash for all of 2014/15.

The Lakers are already planning to apply for a disabled player exception for Nash, and they could do so for Randle, too, if his injury is deemed a season-ender. The exception would only amount to half of Randle’s approximately $2.997MM rookie scale salary, or about $1.499MM, not nearly as lucrative as the Nash exception that’s worth close to $4.851MM. In any case, the Lakers are stuck with two players who have long-term injuries on their roster, so unless they decide to offload either Nash or Randle, they’ll have no more than 13 healthy players for the foreseeable future, even if they’re granted and use multiple disabled player exceptions. Point guard Ronnie Price and shooting guard Wayne Ellington have non-guaranteed contracts that become partially guaranteed on November 15th, while the team’s other 13 contracts, including those for Nash and Randle, are fully guaranteed.

Randle was highly touted coming out of the University of Kentucky, and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranked the power forward as the No. 2 prospect for the 2014 draft going into his freshman season before he slipped a bit over the course of the year. Concern over how the broken foot he’d suffered as a high school senior had healed likely helped him fall to the Lakers at No. 7. The Lakers’ decision to claim Carlos Boozer off amnesty waivers this summer looks prescient in the light of Randle’s injury, though the team isn’t expected to be in playoff contention this season. The Suns will receive the Lakers’ 2015 first-round pick if it doesn’t fall within the top five selections.

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Pacific Notes: Randle, Kerr, Kings

September 27th, 2014 at 10:14am CST by Eddie Scarito

At a news conference on Friday, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak tried to temper the expectations for Los Angeles’ first round draftee Julius Randle, Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times reports. “Julius is still 19 years old,” Kupchak said. “You wouldn’t know that by looking at him, because he’s really a well-developed, big, strong, athletic kid. Over the years, I’ve never looked at a rookie and said, ‘Hey, this guy’s gonna bring us to the top.’  It doesn’t do any good to have high expectations.” Kupchak also said Randle would have to earn the starting job from Carlos Boozer, Pincus relays.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • When asked if Randle could see time at small forward, Kupchak said, “He can defend small forwards.  Do I see him right now as the prototypical small forward?  Probably not. But I could see him bringing the ball up the court.  I could see him seeing a gap, getting a step on a guy and making a play — whether it’s finishing or finding somebody that’s open.  Those are ball-handling skills that you wouldn’t see power forwards have very often.”
  • Kings GM Pete D’Alessandro said the team specifically targeted Ramon Sessions early in free agency, and that their summer dealings were designed to free up money to sign him, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports (Twitter link).
  • D’Alessandro also spoke about new addition Ryan Hollins, and how his presence could allow Sacramento to play DeMarcus Cousins at power forward at times, tweets Jones. This possibility might keep a few stretch-fours up at night wondering how they will defend Cousins in the post.
  • Rookie Warriors head coach Steve Kerr doesn’t have time on his side, Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury News writes. Thompson doesn’t believe that Kerr is in danger of being fired if Golden State has an off year, but notes that another shakeup is coming unless he takes the Warriors to a height his employers have never been to: the conference finals and beyond.
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