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Pacific Notes: Warriors, Redick, Lakers, Durant, Beal

November 7th, 2024 at 2:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr entered training camp with “a level of demand and rigor” people in the organization hadn’t witnessed the past couple seasons, and that commitment to accountability has carried over into the start of the 2024/25 season, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

On Wednesday night, Golden State improved to 7-1 after an impressive six-point victory over the defending champion Celtics in Boston. With about five minutes left the second quarter, Stephen Curry attempted a full-court pass to Kyle Anderson that was stolen, leading to a five-point swing after Jayson Tatum converted a three-pointer. Kerr, who has been focused on reducing the team’s turnovers, was very unhappy with the play.

“This is a theme with our team,” Kerr said. “We can’t be the same team we were five or six years ago and give away five or six possessions in the name of creating chaos. Everyone else is playing fast and shooting threes, too, these days.

“Boston shot 20 more threes than we did in the second half. So it’s tough to win if you are giving away possessions. I’ve been all over Steph and Draymond (Green). It’s incumbent upon them because they are our leaders and they’re the guys who handle the ball most. They gotta cut back on their bad decisions like that.”

As Slater writes, Kerr’s reaction — and Curry accepting and learning from the critique — are emblematic of the strong start to the season. Notably, the two-time MVP did not commit another turnover for the remainder of the contest.

“The beauty with Steph is he lets me yell at him, which sets the tone,” Kerr said. “He accepted it. He knew it.”

Here’s more from the Pacific:

  • While Lakers head coach JJ Redick praised LeBron James‘ performance following Wednesday’s 131-114 loss in Memphis, he was critical of the rest of the team’s effort, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James scored a game-high 39 points on 15-of-24 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, who has opened the season in a shooting slump, only played six minutes in the second half and 22 overall, marking a season low. “Just level of compete, attention to detail, some of the things we’ve talked with him about for a couple of weeks,” Redick said when asked why he limited Russell’s role. “And at times, he’s been really good with that stuff. And other times, it’s just reverting back to certain habits. But it wasn’t like a punishment. It just felt for us to have a chance to win this game, that was the route we wanted to take.” After starting the season 3-0, the Lakers have gone 1-4 over their past five games.
  • It’s only been eight games, but Kevin Durant has been playing at an MVP level for the 7-1 Suns, according to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports (subscription required). In addition to being the fulcrum of Phoenix’s crunch-time offense, the 14-time All-Star is also filling up the stat sheet, averaging 27.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.4 BPG on .551/.420/.813 shooting in 39.0 MPG.
  • Suns guard Bradley Beal has been hampered by a nagging right elbow injury, and his current usage rate (18.1%) would mark a career low. But Beal has been efficient offensively and is finding other ways to contribute, particularly taking on challenging defensive assignments, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, who notes that Devin Booker recently called Beal the “heart” of the team.
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Lakers Notes: Koloko, Hood-Schifino, LeBron, Bronny, Redick

October 31st, 2024 at 3:26pm CST by Rory Maher

Center Christian Koloko, who is on a two-way contract with the Lakers, recently received medical clearance from the NBA’s Fitness-to-Play panel to resume his career. The 24-year-old big man missed all of last season with a career-threatening blood clot issue, which his agent said was corrected with surgery.

While he received medical clearance from the league, Koloko still needs to work on his conditioning before having a chance to make his Lakers debut. According to head coach JJ Redick, Koloko will open the 2024/25 season with the South Bay Lakers, L.A.’s G League affiliate (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN).

Here’s more on the Lakers:

  • The Lakers chose to decline their 2025/26 team option on second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, which means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the Lakers have $176MM in salary committed to their roster for next season, about $10MM below the projected luxury tax line. That means they could have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception in 2025, with D’Angelo Russell, Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes among the team’s other free agents.
  • After opening the season with three straight home victories, the Lakers have now dropped two straight road contests. As Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times writes, Wednesday night was LeBron James‘ worst loss in Cleveland against his former team, the Cavaliers, with the Lakers losing by 24 points. James grew up 35 miles south of Cleveland in Akron, OH. “I just don’t think we matched their intensity with energy and effort,” James said. “It’s never good to take a step backwards, but we did that. And now we got to figure out how we can, take two steps forward next time.”
  • The lopsided victory had Cavs fans chanting to see another Akron product, according to McMenamin of ESPN. James’ eldest son Bronny James scored his first NBA points late in the fourth quarter. “It was insane,” Bronny said of the reception after finishing with two points, two assists and one steal in five minutes. “Much more than I anticipated for sure. But it’s all love. It was insane. It was a nice moment. The chants really got me. I was straight-faced, but I felt it and it felt really good, especially coming from here. Yeah, it was a special moment for me for sure.”
  • The Lakers appreciated that Redick took private and public responsibility for the team’s first loss on Monday in Phoenix, per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. That doesn’t mean the team agreed with Redick’s assessment, but the players respected the sentiment. “He let out a nice little F word, which just shows how much he cares,” guard Austin Reaves said of Redick’s post-game demeanor. “His passion is on another level. You can tell every single second of every day that he’s locked into the betterment of our group.”
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Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis Named Players Of The Week

October 28th, 2024 at 2:47pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum and Lakers star forward/center Anthony Davis were named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the stretch of Oct. 22-27, the league announced (Twitter link). Tatum was the Eastern Conference’s winner, while Davis claimed the Western Conference award.

Tatum helped the Celtics to a 3-0 start to the season, which included blowout wins over the Knicks and Wizards. In his first three games, Tatum averaged 33.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting a blistering 54.7% from the field and 48.6% from beyond the arc.

Davis has also shot the ball extremely well to open the year, connecting on a .571/.400/.800 line. He has helped the Lakers win against three playoff hopefuls this year, defeating the Timberwolves, Suns and Kings to remain undefeated. Davis is averaging 34.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.7 steals per game to open the year.

According to the league (Twitter link), the other nominees in the East were Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, Orlando’s Franz Wagner and Atlanta’s Trae Young. Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, the Clippers’ James Harden and Ivica Zubac, and the Lakers’ LeBron James were nominated in the West.

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Western Notes: Rockets, KD, Butler, LeBron, Nuggets, Kings

October 27th, 2024 at 9:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Confirming recent reporting from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story that the messaging out of Houston suggests the Rockets are unlikely to make a major in-season trade in 2024/25.

Still, Stein has spoken to multiple rival teams who are “hesitant to dismiss Houston’s trade ambitions so readily.” Those clubs believe the Rockets’ front office will continue to keep an eye out for possible deals for impact players, since they’re eager to return to the upper tier of the Western Conference.

Although the Suns aggressively shot down Kevin Durant trade speculation over the summer, Stein writes that there’s still a “strong belief” around the league that the Rockets remain interested in the star forward and would be ready to pounce if he becomes available within the next year or two.

According to Stein, rival teams also “increasingly” mention Houston as a potential suitor to watch if the Heat ever consider trading Jimmy Butler, who was identified multiple times during the offseason as a potential target of interest for the Rockets.

We have more from around the West:

  • The Lakers‘ hot start continued on Saturday as they pushed their record to 3-0 with an impressive comeback win over Sacramento. Four-time MVP LeBron James keyed the fourth quarter surge by becoming the first player since play-by-play tracking began in 1996 to record at least 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists on 100% shooting in a quarter (Twitter link via ESPN’s Matt Williams). “Just when you think he’s slowing down, man, he continues to show the world why he’s the greatest,” Anthony Davis said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “To go on that stretch, he actually looked to the bench and was trying to come out the game. We told him, ‘You’re not coming out.’ He comes out and hits another three. He never ceases to amaze any of us because we just know what he’s capable of and what he’s able to do.”
  • The sample size is minuscule, but in 21 minutes together so far, lineups featuring both Nuggets point guards – Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook – have an 82.2 offensive rating and a minus-28.9 overall net rating. Head coach Michael Malone remains confident those units can work, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “Jamal’s a guard. He’s been a one. He’s been a two,” Malone said prior to Denver’s second game. “In college, he was a two. It’s just that, for his Nuggets tenure, Jamal has been a guy that can be a starting one, and he can play with a point guard in the second unit. I think Russ and Jamal have a lot of potential to be really good together.”
  • The Stockton Kings (Sacramento’s G League affiliate) have officially announced their training camp roster for the 2024/25 season. Veteran forward Terry Taylor, former first-round pick Skal Labissiere, NBA camp invitee Boogie Ellis, and Shaquille O’Neal‘s son Shareef O’Neal are among the notable names on the squad.
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Pacific Notes: Hield, Wiggins, Powell, LeBron

October 26th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Buddy Hield has been one of the best acquisitions of the summer, providing instant offense for a Warriors team that hasn’t lost since the preseason started, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. After scoring 22 points in Golden State’s opener, Hield singed the Jazz for 24 points in the first half Friday night and now has 49 points in 35 minutes while shooting 12-of-16 from three-point range.

Slater notes that the only downside for the Warriors has been an awkward starting lineup that hasn’t quite meshed despite the team’s overall success. The unit features an excess of size with Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis lining up alongside Stephen Curry. Golden State has fallen behind 12-5 and 13-6 in its first two games before rallying to take control. Coach Steve Kerr admits there are spacing issues, but he plans to keep the group together because of its defensive potential.

“That unit is still learning how to play (together),” Green said. “We didn’t have Wiggins all training camp. … Now this lineup is getting a chance to get minutes together. What you’ll start to see if we will start to settle in offensively. We’re coming out in the first quarter and everyone is trying to get to it: Go. Go. Go. Because we want that lineup to do well so bad. Everyone is coming out pressing. But once we settle down, that lineup takes over.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • Wiggins seems to have revived his career in the early part of the season, observes Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. The much-maligned forward scored 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting in the Warriors‘ opener and followed that with 13 rebounds Friday night, which is a regular-season record for him. “He’s getting off to a great start,” Kevon Looney said. “… He came with a different focus. A different energy. He’s been locked in and it’s good to see all his hard work has been paying off.”
  • Norman Powell is helping the Clippers stay competitive while they wait for Kawhi Leonard to return from injury, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Powell shot 14-of-21 from the field and scored 37 points as L.A. picked up its first win Saturday at Denver. “I was just focusing on what the next play was, what the next read was and really just staying in the moment,” he said. “I don’t think about how much I’m scoring or what’s going on, missed shots, made shots, good games, bad games.”
  • Lakers coach J.J. Redick will be supportive if LeBron James is sincere about his goal of playing every game this season, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “Most players go into a season wanting to play 82 games,” Redick said. “So if that’s what he wants to do, great. I love it. I would love to have him for 82. We’ll manage the minutes accordingly.”
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Pacific Notes: DeRozan, Davis, LeBron, Dunn

October 26th, 2024 at 7:59am CST by Luke Adams

DeMar DeRozan had a strong debut for the Kings on Thursday, scoring 26 points and eight rebounds in nearly 43 minutes of action, with Sacramento outscoring Minnesota by eight points during his time on the court.

Still, the two-point loss to the Timberwolves showed that there will be an adjustment period for the Kings as they get used to DeRozan’s presence, writes Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. After finishing third in the NBA with 39.3 three-point attempts per game last season, Sacramento let it fly from beyond the arc just 29 times in Thursday’s game, well shy of Minnesota’s 50 three-point tries.

“His game is the mid-range,” Kings head coach Mike Brown said of DeRozan. “He’s an elite mid-range guy, and so he’s going to take a lot of shots, and that’s going to probably take away from the (three-point shots) some.”

Still, the Kings are confident it won’t take them long to get accustomed to DeRozan’s playing style and believe it will ultimately pay off to have another offensive weapon capable of breaking down defenses and creating his own shot like the 35-year-old can.

“He can run an offense all by himself,” teammate Kevin Huerter said. “There’s times you can just give him the ball and he can go make plays. He doesn’t need plays drawn up for him. As he continues to get more comfortable, we’ll get a lot better. … It’s game one, so we’re early. It’s obviously going to take time. Everybody’s still figuring everything out.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Anthony Davis dominated for a second straight outing in the Lakers‘ Friday win over Phoenix, scoring a game-high 35 points to increase his season total to 71 through two games (both victories). Head coach J.J. Redick‘s plan to make Davis the focus of L.A.’s offense is working as intended so far, according to LeBron James. “It’s very important that he’s the main focal point for us every single night,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “We know what he’s going to do defensively, but offensively we have to find him in multiple places on the floor throughout the whole game. And we’ve done that through two games.”
  • Asked during his post-game media session on Friday whether he’ll suit up for the second game of the Lakers‘ back-to-back set on Saturday vs. Sacramento, LeBron told reporters, including McMenamin, that his goal is not to miss a single one of the team’s 82 regular season contests. “I plan on playing every game,” said James, the NBA’s oldest active player.
  • Although the Suns couldn’t pull out a win on Friday vs. the Lakers, they got an encouraging performance from rookie Ryan Dunn. Known as a high-level defender but not much of a shooter during his time at Virginia, Dunn knocked down three-of-five attempts from three-point range and was a plus-8 in his 14 minutes. Dunn’s improvements as a shooter are the result of “a lot of hard work,” he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda in a wide-ranging interview. “I keep having the confidence to keep shooting it even when some nights it might not fall and some nights that it might fall,” said Dunn, who also spoke to Medina about his first impressions of the NBA, meeting some of his long-time basketball idols, and his goals for his rookie season.
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Lakers Notes: LeBron, Bronny, Redick, Davis

October 23rd, 2024 at 10:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers All-NBA forward LeBron James and his son, rookie guard Bronny James, made league history on Tuesday. When the duo suited up together in L.A.’s 110-103 victory over the visiting Timberwolves, they become the first father-son NBA tandem to do so, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, something I will never forget,” LeBron said during a postgame presser. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”

“I tried not to focus on everything that was going on around me and tried to focus on going in as a rookie and not trying to mess up,” Bronny said. “But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate the Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

  • The Lakers appear to have wholly bought into first-year head coach JJ Redick‘s methods, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “The game plan, the schemes that he had on both ends of the floor, he trusts us,” All-Star Los Angeles center Anthony Davis said. “We trust him, as far as what he teaches us, what he wants us to do on the floor on both ends and it’s our job to go execute it. I think we were very prepared tonight.”
  • After a 15-year pro playing career and a successful broadcasting run, Redick‘s restlessness as a basketball brain eventually compelled him to try out coaching for size, as he told Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “At some point, you just kinda have to listen to your soul and not be afraid of the consequences of whatever happens afterwards,” Redick told Woike of his decision to pursue the Lakers’ coaching gig. “Whatever I envisioned in my previous life, that’s gone. This is who I am now. I’m a coach. And so I don’t feel like tonight is at all about me. It’s about our team.”
  • After being hired by the Lakers this summer, Redick pledged that he would run his offense through Davis. As Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times writes, many of the nine-time All-Star’s teammates looked to feed him early and often in Tuesday’s opener. “He is the main focal point for us offensively and defensively,” LeBron said of Davis. “We got to make sure we continue to give him the ball. I think the coaching staff and JJ , they do a great job of always putting him in positions where he can be the recipient of the offense.” The 6’10” big man scored 36 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the floor and 13-of-15 shooting from the foul line in his season debut, while also pulling down 16 boards.
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Los Angeles Notes: Porter Jr., Harden, Olivari, James Family

October 22nd, 2024 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA’s investigation regarding Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. remains ongoing, Law Murray of The Athletic tweets. Porter will be able to play until the NBA decides whether to take disciplinary action. The Clippers signed Porter to a two-year contract in the summer despite his past troubles with the law.

In 2023, following an arrest on a domestic assault charge, Porter was traded by the Rockets to Oklahoma City shortly before the start of the regular season. The Thunder waived him the day after the deal was completed and he didn’t play in the league last season.

Porter reached a plea agreement of a third-degree reckless assault misdemeanor in January. He was required to complete a court-ordered program, after which his plea was to move to not guilty with no criminal record.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

  • With Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely due to his knee rehab, James Harden is thrust into the role of primary scorer for the Clippers. However, coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t want to place too much of a burden on the 35-year-old guard. “Yeah, we got to be smart about it. We’ve been talking about it, meeting about it, just making sure we don’t run him into the ground,” Lue told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “When you lose a power player like Kawhi to start, you can see yourself playing James way more minutes than you need to. So, we just got to make sure we keep him healthy and make sure we’re doing the smart thing, and we’re still working on that right now as far as minutes and what we try to have to start the season.”
  • Quincy Olivari had his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal by the Lakers after his strong preseason showing. He’s thrilled to make the roster but has loftier goals in mind. “This ain’t my end goal in life, but it’s another milestone that I’ve completed and accomplished and I’m just ready,” Olivari told Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. “I’m just glad I was able to come back here to practice, honestly. I woke up and I was like, ‘It might be early, I might still be tired, but there’s some people that don’t have this blessing that I have so I’m just going to take full advantage.’ It changed my whole mindset.”
  • Will Bronny James appear on the court at the same time as his father in the Lakers’ season opener? LeBron James says there’s no rush to make history. “Whenever it happens, it will happen,” he said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “If it’s tonight or if it’s down the line, whenever it happens, it will happen. But it’s been a treat, and just in preseason, the practices, just every day … just bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about and how to prepare every day as a professional.” The Lakers host Minnesota on Tuesday.
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And-Ones: Top FAs, Under-The-Radar Players, Extensions, Carter-Williams

October 13th, 2024 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kyrie Irving ranks as the potential top free agent next summer, according to Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon of HoopsHype, though there’s no indication he wants to leave Dallas. Irving holds a player option for the 2025/26 season.

Rockets big man Alperen Sengun ranks as the No. 2 free agent, though he’ll be restricted if he doesn’t sign a rookie scale extension this month. At No. 3, Lakers forward LeBron James also has a ’25/26 player option, like Irving.

Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram comes in at No. 4 overall on HoopsHype’s top-25 list and is the top-ranked player who will be fully unrestricted, without the fallback of a player option — unless, of course, he signs a contract with New Orleans prior to free agency.

We have more from around the basketball world:

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Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Harris, Crawford, James Duo, Suns

October 7th, 2024 at 10:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jonathan Kuminga has high expectations for himself this season. The Warriors forward has set an individual goal of making his first All-Star appearance, he told Marc Spears of Andscape.

“That is my trajectory. That is what I’ve been working towards,” Kuminga said. “I did as much as I could working out, getting my body ready, learning the game, working on things on defense. It’s just a matter of when we start playing now and I can show what I’ve been working on and how my game has grown.”

The Warriors and Kuminga have an Oct. 21 rookie scale extension deadline and the forward will be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension.

“My agent is taking care of that. I need to focus on what I’m trying to accomplish. The more I accomplish, the more things like that handle themselves,” Kuminga said.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • The Kings’ NBA G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, have named Gabriel Harris as general manager and Quinton Crawford as head coach, according to a team press release. Harris, 33, served as the assistant GM for Stockton last season. Crawford, 34, was an assistant coach with the Suns. He also served as an assistant with the Mavericks in 2022-23 and the Lakers from 2019-2022.
  • LeBron James and Bronny James made history Sunday night as the first father and son to play together in an NBA game. They were on the court together at the start of the second quarter during the Lakers’ preseason game against the Suns. It coincided with Bronny’s 20th birthday. “For a father, it means everything,” LeBron said, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “For someone who didn’t have that growing up, to be able to have that influence on your kids and have influence on your son. Be able to have moments with your son. And ultimately, to be able to work with your son. I think that’s one of the greatest things that a father can ever hope for or wish for.”
  • The Suns shot 41% on 3-point attempts in their 118-114 win over the Lakers on Sunday. Kevin Durant saw some good signs offensively, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “I liked that we generated good shots. We are able to get (21) 3s up in the 1st half,” he said. “Defensively, pick-and-roll coverage, it’ll get better. That’s where we struggled at the most.”
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