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Lakers Notes: James, Davis, Vanderbilt, Russell, Wood

April 21st, 2024 at 2:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers All-Stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James submitted good-but-not-great outings in L.A.’s 114-103 Game 1 defeat against the Nuggets on Saturday, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times.

Guided largely by the efforts of those two stars, Los Angeles led Denver by as many as 12 points in the first half. James had 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe, along with eight assists, six rebounds, a steal and a block. He also turned the ball over seven times.

Davis scored 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the floor and 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line. He also grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out five assists and blocked four shots.

No other Laker scored more than 13 points. Woike notes that Denver enjoyed distinct advantages in offensive rebounding and combined second-chance and fast-break points, which also seemed to help make the difference.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

  • Backup Lakers combo forward Jarred Vanderbilt is in a walking boot as he continues to deal with a right foot injury, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register (Twitter link). Los Angeles head coach Darvin Ham claims the boot is not a setback, noting that “everything’s still going to plan” with regard to Vanderbilt’s recovery.
  • Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell had been on a tear for much of the second half of the 2023/24 regular season, and seemed primed to avenge his forgettable showing in last year’s Western Conference Finals defeat to Denver with this first round rematch. He had a rough Game 1, however, scoring just 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the floor. Ham made a point to defend Russell after his uneven showing, per Dave McMenmain of ESPN. “D-Lo is a huge reason why we’re here in the first place,” Ham said. “I’m not going to bail out on my player just because he’s missing the shots that he normally makes. So same shots were going in against New Orleans [in the play-in tournament] and other games that he’s played in to help us get to this point. So it just wasn’t his night.”
  • Reserve Lakers big man Christian Wood is hoping to return in time for Game 3 of the series, when the action moves to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He has been sidelined since a February knee surgery. Ham, however, cautioned that Wood “still [has] a couple boxes to check” before he can come back in this series, according to McMenamin (via Twitter).
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Kawhi Leonard Completes Team USA’s Star-Studded Roster For Olympics

April 16th, 2024 at 6:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Team USA has completed its selection of an All-Star laden 12-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic report (Twitter link). Kawhi Leonard was chosen for the final roster spot, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday the 11 other selections for the roster. Team USA received a firm commitment from Leonard on Tuesday, Wojnarowski tweets.

Unlike USA Basketball’s FIBA World Cup roster last summer, which lacked size and interior strength, the Olympic roster is filled with quality bigs. Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis will be joined at the power positions by LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

The wings will be manned by Jayson Tatum, Leonard, Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards. Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton and Stephen Curry round out the backcourt.

Haliburton and Edwards are the only players from the FIBA World Cup roster to make Team USA’s Olympic roster.

Team USA has won the gold medal in each of the last four Summer Olympics.

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Team USA Locks In 11 Of 12 Olympic Roster Spots

April 15th, 2024 at 6:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Team USA men’s basketball program has determined 11 of its 12 roster spots for this year’s Paris Olympics, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Woj suggests that the final roster opening could remain open for a while. Sources inform Wojnarowski that Hall of Famer Grant Hill, Team USA’s managing director, is waiting for a July training camp and some Las Vegas exhibition games before finalizing that 12th spot.

10 of the 11 players were honored as All-Stars this season, while the 11th was a key two-way force on the 2021 gold medal-winning team, which is officially considered the 2020 Olympic team.

Here are Team USA’s 11 players:

So far, three NBA teams – the Lakers, Celtics, and Suns – will feature multiple U.S. Olympians.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, serving again as the leader of Team USA this summer, will have just one current familiar face in All-Star point guard Curry, who will be making his Olympic debut. Among the other players listed, four others will be making their debuts with the program on this stage: reigning league MVP Embiid and young All-Star guards Edwards and Haliburton.

As Woj notes, 35-year-old Durant is one of just two players to have won three gold medals in Olympic history, along with future Hall of Fame forward Carmelo Anthony. James is playing in his first Olympics since 2012. James and Anthony were also members of Team USA the last time it didn’t win gold at the tournament, in 2004.

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Lakers Notes: Play-In Picture, Vincent, Timer’s Error, Vanderbilt, LeBron

April 13th, 2024 at 9:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

There are countless ways the Western Conference standings could end up, but the Lakers‘ mission is clear heading into Sunday’s game, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Regardless of what else happens, L.A. can secure the No. 8 seed with a victory at New Orleans. That would avoid a potential meeting with the Warriors in the 9-10 matchup with both teams’ seasons on the line.

“Every game matters,” LeBron James said. “Every seed matters.”

The Lakers know that from experience after rising from the seventh seed to reach the Western Conference Finals last season. Woike notes that the worst-case scenario they face on Sunday would be losing to the Pelicans while Golden State and Sacramento both win, which would drop L.A. to No. 10. The Lakers could finish ninth with a loss if either the Warriors or Kings also lose.

Sunday’s game will be challenging because New Orleans, which has won four straight, is also highly motivated. A victory would ensure the sixth seed for the Pelicans, who are just one game ahead of Phoenix.

“They got a lot of weapons on both sides of the floor. And we have to be able to play the right way,” Anthony Davis said after a narrow win Friday at Memphis. “We can’t play how we played tonight, the turnovers and letting them get offensive rebounds and sloppy play. They’ll take advantage of it.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

  • Gabe Vincent delivered his best game since returning from knee surgery to help L.A. avoid a costly loss to the Grizzlies, Woike adds. Playing for just the 10th time this season, Vincent logged 19 minutes off the bench and was a plus-27. “Gabe’s a winner. It’s that simple,” James said. “And as he continues to get his legs up underneath him, hopefully he has enough time, hopefully we continue to give him enough time to get his legs up underneath him. But he’s a winner. That’s why we brought him on.”
  • The NBA confirmed that a timer’s error added an extra 1:06 to Friday’s game, per Jonah Dylan of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Play was stopped for a shot clock violation with 1:14 left in the third quarter, but the game clock was reset to 2:20 without anyone catching the mistake. “The error was not noticed in real time by the teams, the referees, the game clock operator or the stats crew,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. “While unfortunate, the error was not identified in time to resolve the situation in-game.”
  • There’s no clarity on Jarred Vanderbilt‘s status as the regular season winds down, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. The power forward hasn’t played since February 1 because of a sprain in his right foot, and coach Darvin Ham offered only a brief update on his condition. “He had a good workout [Friday],” Ham said, “so we’ll see.”
  • Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines how the Lakers would be affected if James decides to turn down his $51.4MM player option this summer.
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Los Angeles Notes: James, Davis, Lue, Westbrook

April 9th, 2024 at 6:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Perhaps it’s been somewhat overlooked but the Lakers’ LeBron James is shooting better from the perimeter than he ever has, ESPN’s Chris Herring notes.

A career 34.8% shooter from deep, James has knocked down a career-best 41.3% from 3-point range this season. His overall field goal percentage of 53.6% is his best since the 2017/18 campaign. Herring breaks down how James’ form has improved, noting that the longtime star attributes the uptick to better health.

“I’ve been able to be on the floor a lot more during non-game days,” James said. “My foot has felt a lot better. I didn’t have much time to really rep a lot last year because I couldn’t be on the floor running around or put much pounding on the floor with my foot.”

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

  • The Lakers are listing Anthony Davis and James as questionable heading into their showdown with the Warriors tonight, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. Davis has a left eye injury, while James is battling flu-like symptoms.
  • Tyronn Lue says he has no plans to rest players for the remainder of the regular season unless the Clippers’ seeding is already decided. “We’re still fighting for that four seed, so (not) until we are able to clinch that, or we understand that we have a chance to clinch it or we don’t have a chance to clinch it,” he told Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “Right now, our focus is on just playing better basketball, continuing to keep getting better and ending up the best we can as far as seeding.”
  • Russell Westbrook has revamped his mentality. A three-time scoring champion, Westbrook has focused on the other end of the floor for the Clippers this season, according to Carr. “Well, all year long, honestly, I’ve been depending on my defense and holding people and stopping people when time is needed,” Westbrook said. Westbrook has been a bargain for the Clippers this season and holds a $4MM option on his contract for next season.
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Lakers Notes: Davis, Playoff Picture, Hayes, LeBron

April 8th, 2024 at 7:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Anthony Davis left Sunday night’s game with another injury to his left eye, but the Lakers are optimistic that he’ll be available Tuesday against Golden State, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Davis was hurt when Minnesota’s Kyle Anderson accidentally struck him in the face on a putback dunk late in the first quarter. He went to the locker room to have it examined and didn’t return.

“He’s extremely valuable,” coach Darvin Ham said. “Everyone around here knows that. Everything he brings on both sides of the ball, it’s tough. Already being without (LeBron James) and seeing him go out, it’s tough. But my hat’s off to our guys. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They kept competing all the way through.”

It’s the second eye issue in less than a month for Davis, who suffered a corneal abrasion in a March 16 game. McMenamin’s sources say Davis had to be treated by a specialist last month as his eye was swollen shut and his vision was impaired.

“I just couldn’t see,” Davis said of the original injury. “The corneal abrasion was actually right in the middle of my eye. It wasn’t like off to the side. So anytime I looked it was blurry. My eye was swollen. I thought my eye was like, [torn] open. But it wasn’t. It kept watering. It just felt like sand was in my eye.”

There’s more from Los Angeles:

  • It’s still possible for the Lakers to escape the play-in tournament, but Sunday’s loss makes it much more difficult, McMenamin adds. At 45-34, L.A. is a game-and-a-half behind Phoenix and New Orleans, and trails Sacramento by a game in the loss column as well. D’Angelo Russell is confident about the team’s postseason prospects no matter where it ends up. “I think we just finish this season strong, finish these games strong and whoever we match up with, we go full force,” Russell said. “I don’t think we care about the teams that are doing well versus how they’re going to look in the playoffs. It’s experience versus inexperience in the playoffs, that kind of gets you over the hump. So I like our chances versus anybody.”
  • With Davis sidelined, Jaxson Hayes played more than 32 minutes and provided 19 points, 10 rebounds and a career-best five steals. Hayes holds a $2.5MM player option for next season, and Russell believes he’ll have suitors if he decides to test free agency, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “He’s gonna make a lot of money this summer playing on this stage,” Russell said.
  • On his latest Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst predicts that James will turn down his player option for next season and seek a no-trade clause in a new deal with the Lakers (hat tip to Bleacher Report). “If he extends the contract he’s in or picks up that option, extends onto it, he can’t get a no-trade clause,” Windhorst explains. “And I think for a number of different reasons, LeBron would like, ask for, and probably be granted a no-trade clause.”
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L.A. Notes: Kawhi, Harden, Vanderbilt, LeBron

April 6th, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard missed a third straight game on Friday due to right knee inflammation, with head coach Tyronn Lue telling reporters that the star forward is considered day to day, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Appearing on SportsCenter on Friday (Twitter video link), Youngmisuk said the injury is one the Clippers and Leonard have to manage carefully with the postseason around the corner, noting that the affected knee is the same one he underwent surgery on in both 2021 and 2023.

The expectation, according to Youngmisuk, is that Leonard shouldn’t require an extended absence, but since the Clippers are currently in a stretch of five games in seven days, the team may not be in a hurry to bring him back until the schedule lightens up a bit.

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

  • The Clippers are hoping to get James Harden‘s offensive game back on track, as Youngmisuk said on SportsCenter and Janis Carr outlined for The Orange County Register. Friday’s 15-assist triple-double in a blowout win over Utah was a step in the right direction, but Harden was limited to just 13 points in that victory and made fewer than half of his field goal attempts for a ninth straight game. He’s averaging 12.2 PPG on 33.0% shooting during those nine games.
  • Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) will be reevaluated early next week in Los Angeles, head coach Darvin Ham said on Wednesday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). McMenamin provided an update of his own on Friday, tweeting that Vanderbilt has yet to be cleared for contact drills but went through an individual workout on Friday. The 25-year-old, who last played on February 1, is still working his way toward full sprinting and jumping, McMenamin adds.
  • Although LeBron James told reporters last weekend that he has “not very long” left in his NBA career, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) that people around James and around the NBA expect the Lakers‘ superstar forward to play for at least “one or two more years” beyond this one. Next season would be James’ 22nd, which would tie him with Vince Carter for the most in NBA history.
  • A year ago, the Lakers began the season with a 25-31 record before finishing on an 18-8 run. They’ve made a similar second-half push this season, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic, having gone 20-8 since starting 24-25. Due to the competitive nature of the Western Conference, Los Angeles is still in ninth place, so not even a playoff berth is assured, let alone a return to the Western Finals. “We just hope we can go through the same journey in terms of securing a playoff spot and having success — and go even deeper this time,” Ham said.
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Bronny James To Test NBA Draft Waters

April 5th, 2024 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

USC guard Bronny James – the son of four-time MVP LeBron James – will declare for the 2024 NBA draft in addition to entering the NCAA transfer portal, he announced today (via Instagram).

LeBron’s oldest son, Bronny spent his first college season at USC in 2023/24. His debut was delayed due to a health scare last July, when he suffered cardiac arrest and had to be rushed to a hospital. While he was eventually cleared to play, he made modest contributions for the Trojans, averaging just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game across 25 appearances (six starts).

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the plan is for Bronny to visit and work out for NBA teams, then decide based on the feedback he receives whether to remain in the draft and go pro or return to school for at least one more year.

After his cardiac arrest and a procedure to treat a congenital heart defect, the 19-year-old will need to be evaluated and cleared by the NBA’s Fitness to Play panel before he can work out for teams or participate in May’s draft combine, notes ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. However, he’s free to meet with and interview for teams without that clearance.

Once considered by Jonathan Givony of ESPN to be a potential 2024 lottery pick with elite defensive upside, Bronny doesn’t show up in ESPN’s current top-100 list for this year’s draft. The USC freshman seems far less likely to be a one-and-done player than he once did, though agent Rich Paul told ESPN last month that he and Bronny will weigh specific team interest more heavily than draft position. That would mean seeking out the best developmental fit rather than trying to get drafted as high as possible.

Of course, LeBron has long professed a desire to play in the NBA with Bronny, but the Lakers star has dialed back on that talk within the last year or two, stressing that his son will have to make his own decisions and “be his own man,” as Paul told ESPN.

If Bronny does decide to withdraw from the draft and transfer to a new school, Duquesne is one possible landing spot to watch, sources tell Wojnarowski. Dru Joyce, the program’s new head coach, played high school basketball with LeBron and is a longtime family friend, Woj adds.

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And-Ones: West, MVP Race, All-NBA, Comanche

April 3rd, 2024 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA legend Jerry West is being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for a third time, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Previously enshrined as a player (1979) and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team (2010), the 85-year-old has now been elected as a Hall of Fame contributor.

The latest induction into the Hall of Fame recognizes West’s work as a team executive, including general manager stints with the Lakers and Grizzlies, as well as time spent as a consultant for the Warriors and Clippers. West won eight championships in those roles, per ESPN, and won Executive of the Year awards in 1995 and 2004.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

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Pacific Notes; Lue, Monk, Lyles, Vezenkov, LeBron, Davis, Vincent

April 1st, 2024 at 7:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tyronn Lue called his team soft after a 3-6 stretch late last month. The Clippers got the message, reeling off three consecutive victories for the first time since early February, Law Murray of The Athletic writes. They’ve defeated Philadelphia, Orlando and Charlotte during the winning streak.

The Clippers will finish off a four-game road swing at Sacramento on Tuesday. “Getting a win however you’ve got to get it is the most important thing, but we’ve still got a lot to build on and get better with,” Lue said. “We’ll take the win. The Philly and the Orlando games were two good games that we needed – two gritty wins, tough wins on the road. And then (Sunday), just sticking with it even though we didn’t do a good job defensively.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Kings coach Mike Brown said they’ll use a committee approach to replace Malik Monk, who is sidelined with an MCL sprain. “You can’t replace Malik,” Brown said, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “That’s tough. He did a lot for us and he could easily start for a lot of teams, but he was on the floor a lot of times down the stretch in our games, so to think that one person is going to come in and replace him, it’s not possible, so we have to do it by committee. It’s just the next guy up, and if your number is called, you have to go play within what you do and play your role as best you can.”
  • On the flip side, forwards Trey Lyles and Sasha Vezenkov were back in action for the Kings during Saturday’s win over Utah, Anderson notes. Lyles, who hadn’t played since March 12 due to a left knee sprain, had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot. Vezenkov, who missed 22 games with a Grade 3 right ankle sprain, added five points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals in 10 minutes. “The size just helps especially on the glass, and both those guys, whether they come up with it or not, they’re battling,” Brown said. “They’re hitting bodies. They’re guys who are both used to taking big shots. They both are really, really good 3-point shooters. You’ve got to guard them outside that line, so it opens up the floor a little bit more for everybody else. “
  • Anthony Davis (left knee) and LeBron James (left ankle) are listed by the Lakers as questionable to play against Toronto on Tuesday, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. Jarred Vanderbilt (foot sprain) and Cam Reddish (personal reasons) will miss the game, as will Gabe Vincent (left knee injury recovery). Vincent returned to action on Sunday after being sidelined for over three months due to knee surgery and had two points in 14 minutes against Brooklyn.
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