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Pacific Notes: Collison, Chriss, Suns, Williams

November 6th, 2016 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

With his eight-game suspension about to end, Darren Collison is ready to take over as the Kings‘ starting point guard, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. The suspension, which concludes with tonight’s game, was imposed after Collison pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor domestic battery.Ty Lawson has struggled to run the team in his absence, and Sacramento needs Collison as a stabilizing force after a 2-5 start. “Basketball is an escape,” he said. “I’ve been able to practice and be around the team, and that has helped a lot. Being around the guys has been great. But this is definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Suns are thrilled by what they’ve seen from rookie power forward Marquese Chriss, who was acquired in a draft-day trade with the Kings, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Phoenix is bringing Chriss along slowly, giving him 15 minutes per night in his first six games, and he has responded with averages of 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. Although he is only 19, Chriss believes he is mature enough for the NBA. “Off the court I’ve never had any problems, I never get in conflicts or things like that,” he said. “I’m real mellow, kind of just handle my business and put my head down. I’m just adjusting like everybody else is, getting up every morning, coming to the gym with the mentality that I want to get better and every day has a purpose.”
Former Suns coach Alvin Gentry thinks the team made wise moves in reacquiring two of his former players this offseason, relays Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Gentry had high praise for Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa, who both returned to Phoenix as free agents. “When I was there, they were great,” Gentry said. “They’re great locker room guys. There’s a maturity about them that they understand where they are in their careers and they’re going to do everything they can to help the young guys. You can put them on the court and they can be productive. That’s a win-win-win all the way around.”
The Lakers‘ young players are getting attention, but veteran Lou Williams is helping to close out games, writes Bill Oram of The Orange County Register. The 30-year-old guard had 10 points in the fourth quarter Friday night as L.A. blew out the Warriors. “The game turns up down the stretch,” said coach Luke Walton. “It’s harder to run offenses, defenses and they’re flying at you. They’re trapping and switching. So it’s nice to have a vet out there among those young guys. When we call a play and the play is off, Lou can adjust.”

Lakers Rumors: Bryant, Scott, Clarkson, Young

April 14th, 2016 at 7:12pm CST by Arthur Hill

After Kobe Bryant gave the NBA an unforgettable 60-point sendoff Wednesday, the Lakers faced the first day of the post-Kobe era, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. “Sometimes you cannot help but think about it,” coach Byron Scott said of his 17-65 team. “When you have the type of season that you have, changes will be made.” The changes may start with Scott, who has one year left on his contract, although Medina says the organization recognizes the difficult position he faced with trying to balance a young roster and Bryant’s retirement tour.

The Lakers will have an estimated $55MM in cap space this summer, with much of that being opened by the end of Bryant’s $25MM contract and the expiration of Roy Hibbert‘s $15.5MM deal. The only guaranteed contracts for next year belong to D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., Anthony Brown, Nick Young and Lou Williams. The Lakers would like to keep restricted free agent Jordan Clarkson, and Brandon Bass may be back with a $3.1MM player option. More difficult decisions surround Hibbert, Metta World Peace, Marcelo Huertas, Tarik Black, Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

Clarkson believes he will be a Laker again next season, Medina tweets. Clarkson made $845,059 this year, and L.A. must make a $3.2MM qualifying offer to retain the right to match competing bids through the Gilbert Arenas Provision. “I feel confident I’ll be back here,” Clarkson said in today’s exit interview. “I want to be here.”
Two other free agents also prefer to remain Lakers, Medina relays on Twitter. “This is a great place for me and I love it here,” said Sacre, who made $981,348 this season in the final year of his contract (link). “I’d love to be a part of this process of flipping it around,” said Kelly, who earned more than $1.724MM this season. “But we’ll see (link).”
Young may not be brought back despite having two years and more than $11MM left on his contract, but he understands the need for changes, Medina writes in a separate story. “You never know what’s gonna happen, but you know something’s got to happen,” Young said. “I know the Lakers are gonna make decisions for the Lakers. We did win 17 games after all.” L.A. expected to try to deal Young in the offseason and may seek to negotiate a buyout if trade talks are unsuccessful.

Lakers Make Bass, Young, Williams Available

January 29th, 2016 at 8:10am CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers veterans Brandon Bass, Nick Young and Lou Williams are available on the trade market, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. So, too, is Roy Hibbert, Stein writes, advancing an earlier report from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders that the Lakers are looking to trade the center to a likely playoff team. It’s all seemingly a recognition of the inevitable for the Lakers front office, with the team just one loss behind the Sixers in the Reverse Standings and legitimate hope of a playoff berth dashed. All except Hibbert have at least one year left on their respective contracts, as Stein points out, though Bass could hit free agency this summer if he turns down his $3.135MM player option for next season.

Bass has taken a reduced role since signing with the Lakers this past offseason, coming off the bench in all 40 appearances and averaging 18.0 minutes per game after making 43 starts and playing 23.5 minutes a night last year with the Celtics. Brad Stevens remains a fan, though he’s not quite the star target the Celtics have long been coveting.

It’s no surprise to see Young on the block, since the Lakers reportedly explored the market for him this past summer before retreating from the effort, having found no worthwhile offers. Young said he found the trade rumors “confusing” and “motivating”, and he’s seen his playing time cut drastically. The 30-year-old who’s making more than $5.219MM this season is averaging only 7.7 points in 19.1 minutes per game, his lowest numbers in either category since 2007/08, his rookie season. Young’s contract runs through 2017/18, a player option year.

The free agent acquisition of Williams helped marginalize Young in the Lakers rotation. The NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year is having the best season statistically among those the team has apparently placed on the market, averaging the same 15.5 points per game he did last year. He signed a three-year, $21MM deal this past summer.

It’s unclear exactly what the Lakers want in exchange for their veterans, though presumably they’re looking for assets that could help them next season and beyond. They’re only barely above the salary cap with about $72MM in team salary, so cost-cutting is unlikely a major concern.

Who or what do you think the Lakers should target in return for their vets? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

And-Ones: Hardaway Jr., Pistons, Williams

December 7th, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tim Hardaway Jr. took a positive approach to his two-game stint with the D-League’s Canton Charge, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Hawks shooting guard was back at practice on Monday after averaging 17 points with the Charge. “There is no negativity,” he told Vivlamore. “I knew what the objective was – to go down there and get some reps and help the Canton team out.” The Hawks traded their first-round pick to obtain Hardaway from the Knicks in a draft-day deal but he has appeared in only four games, averaging 2.5 points in 11.1 minutes.

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Darrun Hilliard will get sent to the Pistons’ D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids a couple more times in the coming weeks, coach Stan Van Gundy told the assembled media, including Hoops Rumors, on Sunday night. The rookie shooting guard out of Villanova, Detroit’s second-round pick in June, scored 31 points for the Drive in his first D-League appearance on Saturday and was immediately recalled. “He can put the ball on the floor and make plays and we don’t have a lot of that on the perimeter with our wings,” Van Gundy said. “We like what he brings to the table. He’s doing everything he can to impress us and get his chance.”
The Pistons acquired their starting small forwards, Ersan Ilyasova and Marcus Morris, for essentially two expiring contracts and a second-round pick during the offseason. Van Gundy, who made those deals as the team’s president of basketball operations, has been thrilled with the results. “We didn’t give up a whole lot to get either one of them and they’ve both got great contracts,” he told Hoops Rumors and other members of the media last week. “That’s probably two of the best things that have happened to us since we’ve been here.”
Point guard Lou Williams told his ex-Raptors teammate DeMar DeRozan that he’s disappointed things didn’t work out for him in Toronto, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Williams, who signed a three-year, $21MM contract with the Lakers after the Raptors let him walk, felt like he ‘found a home’ with Toronto, Lewenberg adds.
The Raptors recalled small forward Bruno Caboclo and rookie combo guard Delon Wright from their D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, the team’s media relations department tweets. Both were on the active roster for Monday’s game against the Lakers.
The Thunder assigned Mitch McGary to their D-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, according to the team’s website. The second-year power forward has played three games with the Blue and six with the Thunder this season.

Lakers Notes: Williams, Brown, Bryant

November 22nd, 2015 at 2:15pm CST by Will Joseph

While the Lakers experienced some growing pains with their rookies early on, notably with D’Angelo Russell, 10-year veteran Lou Williams has also had issues adjusting with his new team, but coach Byron Scott still has faith in the point guard, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News writes. Williams signed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Lakers in the summer after he scored 15.5 points per game on 40.5% shooting last season in Toronto, where he won the Sixth Man of the Year award. Despite Williams’ shooting production being down, Scott has elected to use Williams in the fourth quarter of games instead of Russell, Medina adds.

“I don’t worry about Lou that much,” Scott said. “He’s one of those guys that knows how to create opportunities for himself. When he’s not shooting well, he can still get up numbers for us.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

The Lakers recalled rookie swingman Anthony Brown from the D-League, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays on Twitter. The Lakers’ D-League affiliate acknowledged the move (Twitter link).
Brown may soon be assigned to the D-League again because Scott wants Brown to work on his ball-handling and develop more experience for the next two months, Medina, in a separate piece, relays. There is a decent chance Brown can make the Lakers’ lineup before that time period, Medina adds, but that would likely depend on the play of Metta World Peace, who has surprised with his conditioning.
Kobe Bryant expressed little concern over his season-high 37 minutes played Friday night, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register details. With hints toward retirement at the end of this season, Bryant has averaged 31.1 minutes per game heading into action Sunday, as Oram points out. “My workload has been really light,” Bryant said.

Pacific Notes: Upshaw, Warren, Williams

October 9th, 2015 at 9:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lakers rookie center Robert Upshaw saw his first NBA preseason action during the team’s 105-97 loss to the Raptors on Thursday, and the young big man contributed six points, three rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one turnover in 25 minutes. When asked to assess Upshaw’s first showing for the team, coach Byron Scott said, “He was OK. He made a ton of mistakes on both ends of the floor. That’s probably to be expected in his first game,” Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News relays.

Scott was pleased with how Upshaw is physically rounding into shape, as well as the athleticism Upshaw displayed during Thursday’s contest, Medina adds. “That’s something we didn’t see in summer league,” Scott said. “In summer league, he was much heavier than he is right now. He’s in much better condition right now. He’s much lighter getting up and down the floor. He’s getting off his feet much better. We’re able to see some of the things we kept hearing about.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said that T.J. Warren‘s overall game has improved since last season, and it may make his decision regarding the team’s regular season starter at small forward difficult, writes Matt Petersen of NBA.com. “When we can get him the ball and get him opportunities, he makes the plays,” Hornacek said. “Defensively, he’s much better than he was last year. I like what he’s doing defensively on guys. He’s taking challenges. He’s got a great knack.” P.J. Tucker is Phoenix’s incumbent starter at the three.
Despite winning the 2014/15 Sixth Man of the Year award, the Raptors didn’t make an effort to re-sign Lou Williams this offseason, but according to Raptors coach Dwane Casey, “It wasn’t for the fact that we didn’t like Lou or want Lou,” Bill Oram of The Orange County Register tweets.
Williams, who signed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Lakers back in July, was allowed to depart because Toronto had more pressing roster concerns, and not because the Raptors didn’t think he was a valuable player, Oram writes in a full-length piece. “He has a huge value,” Casey said of Williams, “but it depends on the other needs that you have on the team. He won a lot of games last year for us with his scoring. We had nights where we had nothing going, and he would come in and change the game with his scoring. And there’s a value. There’s a huge value to that.”

Mitch Kupchak On: Russell, Hibbert, Upshaw

July 22nd, 2015 at 7:16pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Lakers held a press conference earlier today where the team officially introduced offseason acquisitions Lou Williams, Brandon Bass, and Roy Hibbert to members to the Los Angeles media. GM Mitch Kupchak answered a number of questions regarding the franchise, hat tip to NBA.com, and shown below are some of the highlights:

When asked what impact Bass, Williams, and Hibbert can have on the team, Kupchak said:

“It’s a tough league. It’s a tough conference. We’ve tried to do our best to identify and create a young core, and also bring some veteran players around a young group. Not only can those veteran players hopefully contribute, but they have solid character, and they can be mentors for our young players. We’re gonna do our best to win as many games as possible, and it’s very difficult to do that with all young players. So part of what we tried to do was surround our young players with some veteran players that would be good mentors and also give us a chance to win a bunch of games.”

Discussing the performance of No. 2 overall pick D’Angelo Russell in Summer League play, Kupchak said:

“I think he learned a lot. I met with him once or twice since Summer League ended, and he knows that to make the next jump in this league he’s going to have to work awfully hard and get in the gym every day, work on his body. I think they all understand that what happened in college is now behind them. This is the real deal. It’s great to get drafted in the first round. It’s great to get drafted [in round] two. But that’s over now. Now it’s time to put that behind you and prove yourself in this league. There’s no other way to prove yourself now other than to perform.”

On undrafted big man Robert Upshaw’s future with the team, the GM said:

“It’s unlikely that Robert will contribute to the team next year to win games. I think you know Robert and how he’s bounced around at the college level. He’s a player that we looked at in Summer League, and we’re continuing to have conversations with his representative. If we did something with Robert, it would be based on potential going forward. … We’ve made commitments to some rookies because they got drafted very high. But to look at a guy that wasn’t drafted and say, “This is a guy that’s gonna be in the rotation.” That’s not realistic at all.”

When addressing the Lakers’ depth at guard, Kupchak said:

“We’re talking about it internally right now. If you look at Nick Young and Kobe Bryant as backcourt players, then we have six. But we may look at those guys at the three spot, and then you only have four. And one of those four would be Jabari Brown, so now you’re really down to three: D’Angelo, Jordan Clarkson and Lou. So, depending on how you look at it, we may look to bring another guard on board. We may not.”

On the team’s overall size in the frontcourt, Kupchak said:

“We’re not a big team. We have Roy, clearly who’s big. Then we have Robert [Upshaw], who’s 7-foot, and our next-tallest player is Ryan Kelly, who really at 6’10” or 6’11” is a stretch four. You wouldn’t expect him to block shots and get 15 rebounds and patrol the paint. So really, if you look at our team, you can make an argument that we don’t have big players.“

Lakers Sign Lou Williams

July 9th, 2015 at 3:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

THURSDAY, 3:45pm: The signing is official, the Lakers announced.

SUNDAY, 3:28pm: The Lakers and Lou Williams have agreed to a deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’ll be a three-year, $21MM arrangement, Wojnarowski adds.

There was said to be mutual interest between Williams and the Heat, but ultimately he’ll be heading west to Los Angeles. The Knicks reportedly reached out to Williams earlier this month and the new client of Wallace Prather was apparently expected to hear from New York and Sacramento, as well as the Nets. The Heat were hot on his heels, but they were limited to the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception to get him and we now know that was well short of market value since he’ll earn an average annual value of $7MM per season.

Last season, Williams averaged 15.5 PPG, 2.1 APG, and 1.9 RPG in 25.2 minutes per contest on his way to being recognized as the league’s top bench player. Williams finally looked back to his normal self in 2014/15 for the first time since tearing his right ACL in January 2013. He was a strong fit for the Raptors despite the presence of fellow guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, affirming GM Masai Ujiri‘s decision to absorb Williams’ salary in a swap with the Hawks just before the 2013/14 season officially ended last June. The 28-year-old earned $5.45MM last season and he’ll see a healthy pay bump with his new Lakers deal.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Jefferson, Kaun

July 7th, 2015 at 7:11pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics have failed to land a major star via free agency thus far this offseason, but being free of burdensome contracts heading into the summer of 2016 will set the franchise up to be major players, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. Salary cap experts are saying that Boston could potentially get themselves $39MM-$50MM under the cap if they play their cards properly, which means they could have the ability to sign two free agents to maximum contracts next offseason, Bulpett adds. The Boston Herald scribe also notes that it may be easier for the team to land two stars rather than one in the same offseason since players want to go where they have the opportunity to win, and signing as a duo would hold more potential appeal.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks are one of several teams to express interest in unrestricted free agent guard John Jenkins, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link).
Nets forward Cory Jefferson has been forced to cease Summer League play due to an ankle injury he has been struggling with, Shams Charania of RealGM relays (on Twitter). If Jefferson remains on Brooklyn’s roster past July 15th his contract for 2015/16 will become partially guaranteed for $150k, and this setback isn’t expected to affect Jefferson’s roster spot, Charania notes.
If the Cavaliers and the Nets end up striking a deal to send Joe Johnson to Cleveland, there is a very good chance that the draft rights to Sasha Kaun head to Brooklyn in the transaction, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily tweets. The 30-year-old center has reportedly been a target of the Nets’ this offseason, though the talks between the two franchises appear to be stalled for the moment.
As much as the Raptors may end up missing Lou Williams‘ offensive game, the team is glad to have rid itself of the distractions that the guard brought to the squad, Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun writes. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year agreed to a three-year, $21MM arrangement with the Lakers, and if Nick Young isn’t traded, which the Lakers are reportedly exploring doing, it will certainly make for an entertaining locker room in Los Angeles in 2015/16.

Atlantic Notes: Williams, Ridnour, Sixers

July 6th, 2015 at 7:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lou Williams was surprised the Raptors did not make him an offer, he revealed in a Q&A session with Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy. Williams, who agreed to a three-year, $21MM contract with the Lakers on Sunday, thought the Raptors would make a spirited attempt to re-sign him. Instead, they chose to shake up with their roster by reaching agreements with DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo. “Just to speak candidly, it caught me by surprise that we didn’t get something done. I made it clear that I wanted to be there and I thought, with the type of year that I had, the feeling would be mutual,” Williams told Kennedy. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t. I think they wanted to go in a different direction and become more of a defensive-minded team. With the way that the playoffs ended, I think it left a sour taste in management’s mouth and they went out and picked up defensive players.”

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

While Joseph will be the second Canadian, along with retired Jamaal Magloire, to play for the Raptors during the regular season, that wasn’t the reason why they were so enamored with him, Doug Smith of the Toronto Sun writes. Joseph, who agreed on a four-year, $30MM contract to leave the Spurs, has impressed the Raptors’ brass for years with his toughness and defensive prowess, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the club targeted him, Smith adds.
Luke Ridnour said that he expects the Raptors to waive him before his $2.75MM salary becomes guaranteed Friday and confirmed that he’s still contemplating retirement as he spoke with TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. The 34-year-old point guard also dished to Aldridge about what it was like to have his contract traded four times in one week.
The Sixers fleeced the Kings in the unofficial but agreed upon trade that sent Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to Philadelphia, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. Stauskas fills a backcourt need and the team can eventually decline a team option on his contract if the second-year shooting guard doesn’t pan out, Pompey continues. Landry and Thompson can become role models and mentors for their young frontcourt lottery picks — Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, Pompey adds. With that trade, the Sixers will likely have less roster movement than the past two seasons when 48 players saw action, Pompey concludes.