Mitch Kupchak Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Los Angeles Notes: Marshall, Kupchak, Clippers

February 28th, 2014 at 6:16pm CST by Cray Allred

Aside from Danny Granger‘s official signing with the Clippers earlier today, a lot more is happening in Southern California. Here are some notes from L.A.:

Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com says that the Clippers trade deadline was a success, although it appeared to have fizzled out at the time. After merely subtracting Antawn Jamison and Byron Mullens from the roster during deadline week, the Clippers actually made room for buyout additions Glen Davis and Granger without giving up significant players or hiking up their team salary.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey was asked at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference who the best negotiator in the league is, and immediately named Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, according to Richard Deitsch of SI.com (via Twitter).
Kendall Marshall uses the criticism and disregard he’s received from media and teams as motivation to improve, he tells Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News: “I made a list of things in my phone and things that drive me that people said I couldn’t do. I recite those things to me every single day.” Marshall has already surpassed his totals from last season for games started, minutes, points, and assists in just 22 contests with the Lakers this year. The Suns traded him before the season to the Wizards as part of the Marcin Gortat deal. Washington promptly released him, making Marshall the rare early first-rounder who doesn’t make it to the second year of his initial rookie contract. “Part of it came with hitting rock-bottom and being out of the league. You can’t go anywhere but up from here. They already think you can’t shoot. So you’re either going to solidify what they think or you’re going to surprise them.”

Lakers Rumors: Johnson, Kupchak, Gasol

February 5th, 2014 at 8:04pm CST by Charlie Adams

Magic Johnson hasn’t suited up for the Lakers since the 1995/96 NBA season, but he’s still trying to help benefit the club’s performance on the court, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Regarding the Lakers’ attempt to secure top free agents next summer, Johnson had this to say:

“I love [the Lakers]. I’m going to support them. I asked Mitch [Kupchak] the other day if you want me to recruit this summer. People don’t know that was my role with Dr. Buss for a while. I was the first to call [Metta World Peace], Lamar Odom, all these guys. That was my job, calling them and recruiting them.”

The Lakers are riding a seven game skid and currently sit tied for the bottom spot in the Western Conference, so it looks like they’ll need all the help they can get. Here’s the latest out of LA:

Kupchak spoke with Jared Greenberg and Rick Fox on SiriusXM NBA Radio, and the latest piece from Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times passes along the most notable bits from their sit down: “There is no plan to secure a player at a certain time,” said Kupchak, “We don’t know what the opportunities are going to be for the next two weeks, in terms of the trade deadline. We don’t know who is going to opt in, who is going to opt out, who may or may not be a free agent this summer.“
Kupchak on a potential deal involving Pau Gasol: “On one hand I really feel for the situation [Gasol is] in but on the other hand our guys are very, very highly compensated professionals and this is the business that they chose… He’s a great player and regardless of what happens, he’ll go down as one of the great players in Laker history.“
We heard yesterday that the Lakers and Suns still might still be in discussions for a potential Gasol/Emeka Okafor swap, and Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders opines in his weekly chat that such a deal would be a win-win for both clubs.

Western Notes: Lakers, Love, Shaw, Lee

January 25th, 2014 at 10:30pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

The Star Tribune transcribed TNT analyst Charles Barkley’s recent input on Inside the NBA regarding when Kobe Bryant should return from his injury. “It’s not going to matter, [the Lakers] are going to stink with him or without him, it really doesn’t make a difference. They are not a good team, they are not going to be a good team. If he is thinking about the future and he wants to win another championship, they should try to get a great draft pick. He should get healthy for the rest of the season. I think he will make a big mistake coming back.”

Some other notes around the Western Conference.

With the Lakers losing 15 of their last 18 games, it came as a bit of a surprise to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin when Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak expressed “unbridled optimism” regarding his current roster. Kupchak thinks it is possible for the Lakers to be fun to watch if “they play hard and compete” but McMenamin disagrees and details why there is “no joy in Laker land these days”. McMenamin thinks it is time the Lakers realize their limitations and make personnel changes instead of sending their players out to continue to promise change in play soon.
Another team being urged to realize their limitations is the Timberwolves. Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune takes a critical look at what Kevin Love has brought to Minnesota. Love has achieved much individually while on the Wolves, but Souhan points out the team has never won more than 31 games since Love has arrived. Love isn’t all to blame, according to Souhan. Front office moves, aside from trading for Love on draft night, have been less than stellar. However, Souhan wonders when the Wolves front office will decide if Love is a player Minnesota can win with, as a team. They already know they can’t win without him, but Love needs to prove “he can carry a flawed team” soon.
If it weren’t for Pacers coach Frank Vogel returning a favor, the Nuggets may not have Brian Shaw as current head coach. According to Aaron Lopez of Nuggets.com, after changes to the 76ers coaching staff, Vogel was without a job and Shaw encouraged the Lakers to hire Vogel as a scout. Six years later, Vogel intercepted Shaw en route to interview for an analyst job and convinced Shaw he was more coach than analyst. Shaw never completed his trip to interview with ESPN, and after two seasons in Indiana was hired by the Nuggets as their head coach.
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale told Jenny Creech of the Houston Chronicle he is happy with how recently traded guard Courtney Lee is fitting in with the Grizzlies. Lee has averaged 15.3 PPG in the nine games he has played for Memphis since being sent there from the Celtics in a three team deal earlier this month. McHale praised Lee as one of his favorite players who will play better as his role becomes more defined. According to McHale, Lee “will fit in nice” with the role Memphis has placed him in since arriving. Lee played one season under McHale on the Rockets.

Kupchak On D’Antoni, Kobe, Potential Trades

January 8th, 2014 at 8:00pm CST by Charlie Adams

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News spoke with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak earlier today and discussed a number of the issues Lakerland is facing. The club currently sits at 14-21, just three games ahead of the Western Conference’s last place Jazz. Even worse, their losing roster was still an expensive one to assemble, and the team is currently slated pay around $11MM in luxury tax this offseason on top of a team salary that figures to be roughly $79MM. Still, the longtime GM seemed optimistic about the team’s future and scoffed at the concept of blowing up the roster. Let’s have a look at some of the more notable Kupchak quotations from Medina’s piece:

On Mike D’Antoni‘s performance as head coach this season:

“Six weeks ago, I thought he would’ve been candidate for coach of the year… A month and a half later, our record is what it is. I know I’ll get criticized and he’ll get criticized. But the coaches in this league can’t win without players. That’s my job. I thought we were deep enough in the backcourt. Maybe we weren’t. But you can’t win in this league without players.”

On Kobe Bryant‘s recent injury:

“His most recent injury had nothing to do with Achilles… If he had blown out his Achilles, you might think why did he come back so quickly. But you can’t do that. The knee just hyperextended and that’s very natural. It’s not a major injury. He’ll be back and better than ever.”

On whether or not any players on the roster are untouchable in trades other than Bryant:

“I don’t even want to single out one person… I’ll leave you to speculate. I think it’s pretty easy. I trust your ability to look at our roster and think this guy might not be going anywhere. If there’s an opportunity to help us win right away, or an opportunity to help us plan for next year or the year after, then we’ll look at those opportunities.”

On the importance of planning around the luxury tax:

“It is a factor in planning. It is a business. The new collective bargaining agreement is such as that you have to be careful what you allocate and where… Strategically, it’s a factor. But with Dr. Buss and present ownership, it has never been a driving force that interferes what is best for the organization in terms of providing for our TV partners, radio partners and our fans.”

On the possibility of tanking for a high draft pick:

“That’s the worst thing an owner, general manager, coach or player can even consider. I can’t imagine going into a locker room or having a closed door meeting with a coach to say I want you to lose… I can’t imagine doing that. It’s almost un American.“

Odds & Ends: Lakers, Pierce, Austin

December 12th, 2013 at 11:00pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak directly addressed questions about the team’s point guard situation and didn’t seem too confident about finding anyone on the free agent market who could play big rotation minutes immediately (Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles):

“I think for the time being we’re going to roll with what we’ve got…To find a player that doesn’t belong to somebody right now that can come in and play in front of (Kobe Bryant), in front of Xavier Henry), in front of (Jodie Meeks), it’s unlikely…But maybe there’s a player out there that we can take a look at…It’s a good time to perhaps look at a player, but I don’t think there’s somebody that we’re going to bring in and we’re going to start or is going to play big minutes.”

As it stands, the team doesn’t appear to have any immediate plans to add a point guard via trade, free agency, or D-League call up. Here’s more of tonight’s miscellaneous news and notes, including more from McMenamin’s piece:

Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee reports that mayor Kevin Johnson has launched a political campaign aimed at defeating a June ballot measure in Sacramento that would require voter approval of subsidies to sports arenas. The Kings are expected to play a role in the effort along with Johnson, although team president Chris Granger said the role hasn’t been decided yet.
When specifically asked about Leandro Barbosa, as well as former Lakers Darius Morris and Chris Duhon, Kupchak said that they’re “all on the list” of players being considered.
Whether or not the Lakers decide to make a move to address their backcourt issues, ESPN LA’s Ramona Shelburne gets the sense that they’ll look for the best available point guard and not necessarily put a priority on those with past familiarity of Mike D’Antoni’s system. She also makes note that the team still has luxury tax considerations to factor into their decision-making (All Twitter links).
Clippers coach Doc Rivers weighed in on the Nets, saying he was disappointed in how the situation between Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank developed, endorsed the idea that Paul Pierce would be willing to come off the bench, and suggested that Pierce still has plenty of basketball left in the tank beyond this season (All Twitter links).
RealGM’s Jonathan Tjarks examines how Baylor center Isaiah Austin helped his draft stock after his 13-point/5-block performance against a highly touted Kentucky frontline that included Julius Randle, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Alex Poythress last week.
ESPN’s J.A. Adande and Israel Gutierrez discuss ideas on how to correct competitive imbalance in the NBA.

Mitch Kupchak Talks Kobe, FAs, Roster, D’Antoni

September 25th, 2013 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak spoke to L.A. reporters today at a preseason conference, fielding questions on a number of topics related to the club's offseason and upcoming camp. A handful of Lakers scribes, including Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times, and Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, passed along highlights from the presser on Twitter, so let's dive in and round them up….

As we heard over the weekend, there have been no extension talks yet between Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, though Kupchak expects to sit down and discuss it at some point during the season.
Even if the Lakers star hits free agency in 2014, he has made it clear he intends to retire with the team, and Kupchak says the club reciprocates that desire.
Taking into account the league's new CBA, Kupchak anticipates it will be difficult to get free agents to move next summer. However, the GM reiterated that the club is looking ahead not just to the 2014 offseason, but also to 2015 and beyond.
Lakers ownership may be more open to the idea of carrying 14 or 15 players than it has been in the last few years, according to Kupchak.
Asked about the reluctance from Lakers fans to accept Mike D'Antoni as head coach, Kupchak replied, "We try to give him all the support we can…. He has to realize, and I'm sure he does, that we back him 100%."
With so many players on one-year contracts this year, there will be plenty of incentive for them to play their well into long-term deals, says Kupchak.
The Lakers GM added that 2014 should be a good year to have a first-round draft pick, which is something the team hasn't held in several years.

Kupchak On D’Antoni, Kobe, Nash, Lakers’ Future

August 15th, 2013 at 7:43pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak participated in a radio interview with ESPN's Colin Cowherd earlier today to discuss a few topics surrounding the franchise. He acknowledged that the transition from Mike Brown to Mike D'Antoni last season was "clumsy" and admitted that there was some feeling that Phil Jackson would coach the team during 2012-13 before eventually handing over the job to D'Antoni. We'll relay more of Kupchak's noteworthy comments, and you can read them below (credit goes to ESPN Los Angeles' Ramona Shelburne and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times):

On the health of Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant:

"Steve, to my understanding, is close to 100 percent, but he's not as young as he once was and Kobe's a big question mark. We're very optimistic, he's getting treatment every day, he's in the facility right now, but he hasn't been on a basketball court. Uncertainty going forward, I guess with our health status would be the biggest question mark."

Regarding any talks of a contract extension with Kobe:

"There really (have) been no discussions beyond next year for obvious reasons…You have a player who is up in age and just had a devastating injury. Obviously, we created an environment with our team where were looking to have financial flexibility a year from now, so that plays into it."

On the possibility of Pau Gasol remaining a Laker beyond this season:

"We're in a cycle…We're hopeful that within a year from now, we'll have enough flexibility. We're hopeful that Pau and Kobe can continue to play and we'll have options to rebuild the team."

Thoughts on the idea of tanking for a lottery pick in 2014:

"The ping-pong lottery thing, even if you have the very worst team in the NBA, you're not guaranteed to get the first pick…I'm not sure getting into the lottery and ending up with 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 is going to give us a top one or two pick in the draft…We still may end up drafting 12, 13 or 14, which is not a great place to draft if you just look back on drafts in this league."

More comments about the 2014 offseason:

"We'll have a lot of financial resources a year from now…I don't know if we'll get a star player to leave his home team to come here like (Dwight Howard) did to go to Houston. He took a huge financial hit just to do that…We have a pick next year, which is going to be a very good draft. We're very comfortable with the flexibility…It just doesn't mean you get free agents you can take players [via trade]. There are a lot of things you can do with cap room."

Kupchak On Howard, Kobe, 2014 Free Agents

July 29th, 2013 at 6:31pm CST by Zachary Links

Mitch Kupchak has kept relatively mum this summer, but he agreed to have an in-depth chat on his extremely eventful offseason with Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The conversation covered the loss of Dwight Howard, using the amnesty provision on Metta World Peace, and the additions the club has made to try and fill the void as best they can. Here's a look at some of the highlights..

How disappointed were you to lose Howard in free agency to the Rockets?

It wasn't a surprise. I had a feeling that Houston was a frontrunner, and whenever a player is an unrestricted free agent, anything can happen. Clearly, we wanted to keep him here in Los Angeles, and I felt we did everything we could do within reason to show we did want to keep him here. Until the end, I kept up hope. I think we were as persistent as we could be within reason. I wasn't shocked but I was disappointed.

With Kobe Bryant coming back at an unknown date from a torn Achilles' tendon, is it time to write off next season and play for a top draft pick in 2014?

You know that's not our plan. Our plan was to bring back Dwight Howard and that would have sky-rocketed our payroll. That's never a plan here with our fan base, to throw in the towel before the season begins. We always try to win, and that's what we're going to do this year. We have challenges. There's no doubt. We don't know when Kobe's coming back, and we don't know what level he's going to come back at, although we're optimistic. Everything's good with Steve Nash. Pau Gasol should be fine. We've added some athleticism. We're hopefully putting ourselves in position where we can compete in every game.

Is a five month recovery for Kobe possible or it's really going to be eight or nine or 10?

We just don't know. When he gets back in September, we'll take another look at him, but he hasn't been on a basketball court. It's really premature to try to predict other than try to be optimistic that he'll be ready for opening night or the 15th of November or the 1st of December or the 15th of December.

On the talent-packed 2014 free agent class:

I'm not sure if you'll see that Howard type of player go from team to team, although it is possible. We do feel Los Angeles is a destination spot. We have complete confidence in the organization, the city, our fan base, that we would be considered as a destination for players in the future. So we're hopeful going forward that the flexibility that we have will be beneficial.

On the additions of Chris Kaman, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson for a combined $6.5MM next season:

This off-season if we did one thing, between the small forward and wing spot and backcourt, we got quicker and more athletic, something I think we needed.

Kupchak Talks Dwight, Recruiting, Improvement

June 5th, 2013 at 6:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told Mike Trudell of Lakers.com that his "hopeful" and "optimistic" feelings about the team's chances to re-sign Dwight Howard haven't changed since the season ended, even as rumors have proliferated about the big man's willingness to go elsewhere. Kupchak also spoke about front office dynamics, confirming he and Jim Buss are the primary decision makers, and the exodus of all but one of the team's assistant coaches. The transcript of the Q&A is worth reading, particularly for Lakers fans, but we'll note a few particularly intriguing passages here:

On his pitch to Howard:

"We would try to do what the other teams will do, which is convince him that this is the spot for him. I think we have an advantage in that he's played here for a year. I'm biased — I think this is the best city to live in with the best fans in the NBA. There are certain things that you remind him of or talk to him about, and you hope that it plays in your favor."

On the Lakers' recruiting advantages:

I do think we have advantages. Historically, this organization, via ownership beginning in 1960 has fielded competitive teams. We think the city sells itself, and we have a very passionate, wide fan base. It's also very competitive, the rules have changed a little bit, but we do have financial flexibility a year and a half from now. It can be used a lot of different ways. You don't just have to focus on free agency; you can take a contract. If a player doesn't fit into someone's roster from a salary perspective — maybe due to the repeater tax, for example — maybe you find a guy that way. There are a lot of ways you can use the space that we will have, and we're looking forward to having that flexibility.

On the difficulty of improving a taxpaying team that has only a late second-round pick:

It's a challenge. Even in the lottery, there's a likelihood that a player is not going to help you that year. Often times, the higher someone is drafted, the more likely he is to help you that year. With a veteran team, it's hard to say that a player drafted in the mid-second round will make an impact next year. Assuming our team next year is similar to the team it was this year, and also understanding that we have several free agents, probably the best way to improve this team would be through free agency, and even that's limited. Hopefully you can use your mini mid(-level exception), but most of the time it will fall towards the (veteran's) minimum contracts, and you want to make good selections there. But you're not going to get really good, productive young players at a minimum salary. You'll end up getting the older player who's had a good career that's looking to contend for a championship, like Antawn Jamison last season.

Lakers Looking For Wing Player, Eyeing Goudelock?

April 13th, 2013 at 9:47pm CST by Ryan Raroque

9:47pm: ESPN's Marc Stein (via Twitter) hears that the team is lining up Andrew Goudelock for a call up from the D-League.

8:20pm: Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles hears that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak is now scouring the free agent market for another wing player to add with Kobe Bryant out. Although recently waived Stephen Jackson is available, he wouldn't be playoff eligible since he was released after the March buyout deadline. The same applies to Raja Bell, another target earlier this season.

Though the loss of Kobe creates a large opening with regards to minutes, it's difficult to imagine Kupchak adding a player who can take on a significant role immediately this late into the season. One could make a strong argument that a reasonable target would be one that either has familiarity with the team's current personnel or a veteran with playoff experience.

According to our list of current available free agents, Chris Douglas-Roberts – a Lakers training camp participant last October – is available and would be cleared to play in the postseason. Another option could be Maurice Evans, a former member of the purple and gold from 2006 to 2008, who has been waiting all year for an opportunity to play.