The two New York teams are making plenty of headlines lately, thanks in large measure to their poor play. There’s lots of drama going on in Los Angeles, too, where the Clippers are mulling a Lamar Odom signing and the Lakers await the returns of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. Here’s the latest on both teams, including an update on Nash:
- The Lakers had reportedly planned to gauge Nash’s progress in practice this week before deciding whether to pursue another point guard, but Nash said he isn’t rushing his recovery in light of Jordan Farmar‘s injury, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Nash doubts he’ll return in time for the team’s next game on Friday.
- The Clippers are set to pay the luxury tax for the first time in franchise history, and Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains why now might be the right time, as part of a piece for SB Nation that juxtaposes L.A.’s tax quandary with that of the Thunder. There’s a risk the expenditure could go for naught, as in the case of the Bulls, but it could help the Clippers re-sign Blake Griffin in a few years.
- Doc Rivers tried to recruit Lawrence Frank to join the Clippers coaching staff this summer, but the Nets wooed Rivers’ former Celtics assistant with a six-year deal worth more than $1MM per year, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Frank and Nets head coach Jason Kidd appear to be at loggerheads.