Chris Alpert

Pacific Rumors: Lakers, Mykhailiuk, Kings’ Hires, Teodosic

The Lakers can improve their 3-point shooting in a variety of ways during the upcoming season, as Mark Trudell of the Lakers’ website details. While the Lakers didn’t add quality shooters in free agency to compliment LeBron James, they have some other options who can help them greatly improve upon their second-to-last showing from long range, Trudell continues. Brandon IngramKentavious Caldwell-PopeJosh Hart and Kyle Kuzma shot 38.5% or better on threes after the All-Star break last season, Trudell notes. Rookies Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Moe Wagner can help in that area, and the playmaking of  James and Rajon Rondo can also facilitate more open looks from deep, Trudell adds.

We have more from around the Pacific Division:

  • Mykhailiuk will play for the Ukranian national team in the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament next month, according to the Ukranian Federation, Oleksandr Proshuta tweets. Mykhailiuk is paying for his own insurance in case he’s injured during the event, Proshuta adds.
  • The Kings announced a number of hires to the front office staff in a team press releaseTeena Murray has been named Senior Director of Athlete Health and Performance. Other hires to the training staff include Mike Roncarati as Head of Prevention and Reconditioning; Joe Resendez as Head Athletic Trainer; Jesse Green as Performance Analyst. Other additions and promotions include Elizabeth Ramsey as Director of Basketball Operations and Intelligence; Gene Cross as Director of Amateur Scouting; Chris Alpert and Acie Law as regional scouts; and Robbie Lemons as Scouting Coordinator.
  • A decision on whether Clippers guard Milos Teodosic and center Boban Marjanovic will play for Serbia’s national team during the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament in September will be made this week, according to a Sportando report. Serbia plays Greece and Estonia in the event.

And-Ones: Morris, D-League, Kings

The NBA released its schedule for 2014/15, and it’ll feature an All-Star break that will extend longer than a week. Every team will get at least eight days off, as first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That will mean a few more sets of back-to-back games throughout the season, but it’ll be interesting to see the effect on the pre-deadline trade market, since the All-Star break usually falls about a week before the trade deadline. More idle time and a lower risk of injuries that could scuttle a trade might lead to more activity. While we digest the schedule and all of its ramifications, here’s the latest from around the league:

  • Darius Morris rejected an offer that would have given him a net $450K from a Serbian team, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com, who speculates that NBA interest was behind Morris’ decision.
  • There is no timetable on a decision to install a new D-League president, the league office tells Gino Pilato of DLeagueDigest.com.
  • Pilato has heard of some candidates for the job, however, naming Tommy Smith, Shawn Smith, Chris Alpert, and Jerry Murphy, all of whom currently work for the D-League
  • The Jazz announced (via Twitter) that Dean Cooper, whom the Rockets let go from their assistant coaching staff after this past season, has been named head coach of Utah’s D-League affiliate.
  • Demolition has begun for the Kings new arena, reports Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. The project is moving forward with the expectation that some remaining legal challenges to the arena’s construction will fail.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.