Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn was recently cleared for increased contact in workouts, league sources tell Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Head coach Darvin Ham told reporters, including Buha, that Nunn has primarily been working on individual drills and working out in the weight room.
According to Buha, Ham also said that Nunn, Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker are all in consideration for the starting lineup, and the trio will have “notable roles.”
Nunn, who missed all of last season with a knee issue, said he was “100%” healthy back in July, but subsequent reports from Buha have cast a cloud on his status. Still, additional contact was an important hurdle to clear for the 27-year-old, so we’ll see if he’s ready to go once the season starts next month.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- The “combustible” pairing of Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook could provide the spark necessary to ignite the Lakers, or it could blow up in their faces, opines Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California Newsgroup (subscriber link). As Swanson observes, both players are well-known for being stubborn, and their previous run-ins have been well documented. Everyone in L.A. is saying the right things right now, but only their on-court play and actions will prove whether the backcourt pairing will work or not, Swanson adds.
- Westbrook needs to reinvent his game in order to make things work with the Lakers, argues Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Westbrook’s refusal to adjust his playing style was a primary reason why he fit so poorly with the team last season, Hernandez notes. Asking him to make drastic changes this late in his career might not be fair to the former MVP, but he’ll have to play much better defense and make offensive adjustments for the team to find success in year two, Hernandez writes.
- League insiders are pretty skeptical regarding the Lakers’ outlook for the 2022/23 season, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. One common thread brought up by the insiders was that the defense might not be good enough to hold up the poor shooting of the roster. Only one of the seven insiders Pincus spoke to was confident the Lakers would make the playoffs outright.
Troy browns year
Thanks man you gave me the laugh of the day.
I know it doesn’t seem like it would make any sense to take the ball out of Lebron’s hands and give it to Russ but what if it was like 12-15 minutes a game?
Start the game with Russ at the point for the first five minutes then take him out until it Lebron’s turn for a breather. Give Russ maybe 10-15 minutes at the point per game, get him involved and engaged and take a little pressure of James. Limit their time on the floor at the same time.
I know Lebron’s probably has the best court vision of all time but he can play off ball, he can shoot a little, he can post and he can cut. Hell he can do most everything on the offensive end where Russ is useless if he’s not running the show.
An excellent idea.
That would result in losses. It’s 2022, Russ and Bron aren’t who you think they are anymore.
Did you see Brons numbers last year or do you just hate to hate? Russ is cooked, watch how you speak on the King
Honestly, I get what you’re thinking, but I’d never take the ball out of my best player’s (LBJ) hands to placate a guy (Westbrick) who isn’t that good.
They’re playing too nice with Russ. Tell him he’s coming off the bench or he can not play at all, choice is his. If he has a problem with it, sign a buyout.
Im sorry, I am just not buying the Russ + Bev teamup will be a success.
Neither is a great shooter and im not convinced either is that good at defending the guys they need to guard to win. I dont believe Harden, Tatum, Morant, Booker are worried about Bev or Russ at all on D.
But Hey! Lakers need to keep in the papers (i know papers are gone), so that they believe they will be in the playoffs.
I’d take 37.8 out of my point guard, Pat Bev isn’t a bad shooter.
On low volume, that’s a pretty piss poor % tbh
This roster won’t sniff .500 and they will be trading everyone not named Bron by the new year.
Assuming good health for LBJ and AD, it’s absolutely a .500 team. Those two alone can carry that team to a 7th or 8th seed if they’re on the court.
Now if one -or both- miss extended time, yeah, they’re in some trouble.
Undersized backcourt and the shooting is not good. Well Pat Bev is a pretty good shooter (Career 37.8%) but Russ is below average (Career 30.5%)
My outlook
Lakers future is dark after Mr Westbrook is traded
It depends who they get in return
The Lakers are gonna be bad regardless… No team can be good with that much dead money on their books…
Lets wait and see
The Lakers will be a comedy show…
Not a basketball team…
For as much as Pat Bev can do to help a roster, if LeBron telling Russ that he needs to do this or that didn’t work then Pat Bev is only going to antagonise the situation as Russ won’t listen to him either…
Westbrook is due to follow the Iverson path… The ego will get in the way of any chance he had of ageing gracefully into a role player role…
Only a desperate tanking team would take on Russ now… One looking to clear the salary floor and lose more games… That could work out for Russ, no expectations of winning and a starting role…
No tanking team would take Westbrook, he’s liable to carry a team to 40-45 wins on sheer will. He’s not what he use to be but he’s still better than most players on a team built to tank.
Pat Bev can help a team, and the Lakers will be trading him to that team for a draft pick in 2023.
Lakers are running out of time to get a deal done. As constructed, those insiders are correct, Lakers are a play in team at best.
They aren’t even a .500 team with this roster.
“The “combustible” pairing of Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook could provide the spark necessary to ignite the Lakers”
Lmao, yeah putting two guys who hate each other on a basketball team literally never ever produces wins. Lakers aren’t even close to Golden State, they should rebuild but Lebron screwed them over.
I guess giving and/or helping the team win a chip we can call screwed them over!
Hernandez is a doofus woke moron. He knows nothing about the Lakers.
Look what it all comes down too is management and LeBron. They know that he is not a good fit for Lakers. Once he goes then team can be great again.
Healthy AD Lakers best in the West Carry on