Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Sign Quincy Olivari To Two-Way Deal, Waive Colin Castleton

October 19th, 2024 at 2:32pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The Lakers have signed training camp standout Quincy Olivari to a two-way contract, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link). Los Angeles is waiving Colin Castleton to make room, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

Olivari drew rave reviews from Lakers staffers during the offseason, and he backed it up with impressive play during the preseason. He averaged 8.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting a blistering 57.1% from beyond the arc across four preseason appearances (including one start). He closed out the preseason on Friday with a 22-point performance.

Olivari played four collegiate seasons at Rice before transferring to Xavier for his final season. He averaged 19.2 PPG and shot 40.9% on 7.6 three-point attempts per game last season. He went undrafted in the 2024 class but is now set to make the Lakers’ opening-day roster.

Castleton appeared in 16 games with the Lakers last season on a two-way deal after going undrafted out of Florida. He didn’t play much at the NBA level, but impressed in the G League with averages of 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.

The Lakers made him a restricted free agent this offseason before re-signing him to a two-way deal amid a summer league performance that saw him average a near-double-double. L.A.’s frontcourt depth is down right now with Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt injured and Christian Koloko still needing medical clearance (though the team is optimistic he’ll receive it sooner than later).

That seemed like a recipe for Castleton to perhaps receive some early season minutes, but he only averaged 2.4 points in 13.7 minutes during the preseason. The Lakers are reportedly looking for at options for center depth.

The Lakers are still one spot over the regular season limit from setting their opening night roster. They have Grayson Murphy occupying an Exhibit 10 slot, but he’ll almost certainly be waived in the coming hours. The Lakers have a full 18-man roster beyond that, with Olivari, Armel Traore and Koloko occupying their two-way slots.

L.A. Notes: Vanderbilt, Knecht, Kawhi, Powell, K. Jones

October 18th, 2024 at 8:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt will be sidelined to open the 2024/25 regular season as he continues to rehab from surgeries on both feet in May, head coach J.J. Redick said on Thursday evening (Twitter link via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). According to Redick, Vanderbilt will be out at least two more weeks, which means he’ll miss a minimum of five regular season games.

A rangy, versatile defender, Vanderbilt was limited to just 29 games due to foot injuries. Redick said last week that the 25-year-old hasn’t experienced any setbacks in training camp, but he has yet to take part in practice, contact or otherwise.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

No. 17 overall pick Dalton Knecht showed on Thursday why the Lakers believe he’ll be viewed as a draft-night steal, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Knecht scored 35 points in 32 minutes off the bench, pouring in the Lakers’ last seven points of regulation and their first 13 of overtime. League executives say Knecht fell out of the lottery due to concerns about his age and defensive limitations, per Woike, but he appears poised to open his rookie season as a rotation player in Los Angeles.
Discussing the status of Kawhi Leonard‘s troublesome right knee, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue admitted the star forward experienced a setback at Team USA’s training camp, as Janis Carr of The Orange County Register relays. “The swelling was down, everything was going in the right direction,” Lue said. “He had worked hard to get to the that point and then once you start playing, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Clippers swingman Norman Powell spoke to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.com about a wide variety of topics, including his first impressions of the team’s new arena, Leonard’s absence, and being challenged to step up on defense with Kawhi out. “Over the years, there’s been a focus on my scoring part,” Powell said. “But I’m tapping back into my defensive abilities and guarding as a two-way player. I love it. I know I can do it.”
After a strong camp and preseason, big man Kai Jones is set to open the season with the Clippers, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Since the team already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts, Jones will likely have his Exhibit 10 deal converted into a two-way contract prior to opening night, Murray adds.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Wolves’ Omoruyi, Lakers’ Goodwin Among Latest Players Waived

October 18th, 2024 at 4:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves have waived forward Eugene Omoruyi, the team announced today (via Twitter). Omoruyi had been in training camp with Minnesota on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract.

While it initially looked like there might be a path for Omoruyi to compete for a roster spot, that became a more uphill battle following the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, which added two extra players on guaranteed contracts to Minnesota’s roster. The team now has 15 players with fully guaranteed salaries, plus PJ Dozier on a partially guaranteed deal, leaving no room for Omoruyi, who only got into one preseason game.

Omoruyi, 27, has played for the Mavericks, Thunder, Pistons, and Wizards since making his NBA debut in the fall of 2021. The 6’7″ forward made a career-high 43 appearances for Washington last season, averaging 4.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 0.8 APG in 9.1 MPG. His contract with the Wizards covered the 2024/25 season, but his salary was non-guaranteed and Washington opted to waive him in August.

Since Omoruyi had an Exhibit 10 clause in his contract, he’d be able to earn a $77.5K bonus if he ends up spending at least 60 days with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate. He also still has one year of two-way eligibility remaining, so he could get a look from teams with an open two-way slot.

Here are a few more of the latest minor moves from around the NBA:

The Lakers announced on Friday that they have waived guard Jordan Goodwin and center Kylor Kelley and signed Grayson Murphy to an Exhibit 10 deal (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). All three players will likely be headed to the South Bay Lakers to open 2024/25.
The Cavaliers have placed Darius Brown II and Elijah Hughes on waivers, according to NBA.com’s official transaction log. Both players will likely report to the Cleveland Charge, the Cavs’ G League affiliate, where their Exhibit 10 contracts will allow them to earn bonuses worth up to $77.5K apiece. Brown is eligible to be designated as an “affiliate player,” while Hughes’ returning rights were acquired by the Charge earlier this month.
About 24 hours after signing him to an Exhibit 10 contract, the Trail Blazers have waived center Nick Muszynski, per NBA.com. His next stop figures to be with the Rip City Remix, Portland’s NBAGL team.
The Kings have signed free agent forward Shareef O’Neal to a training camp deal and plan to waive him on Saturday, according to Jake Gadon of CBS Sacramento (Twitter link). O’Neal, the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, will head to the Stockton Kings and will be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with Stockton.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

Lakers Notes: Vanderbilt, Reaves, Olivari, Trade Market

October 12th, 2024 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jarred Vanderbilt probably won’t play during the preseason, but the Lakers remain hopeful that he’ll be ready when the regular season tips off on October 22, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. The team is bringing Vanderbilt along slowly after he had surgery on both feet in May, and he continues to make progress toward being available for opening night. Head coach J.J. Redick told reporters after Saturday’s practice that Vanderbilt hasn’t experienced any complications since training camp began.

“He’s following our ramp-up protocol,” Redick said. “He has not done any contact work. He has not participated in any non-contact practice. But we’re still trying to target the beginning of the season. Our ramp-up process, we’re on, sort of, target. So it remains to be seen if he’ll be available. But no setbacks. And he just continues to work his way back.”

Vanderbilt became an immediate starter after being acquired from Utah at the 2023 trade deadline and played an important role as the Lakers reached the Western Conference Finals. Injuries limited him to 29 games last season, and his return could be vital for Redick as he installs new defensive schemes.

“We’ve had some fun with one of our zones,” Redick said. “We haven’t practiced it, but we’ve used it in a game a couple times. We have another version of a zone that features [Vanderbilt]. I’m looking forward to experimenting with that. Probably won’t get to experiment with it in the preseason.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Austin Reaves missed Thursday’s game with soreness in his right ankle, but Redick doesn’t believe it’s a long-term concern, Price adds. He was a non-contact participant in today’s practice and could return for Tuesday’s matchup with Golden State.
Quincy Olivari, who’s in camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, made a strong impression on his teammates and coaches Thursday night, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. The rookie guard out of Xavier put up 11 points, five rebounds and two assists in the fourth quarter and helped to spark a 20-0 run. Olivari said it was a “fairly easy decision” to join the Lakers, even though there’s not a roster spot available, especially after he was recruited following the draft by Nick Mazzella, general manager of the team’s South Bay affiliate in the G League. “He takes the game very seriously,” Redick said. “He’s a player who, I talk about care factor, he’s a player who has a care factor for doing it the right way and wanting to execute whatever vision you give him. I’m excited that he’s in our program, I really am. We look at him as a coaching staff in very high regard.”
The Lakers are exploring the trade market in hopes of adding another center, Shams Charania of ESPN said Friday in his debut appearance on NBA Today (video link). Charania didn’t mention any potential targets, but he pointed out that Christian Wood continues to recover after having knee surgery last month, while two-way player Christian Koloko still hasn’t received medical clearance to return to the league, even though Lakers doctors remain confident it will eventually happen.

Pacific Notes: Huerter, Monk, A. Williams, Redick, Rivers, Ham

October 11th, 2024 at 9:52pm CST by Rory Maher

Kings wing Kevin Huerter, who underwent left shoulder surgery in the spring due to a torn labrum, has been cleared for full contact work, the team announced (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee).

While it’s obviously great news that Huerter is getting closer to a return, he’ll still have to clear the Kings’ return-to-play protocol before he suits up in an official game, per the team.

Huerter, whose name has popped up in several trade rumors over the past year-plus, is coming off a down 2023/24 season in which he averaged career lows in multiple statistics, including minutes per game (24.4) and three-point percentage (36.1%). He’s under contract through ’25/26.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Kings guard Malik Monk exited Wednesday’s preseason contest early due to personal reasons. He remains away from the team and will miss Friday’s preseason contest vs. Golden State, but sources tell Anderson that the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up is “not expected to miss an extended period of time” (Twitter links).
Third-year guard Alondes Williams, who is on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers, impressed several of his veteran teammates with his strong performance in Tuesday’s preseason game vs. Brooklyn, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Williams finished with 10 points (on 4-of-7 shooting), six rebounds, seven assists and a steal in 16 minutes off the bench. If he keeps it up, it’s possible the 25-year-old could earn a promotion — Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts, and the Clips have a two-way opening.
JJ Redick had some pointed criticism for Bucks coach Doc Rivers, his former head coach with the Clippers, last season while he was working as an analyst for ESPN. Asked about the status of their relationship before Thursday’s preseason game, the new Lakers head coach didn’t offer many details, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I don’t carry beef with people,” Redick said. “And I’m not going to get into the history of Doc and I’s relationship right now. And I probably won’t ever. He’s fine in my book.”
At his media availability on Wednesday, Rivers was critical of the Lakers‘ decision to fire Darvin Ham, who is now his top assistant in Milwaukee (YouTube link). “I’m not going to get into the whole thing that happened there, but he took a team to a Western Finals, and then the following year, he won the in-season tournament, which they say we should have a lot of value on, and then they release him,” Rivers said (hat tip to Paul Terrazzano Jr. of TalkBasket.net). “It literally makes no sense, but it happens. It happens to all of us. It’s part of what we do.”

Pacific Notes: Bronny, Redick, Jones, Kings Analytics, DeRozan

October 10th, 2024 at 6:00pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul was blunt with Bronny James about his assessment of where he could realistically be drafted this summer, Baxter Holmes of ESPN writes in a feature. Even though he knew he wouldn’t be a top pick, James simply wanted to hear his name called.

“Nobody pressured Bronny to go pro,” Paul said. “Bronny had a choice to stay at USC, he had a choice to transfer somewhere else or he had a choice to go pro.”

That, alone, was Bronny’s choice to make, Holmes writes. He wound up being selected at No. 55 to the Lakers, the much speculated landing spot for him despite reports of outside interest. While his decision to go pro after only 25 collegiate games drew criticism, Bronny has been one of the first players in the gym and is eager to shake off any rust accrued from his lone collegiate season following cardiac arrest, Holmes writes.

“Bronny is serious,” Paul said. “This isn’t a f—ing game for him. He wants to play in the NBA, and he wants to play well within his role.”

Paul, Bronny and the entire James family are aware of the narrative surrounding him, Holmes writes, but Paul and Bronny are eager to rewrite it. It won’t be easy to tune out the constant noise — both positive and negative — but the 20-year-old is handling all the questions and pressure with grace. I recommend checking out Holmes’ feature in full here.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

JJ Redick wants the Lakers to be one of the highest-volume three-point shooting teams in the league this season, Khobi Price of The Orange County Register writes. L.A. took 40 three-point attempts in the Sunday preseason game against Phoenix, which was encouraging from Redick’s perspective. “[Forty threes] is a lot,” Redick said. “But if you’re generating good ones, that’s a great number. I would like us to average five or six more threes a game. But you have to be conscientious about how we’re generating those threes.” The Lakers didn’t make many outside additions this offseason, but we previously relayed that they’re interested in getting Anthony Davis to take more shots from outside. Rookie Dalton Knecht and third-year wing Max Christie could also factor into that equation.
Clippers center Mohamed Bamba is dealing with a knee injury that’s sidelined him during the preseason, Law Murray of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). According to Murray, head coach Tyronn Lue said the hope is for Bamba to be ready for the start of the regular season, but as long as he’s out, Kai Jones is the backup center. That’s interesting to note, because Jones is currently only signed to an Exhibit 10 deal. With 15 players on standard contracts, Jones makes the most sense for a two-way deal. We outlined the Clippers’ current roster battle here. However, given that P.J. Tucker is remaining away from the team, there could theoretically be more roster juggling to come, rather than simply converting Jones to an open two-way slot.
Offensive rebounding has been a major focal point for the Kings through training camp and the preseason, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes. Analytically inclined general manager Monte McNair encouraged head coach Mike Brown to make offensive rebounding a staple of the team’s philosophies, Anderson writes. “Talking to Monte was a little bit more convincing,” Brown said. “The next step was doing it in practice and training camp and seeing it on film and realizing, hey, we’re sending these guys to the glass, but because of the way we’re doing it, we’re still pretty good in transition defense. It’s been two years now, going into year three, so I’m convinced that you can attack the glass while still being good in transition defense. It just took time.“
DeMar DeRozan was extremely efficient in his Kings preseason debut, as he scored 15 points in 15 minutes and didn’t miss a shot, Anderson writes in a separate story. Star guard De’Aaron Fox was highly complimentary of his new teammate after the game. “Bringing in that type of talent, especially guys who are extremely unselfish, you enjoy playing together,” Fox said.

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

Pacific Notes: Kuminga, Harris, Crawford, James Duo, Suns

October 7th, 2024 at 10:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jonathan Kuminga has high expectations for himself this season. The Warriors forward has set an individual goal of making his first All-Star appearance, he told Marc Spears of Andscape.

“That is my trajectory. That is what I’ve been working towards,” Kuminga said. “I did as much as I could working out, getting my body ready, learning the game, working on things on defense. It’s just a matter of when we start playing now and I can show what I’ve been working on and how my game has grown.”

The Warriors and Kuminga have an Oct. 21 rookie scale extension deadline and the forward will be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension.

“My agent is taking care of that. I need to focus on what I’m trying to accomplish. The more I accomplish, the more things like that handle themselves,” Kuminga said.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Kings’ NBA G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, have named Gabriel Harris as general manager and Quinton Crawford as head coach, according to a team press release. Harris, 33, served as the assistant GM for Stockton last season. Crawford, 34, was an assistant coach with the Suns. He also served as an assistant with the Mavericks in 2022-23 and the Lakers from 2019-2022.
LeBron James and Bronny James made history Sunday night as the first father and son to play together in an NBA game. They were on the court together at the start of the second quarter during the Lakers’ preseason game against the Suns. It coincided with Bronny’s 20th birthday. “For a father, it means everything,” LeBron said, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “For someone who didn’t have that growing up, to be able to have that influence on your kids and have influence on your son. Be able to have moments with your son. And ultimately, to be able to work with your son. I think that’s one of the greatest things that a father can ever hope for or wish for.”
The Suns shot 41% on 3-point attempts in their 118-114 win over the Lakers on Sunday. Kevin Durant saw some good signs offensively, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “I liked that we generated good shots. We are able to get (21) 3s up in the 1st half,” he said. “Defensively, pick-and-roll coverage, it’ll get better. That’s where we struggled at the most.”

Gabe Vincent Ready To Contribute In Second Season With Lakers

October 6th, 2024 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

One positive for the Lakers in Friday’s preseason opener was backup guard Gabe Vincent, who scored 11 points in 15 minutes. Vincent missed 71 games last year with a knee injury, and he told Lakers Nation this week that he didn’t feel 100% until about a month after the season ended. “Obviously I was healthy enough to come back and compete, but I think it was clear to everybody that I wasn’t really myself even though I was able to impact in certain ways,” Vincent said. “It just wasn’t really what I was proud of producing and I don’t think it’s what this ballclub needed me to produce at the time. So definitely happy to be healthy coming into this season.”

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Davis, Bronny, Christie, Knecht

October 5th, 2024 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James and Anthony Davis will make their preseason debuts Sunday night against Phoenix, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Both players were held out of Friday’s loss to Minnesota, with coach J.J. Redick explaining that he didn’t want to risk using them after they played in the Olympics and had a heavy workload at training camp.

“We want to carry over with what we did [Saturday] at practice,” James said. “We were very intent on what we want to accomplish going forward. [Friday] was one of those first games. It’s been a while since a lot of guys have played in a game setting. And it looked that way.”

James had a good vantage point to watch his son, Bronny James in his first game against NBA competition. Bronny scored two points and shot just 1-of-6 from the field, but he led the team with three blocked shots.

“For him, it’s obviously an adjustment,” LeBron said. “Every rank that you climb, it’s always an adjustment to get used to it. When he went to high school, from middle school from high school to USC and now to the pros, it’s always an adjustment to make. The more time he’s out on the floor with pros, the speed, the cadence, you get better and better the more time you put on the floor.

“And you’ve got to think that he lost pretty much a third of last season because of the (heart) condition. But he’s gotten better and better every day. He continues to put the work in. And it’s up to us as the veterans and the guys out here to try to help him, help Dalton (Knecht), help all the young guys to get him better and better every day to help them accomplish what we want to accomplish.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Redick was also encouraged by what he saw from Bronny, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Redick said Bronny has looked good in camp and is “easy to coach.”“He can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique, and I think can turn into a really disruptive defender,” Redick said. “That manifested itself. On the offensive end, he’s still figuring out who he is. That’s our job as a player development program just to build him in.”
There was a lot of attention on Bronny, but Max Christie made the biggest impact on Friday night, observes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The 21-year-old shooting guard, who signed a four-year, $32MM contract this summer, started the preseason with 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in 34 minutes. He has also become more aggressive defensively — at Redick’s request. “He’s asked me to be kind of that dog on defense, pick up full-court,” Christie said. “I tried to do a little bit of that tonight. There’s a comfort level that I’m going to get a little bit more comfortable with. I haven’t really done that a lot in my career.”
The Lakers also got an encouraging debut from Knecht, who shot 7-of-13 from the field and tied for the team lead with 16 points, Buha adds. He displayed a quick release on his jumper and was competitive on the defensive end.