Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Max Offers Waiting For DeRozan; Likely Batum, Too

January 12th, 2016 at 9:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Several teams, including the Lakers, are ready to make maximum-salary offers to DeMar DeRozan, and Nicolas Batum is likely to draw max offers, too, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN.com in a piece on the Raptors. Toronto GM Masai Ujiri “has long been connected” to Batum, as Lowe puts it, and Batum’s camp has spoken in the past about his desire to play for the Raptors, as Lowe reported over the summer. However, Batum was vehement in the wake of that offseason report that he wants to remain with the Hornets, and while the Lakers reportedly have a longstanding interest in Southern California native DeRozan, he’s said he’d like to play for Toronto the rest of his career. Indeed, it appears that the most likely outcome for Batum and DeRozan is that they stay put, Lowe concludes, though it appears they’ll be well-compensated to do so.

The pair are eligible for the maximum-salary tier that would give them starting salaries of a projected $24.9MM each. Their incumbent teams can exceed the salary cap using their Bird rights to give them five-year deals with 7.5% raises, while competitors must use cap space and are limited to four-year offers with 4.5% raises. DeRozan was unlikely to command max salaries as recently as a year ago, but improvement in his pick-and-roll play has changed that, as Lowe details. Batum and DeRozan are both in the midst of career seasons that have no doubt enhanced their respective values.

For what it’s worth, both have lists of suitors that reportedly include the Nets, who have $45MM in guaranteed salaries against a projected $89MM cap, leaving not quite enough room to snag both of them. The Lakers have only about $23MM committed, though it’s unclear if they have strong interest in Batum.

Which would you rather have on a max deal, DeRozan or Batum? Leave a comment to tell us.

Pacific Notes: Rondo, Butler, Barnes, Ezeli

January 11th, 2016 at 5:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo has earned the complete trust of DeMarcus Cousins, which is no easy task, TNT’s David Aldridge writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. Rondo, who’s on a one-year, $9.5MM contract, is “the most unselfish player I’ve ever played with,” Cousins told Aldridge. Rondo said to Aldridge that he signed with the Kings in part to mentor the center, adding that he’s wanted to play with Cousins for the past four or five years. It’s all cast against the backdrop of a Sacramento team that’s just two games out of a playoff spot, and the presence of Caron Butler has had much to do with the team’s improvement, Rondo contends. The Kings reportedly promised to trade Butler last month, but he’s still with the team. See more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors assistant GM Kirk Lacob, the son of co-owner Joe Lacob, hinted at the team’s willingness to pay whatever it takes to re-sign Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli in restricted free agency this summer as he spoke in a recent radio appearance on 95.7 FM The Game’s “NBA This Week” show. Host Matt Steinmetz has the transcription. “Both those guys are a part of the core,” Lacob said in part. “Hopefully we’ll have this team for a number of years to come. If it costs a lot of money, it’s going to cost a lot of money. It probably will. A lot of our players have come up in free agency the last year or two and if they continue to perform we’re going to continue to pay them. We’re 34-2 [now 35-2], we’re trying to get a second championship here. There’s a lot of room for improvement of course, but there’s a lot of power to continuity.”
Numbers suggest that Julius Randle is on track to have a career similar to that of Drew Gooden, a sign that he’s not on the path to stardom the Lakers hoped for him, writes Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com in an Insider-only piece co-authored with Chad Ford. D’Angelo Russell is the only one among the Lakers’ young players who has a strong chance to become an above-average starter, Pelton contends.
The Lakers have recalled Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). They went down to the D-Fenders together on Friday. Black averaged 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in two D-League games this weekend, while Kelly posted averages of 26.0 points and 6.5 boards a night.

Lakers Rumors: Brown, Scott, World Peace, Bryant

January 10th, 2016 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers will give second-round draft pick Anthony Brown more playing time this week, according to Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. The 34th overall selection has appeared in 13 games, averaging 2.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 15 minutes of action while shooting just 23.8% from the field. “He’s a very long, athletic guy that can guard three positions,” said coach Byron Scott. “But I want to see if he can knock down shots on a consistent basis.” Brown’s increased role will come at the expense of Nick Young, who has been told he will not play for the next week.

There’s more news out of Los Angeles:

Scott has sabotaged the Lakers’ future by playing veterans when he should be developing younger players like Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell, charges Mark Heisler of The Los Angeles Daily News. Heisler says he understands why the team is celebrating Kobe Bryant in his farewell season, but slams Scott for an “old-school” attitude that results in so much court time for Lou Williams, Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass and Young. The columnist contends Scott has failed to build a young nucleus that might attract Kevin Durant in free agency and has doomed hopes for a quick turnaround next season.
Metta World Peace has only played in one of the Lakers’ last 17 games, but he still had a significant week, writes Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. The 36-year-old was kept on the roster past the deadline for guaranteed contracts, ensuring he will earn his entire $1,499,187 salary. After being out of the NBA for a year, World Peace signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Lakers in September, just before camp opened. “This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done — get a minimum contract,” he said. “It really was. I had to ‘re-prove’ myself again.”
This is the final NBA season for both Bryant and Sleep Train Arena, and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes that Bryant’s last game in Sacramento brought back lots of memories. “I looked up in the rafters and I saw the jerseys of players that I was rivals with — [Chris] Webber and [Vlade] Divac and Peja [Stojakovic],” Bryant said. “And I’m looking up there and I’m going, ‘It was just yesterday I was playing against them and their numbers are retired. What the hell am I still doing out here?’ So if I hadn’t decided to retire before now, that would’ve made me retire immediately.”

Pacific Notes: Booker, Nance Jr. Wilcox

January 9th, 2016 at 10:11pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Devin Booker has been one of the better rookies in the league this season and the Suns are enamored with the No. 13 overall selection, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic writes.

“When you look at some of these guys who were great players in the league, their first couple years, it’s some up and down,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “But with Book, he’s been mostly up. He’ll learn things as time goes on but he’s going to have a great career.”

The Kentucky product has seen extended minutes since Eric Bledsoe suffered a knee injury that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. Booker is shooting 47.3% from the field and is averaging 14.3 points and 0.9 steals in 30.6 minutes per game over his last eight contests.

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Julius Randle had been pegged as the Lakers‘ power forward of the future, but Larry Nance Jr. has made a case for himself to be the team’s cornerstone big man, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes. Coach Byron Scott calls the competition between Nance and Randle “a nice little war,” Baxter adds. “Larry is one of those guys where he’s like the Energizer Bunny — he just keeps playing, and he plays harder and harder and harder,” Scott says. “So if you don’t match his intensity then he can embarrass you.”
The Clippers have recalled C.J. Wilcox from the D-League, according to the team’s website. Wilcox averaged 15.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists during his stint with the Canton Charge.

Pacific Notes: Randle, Brown, Mbah a Moute

January 9th, 2016 at 3:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

One of the Clippers‘ unsung heroes this season has been combo forward Luc Mbah a Moute, whose contract became fully guaranteed when he remained on the team’s roster past Thursday’s leaguewide deadline, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register writes. “Luc is the most under-appreciated person on our team, in all honesty,” point guard Chris Paul told Woike. “We used to talk about DJ [DeAndre Jordan] all the time, but everyone sees what DJ does on a nightly basis. But Luc is the guy. He does everything. He defends. He cuts. He does everything a coach would appreciate but a fan has no idea that he’s doing.”

Coach/executive Doc Rivers is also a big fan of Mbah a Moute’s game, Woike notes. “What I love about Luc also is Luc can play a lot of minutes in a game or he can play very little minutes in a game, there’s still no body language change or anything like that,” Rivers said. “He understands there are nights we need offensive guys on the floor, we need floor-spacers. There are nights where we need a stop, and Luc does it. I’ve always thought it’s easier for guys who are defensive-minded to accept their roles, because that’s what they do. I think Luc does that well.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Despite the reports that their relationship is strained, Lakers coach Byron Scott insists that he and power forward Julius Randle are on the same page, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “If you want to believe all the reports out there, we have a terrible relationship,” Scott said. “But if you want to know the truth, we have a great relationship. Without all the popular demands on me being not a great communicator with my young guys, him and I have a great relationship. I care so much about him as a basketball player and a person, I’m going to be hard on him. I expect him to be disappointed in certain things. But I expect him to be a great player.“
Suns 10-day signee Lorenzo Brown is thrilled to be joining former college teammate T.J. Warren in Phoenix and noted that the two had dreamed of playing together in the NBA during their time spent at North Carolina State, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. When asked what impact he hopes to make for the Suns, Brown told Petersen, “Just to win. Get defensive stops and score when I have the opportunity. I’ll do whatever I can to help us win.“

Western Notes: Williams, Mavs, Randle

January 9th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Mavericks say that they look at each game as a recruiting opportunity for future free agents, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes. “It’s an all-year-round process,” small forward Chandler Parsons said. “Every game you go into — I know Ryan Anderson is a free agent, I know Kevin Durant is a free agent. You have relationships with guys and you understand when they’re free agents. I just try to be myself and go about the business of playing and winning games. But at the same time, you definitely have an understanding of what’s going on and what’s coming up each summer.”

“You don’t recruit individual free agents,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said. “You define your brand as a team and attractiveness as a team to all free agents. We don’t do something geared to one guy. We try to show: ‘Here, this is who we are and this is what we stand for and this is our culture.’ That’s our recruiting message. We don’t try to be anything to anybody. We try to be ourselves and hope that that’s a good fit. You can’t try to alter who you are for one free agent. It just won’t work.”

Here’s what else is happening out West:

Lakers coach Byron Scott says his relationship with young power forward Julius Randle is like that of a father and son, and the coach believes that Randle requires some tough love from time to time, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times writes. “The thing that I told him is that he’s probably never had adversity in his life on a basketball court because he’s been so good everywhere he’s been,” Scott said. “This is the first time that he’s had to face it. I told him, ‘You’re going to have to deal with it. And the way you deal with it is going to determine how great you’re going to be as a basketball player.’”
Elliot Williams, who inked a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies this past week, believes he can provide a spark with his fresh legs and defensive abilities, Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal relays. “I can fit in pretty well defensively,” Williams said. “I know most of the guys already from staying here in the offseason and playing with them in the offseason. I’m familiar with the team and I’m looking to come in here and make an impact.”

And-Ones: Papanikolaou, Fredette, Kelly

January 8th, 2016 at 10:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Combo forward Kostas Papanikolaou was surprised by the Nuggets waiving him prior to Thursday’s leaguewide guarantee date, his agent George Sfairopoulos told Greek radio station Sport FM, according to Eurohoops.net. “Papanikolaou had many talks with people of the team, both from the front office and the coaching staff, and also I have spoken with assistant general manager Arturas Karnisovas. We have been told that the team will pick up his option for the rest of the season. However, that’s life and we are ready to respond to every situation,” Sfairopoulos said.

The agent also noted that if Papanikolaou decides to return to Europe to play, Barcelona of Spain would have the first opportunity to sign him. “Barcelona has his rights for Europe and the first word. If Kostas gets an offer from an other team, Barcelona can match it and sign him,” said Sfairopoulos. “At this point Kostas wants to get minutes on the court. That’s his number one priority.”

Here’s more from around the league:

While he would prefer to be on an NBA roster, combo guard Jimmer Fredette is enjoying the opportunity to play he is receiving in the D-League, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports writes. “It wasn’t necessarily a letdown because I knew I had to do some things to get onto a team where I can thrive,” Fredette told Spears about being in the D-League. “That wasn’t going to be the case at the beginning of the year if you get to that 15th roster spot and then you sit there and don’t play much. It was kind of a breath of fresh air to go out and know you’re going to get some playing time, be able to play, do what you do, gain some confidence and get some reps. That was the biggest thing for me when I talked to my agent and my family, was to get reps, get confidence back and be able to show people what I can do again.”
Fredette also told Spears that he considered overseas options in Italy, Greece, Serbia and Australia before deciding to join the D-League, and returning to the NBA is his primary goal. “I am playing basketball for the love of the game, but I also want to do what’s best for my career and my family. So whatever that is, we will take that path. We will see what happens in the future,” Fredette said.
The Lakers have assigned Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be the fourth stint with the D-Fenders on the season for both players.
The Thunder recalled Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.

Lakers Have Longstanding Interest In DeRozan

January 8th, 2016 at 11:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers appear poised to become one of the teams to make a play for DeMar DeRozan in free agency this summer, given their long-held interest in the native of nearby Compton, California, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Speculation that DeRozan would seek to play close to home has existed for quite some time, and it’s not surprising that the Lakers, who’ve struggled to field competitive rosters the past few years, would want to add a 26-year-old who’s currently the NBA’s 11th-leading scorer at 22.6 points per game. A source close to DeRozan who spoke recently with Brian Lewis of the New York Post confirmed the widely held assumption that the shooting guard will turn down his player option of slightly more than $10MM for next season, and the Nets are also expected to pursue him in free agency this summer.

Still, despite DeRozan’s ties to Southern California, he’s also fond of Toronto and has shown no hesitation to express his affection for the city and the Raptors organization. The source who spoke to Lewis cited DeRozan’s loyalty to the Raptors, and with next month’s All-Star Game set for Toronto, DeRozan again paid homage Thursday to the only NBA city he’s ever represented, as Wolstat points out.

“I think I’m just excited for being in Toronto and people really getting a chance to see what Toronto is like,” DeRozan said. “The city, the culture, really, to put us on the main stage and let this city get the credit that it deserves that I feel like it never got.”

The Raptors have close to $70MM in guaranteed salary committed for next season against a projected $89MM cap, and they have fellow wing players DeMarre Carroll and Terrence Ross signed to long-term deals, but they hold DeRozan’s Bird rights and can exceed the cap to re-sign him. DeRozan won’t necessarily be the No. 1 priority for the Lakers, with the team no doubt eager to make a pitch to Kevin Durant, this summer’s top free agent prize. DeRozan is No. 8 in the latest edition of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.

The rising salary cap and the impending retirement of Kobe Bryant, which will allow the Lakers to remove his massive $26.25MM cap hold from the books next summer, will help give them no shortage of flexibility to sign multiple marquee free agents in the offseason. They have only about $23MM in guaranteed salary, not counting a $3.135MM player option for Brandon Bass and cap holds much smaller than Bryant’s. DeRozan will be eligible for a max deal with a salary of a projected $24.9MM for next season.

Western Notes: Bryant, Fredette, Payne, Nance

January 6th, 2016 at 1:19pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers simply can’t concentrate on developing young players as they otherwise would because they need to give Kobe Bryant a “justified farewell” as he plays his final season, GM Mitch Kupchak contended in an interview with Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Kupchak expounded on comments he made in a recent meeting with season ticket-holders in which he said the team can’t fully move forward with Bryant still present, though he made it clear that the franchise has no reservations about giving Bryant his due. Kupchak argued to Holmes that the attention Bryant draws allows the young players to grow outside the harsh glare of the spotlight, calling it a “silver lining” to the situation, and the GM also insisted the team will be in better position to attract free agents this summer than it was last year.

“I think we’ll see enough [from the young players],” Kupchak said. “Yeah, I think we’ll see enough. I do. Kobe has been really good lately. He looks like he’s trying to fit in and play the right way. Yeah, I think we’ll see enough. Is it going to come as quick as you want? I mean, D’Angelo [Russell] is going to be 20. They all want it now, but it’s just going to take a year or two or three. But it’s certainly going to be a lot more attractive than what we had to offer last summer.”

See more from the Western Conference:

Utah has an open roster spot after waiving Elijah Millsap on Tuesday, but while Jimmer Fredette, who’s eligible to sign with any NBA team, is still a fan favorite from his days at BYU, the Jazz signaled their lack of interest when they passed him up in this season’s D-League draft, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. The team doubts his ability to play NBA-caliber defense and doesn’t want to deal with the crush of local interest that signing him would entail, Genessy adds (Twitter link).
Thunder coach Billy Donovan‘s decision to put rookie Cameron Payne in the rotation has helped a talented second unit to finally play up to its abilities, as Royce Young of ESPN.com examines. The process hasn’t been without hiccups, but Payne’s emergence is nonetheless one more selling point the Thunder have to use in their pitch to retain Kevin Durant this summer, Young writes.
Others still on the draft board seemed to be more likely candidates for the Lakers when they instead picked Larry Nance Jr. 27th overall this past summer, but after starting him at power forward for a month, coach Byron Scott thinks the situation has flipped, notes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “If you were probably to re-do the draft, he’d be a lottery pick,” Scott said. “So obviously, we got a steal.”

Lakers Likely To Keep World Peace, Black, Huertas

January 6th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers are likely to retain Metta World Peace, Tarik Black and Marcelo Huertas through Thursday, the final day the team can waive their non-guaranteed contracts before they become fully guaranteed, a source tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The team has 12 other players on fully guaranteed deals, so locking in three more limits the club’s roster flexibility. The trio of non-guaranteed Lakers are on minimum-salary deals, though the cost of each to the team is different because of their varying levels of experience.

World Peace’s contract calls for a full-season salary of $1,499,187, since he’s a 15-year veteran, though the Lakers would be responsible for only $947,276 if they indeed keep him. Black, as a one-year vet, is scheduled to make $845,059 for the full season, while Huertas is drawing the rookie minimum of $525,093. They’ve already earned roughly 42% of their respective salaries by virtue of sticking on the roster as long as they have, and while the Lakers could end up paying no more than that percentage if they waive them, it appears they’ve decided against doing so.

The Lakers are fond of World Peace’s locker room mentorship, according to Bresnahan, who points out that his playing time in Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Warriors represented his first appearance after a string of 14 consecutive DNPs. Huertas, who’s seen somewhat more action even as he’s battled hamstring injuries, set a career high with nine points Tuesday, fellow Times scribe Eric Pincus notes (Twitter link).

The case of Black is slightly more complicated. He’s been on D-League assignment three times in the past month, and coach Byron Scott has turned more often to veteran Brandon Bass at his position.

“Brandon Bass is playing really well right now,” Scott said, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “If he starts to slump, then I’ll turn to Tarik.”

The Lakers like Black’s energy, strength and positivity, but they want to see him work on his mid-range and post-up skills and become more of a physical presence inside, Medina notes. Still, it appears he’s done enough to secure his full-season salary. He, like Huertas and World Peace, is on a contract that expires at season’s end.

Do you think the Lakers should keep all three of their non-guaranteed players, or would they be better served to open a roster spot or two? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.