Los Angeles Lakers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers To Work Out Bobby Brown

August 9th, 2015 at 9:49am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers will work out Bobby Brown on Monday, Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report reports (Instagram link). Brown has played in the Drew League as well as the Pan Am Games in Toronto for the U.S. National Team this summer.

The combo guard played for the Dongguan Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association last season. He last played in the NBA during the 2009-10 season for the Clippers.

The Lakers currently only have 12 fully guaranteed contracts on the books. The team’s guard rotation isn’t a finished product, but the players on the roster are projected to soak up a majority of the minutes. Jordan Clarkson and first-round pick D’Angelo Russell should split time at the one spot with new addition Lou Williams projected to play some minutes there in addition to the shooting guard position. The team also has Nick Young, Jabari Brown and of course Kobe Bryant to play the two, so if the 30-year-old signs with Los Angeles, he would most likely only see court-time should there be an injury.

Latest On JaVale McGee

August 8th, 2015 at 4:32pm CST by Will Joseph

AUGUST 8TH, 4:32pm: McGee’s current focus is on getting himself healthy, though several teams have expressed interest in the center, sources have informed Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). According to Kennedy, the Lakers and the Mavs appear to be the front-runners to sign McGee.

5:11pm: The interest is mutual, sources tell Stein (Twitter link).

4:54pm: The Mavs are “very concerned” about the center’s health, MacMahon tweets. That casts a pessimistic tone, since McGee’s condition is the linchpin to the Mavs’ interest in him, as Stein reported (below).

1:58pm: The interest would appear to hinge on McGee’s health, but if he checks out, chances are strong that he becomes the team’s top priority, Stein tweets. The sides had their first in-person meeting of substance on Sunday, the ESPN scribe adds.

JULY 13TH, 1:33pm: The talks are on an exploratory level at this point, sources caution to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

JULY12TH, 11:10pm: The Mavs have initiated talks on a potential deal with unrestricted free agent center JaVale McGee, reports RealGM’s Shams Charania (on Twitter).

This, of course, comes after DeAndre Jordan spurned Dallas and re-signed with the Clippers, so the Mavs are still in the hunt for a big man. McGee, 27, has been a free agent since being waived by the Sixers in March. Earlier this offseason, the Kings expressed interest in McGee, as did the Rockets, Raptors and Heat.

McGee put up career lows this past campaign in several categories, including his 11.1 minutes per game across 23 appearances split between Denver and Philadelphia.

Western Notes: Exum, Hibbert, Teletovic, Craft

August 6th, 2015 at 9:10pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Jazz point guard Dante Exum‘s knee injury is unfortunate, but just because he was playing for the Australian national team when he sustained it doesn’t mean the NBA should keep its players from international competition, argues Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. National teams usually employ trainers and medical staff that could mitigate the damage that might otherwise happen if players were engaging in pickup games or other less organized offseason play, Kyler points out.

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

Roy Hibbert‘s mental approach seems key to his performance, so the new Lakers center has hired a sports psychologist, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com, and an Eastern Conference executive tells Holmes he’s optimistic that in a contract year, with Kobe Bryant pushing him, Hibbert will have a bounceback season.
The Suns were badly in need of a stretch-four last season, and with the signing of Mirza Teletovic to a one-year, $5.5MM deal, Phoenix appears to have rectified that deficiency, Samuel Cooper of BrightSideOfTheSun.com writes. In the post, Cooper also breaks down Teletovic’s game using footage from last season to illustrate what he can bring to the team.
Aaron Craft, who made 50 appearances for the Warriors’ D-League affiliate last season, has signed a deal with the Hungarian team Szolnoki Olaj, Craft’s agent Misko Raznatovic announced on Twitter (translation by Orazio Cauchi of Sportando). The 24-year-old averaged 9.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists for Santa Cruz during the 2014/15 campaign. It’s unknown if Craft’s pact contains any NBA outs.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Clarkson, Sterling, Thompson

August 6th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Jordan Clarkson credits his D-League assignments during the first part of this past season for helping him emerge as a breakout performer at the NBA level as the season wore on, he tells Brian Kotloff of NBADLeague.com. The Lakers guaranteed the point guard’s minimum salary for the coming season when they kept him on the roster through this past Saturday.

“I’m focused on always working on my game,” Clarkson said to Kotloff. “Early in the year, I wasn’t getting much time with the Lakers. Sometimes I would ask Coach [Byron Scott] to just go let me play. I love to hoop and you can never get better just by sitting on the bench. Going to play in those [D-Fenders] games definitely helped me to work on stuff that I could transfer over when I got time in the [NBA]. The game is a little different between the levels, but it helped slow the game down for me and it sped up my process of becoming a good player in [the NBA].”

The Lakers have a geographic edge with their D-League affiliate, since the D-Fenders play their home games in the same facility where the Lakers practice. See more from around the Pacific Division:

Former Clippers owner Donald Sterling has filed for divorce from his wife, Shelly, and he’s also filed a petition for an accounting and distribution of the proceeds of the $2 billion new owner Steve Ballmer paid to purchase the team last year, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. Half of that money is frozen in escrow pending Donald Sterling’s $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA, Woike notes. Shelly Sterling controls the family trust into which the other half of Ballmer’s payment went, so Donald Sterling, who’s estranged from his wife, hasn’t seen any money from the sale yet, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links). Shelly Sterling said she’s paid $600MM in taxes and fees on the sale proceeds so far, Shelburne adds.
Jason Thompson is a better fit with Warriors tempo, a proficient rebounder, and an upgrade defensively over David Lee, whose role he inherits, as SB Nation’s Tom Ziller argues in a look at Golden State’s trade with the Sixers. Thompson’s presence is particularly valuable for the Warriors given his success guarding LaMarcus Aldridge and, to a lesser degree, Blake Griffin, as Ziller examines.

Pacific Notes: Prigioni, Dukan, Lieberman

August 4th, 2015 at 10:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pablo Prigioni, who inked a one year deal with the Clippers this offseason, said that Los Angeles was his preferred destination all along, writes Rowan Kavner of NBA.com. “I didn’t even consider to choose another team or to go back to Europe,” Prigioni said. “’I said, I want to go there [to Los Angeles].’ This is a perfect team. This is a team that has a group of guys that are playing together the last four or five years. Now, same coach, add a couple of new guys. This is a perfect team to go to and try to give my best and help with whatever they need to do.”

Here’s more from the NBA’s Pacific Division:

Grantland’s Zach Lowe figures the range of salaries on a would-be extension for the Warriors‘ Harrison Barnes would fall between those on DeMarre Carroll‘s four-year, $58MM deal with the Raptors and the 2016/17 maximum salary for players with Barnes’ years of experience, projected to come in at $20.4MM.
Duje Dukan‘s deal with the Kings will see him earn $525,093, which is fully guaranteed, for the 2015/16 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The forward is scheduled to make $874,636 in the second year of the pact, $200k of which becomes guaranteed on August 1st, 2016, Pincus adds.
New Kings assistant coach Nancy Lieberman, in a Q&A with David Aldridge of NBA.com, said one of her biggest challenges will be in knowing when to chime in with her opinions, since all of her previous experience was as a head coach. “Summer League was really important for me. Summer League helped validate that I’m not a pushy broad,” Lieberman said. “I have been a head coach my whole life. I’ve never been an assistant, to be honest. I’m the one that has to do some of the growing here. I have got to learn when to speak, when my voice is required, and quite frankly, when to just shut the heck up. So that part is new for me. That will be new for me. But George [Karl] is a pretty easy guy to be around.”
The Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers‘ D-League affiliate, have hired Casey Owens as head coach, Pincus reports (via Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Kobe Bryant On Retirement, Cap, Lakers

August 4th, 2015 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kobe Bryant continued to leave the door ajar for playing beyond this coming season in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, saying that he thinks it’s a decision that he’ll need to make after this season is through and not before it. It jibes with what he said in March, when he wouldn’t rule out continuing to play but said he probably wouldn’t decide until his contract is up at season’s end.

“[GM Mitch Kupchak and I] haven’t set anything in stone and I’ve talked about it before. But could this be the last [season]? Absolutely,” Bryant said to Spears. “It’s tough to decide. It’s really tough to make those types of decisions. Players I have spoken to say, ‘Kobe, you will know.’”

The ability to tap into the rising cap next summer for a new contract will have “zero” bearing on his decision, Bryant told Spears. The 19-year veteran, who turns 37 this month, will once again make the NBA’s highest salary this season, with $25MM coming his way.

The end of his NBA career might not be the end of his time as a player, as Bryant said in response to a question that he can envision himself playing in Italy or China at some point. For now, Bryant is optimistic about the Lakers’ chances of making the playoffs and praised the team’s offseason, as Spears relays.

“They have really set themselves up for a promising future going on years.” Bryant said. “I think they drafted very well. The free agents that we picked are extremely solid, [Roy] Hibbert, [Brandon] Bass, Lou [Williams]. We have a very good mix of young and veteran leadership. The challenge is going to be blending the two and cutting down the learning curve. How quickly can we get going? How quickly can we bring up [D’Angelo] Russell, [Julius] Randle. [Jordan] Clarkson got valuable experience last year in playing that will benefit us tremendously. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to running with these young guns.”

Hibbert was a trade acquisition, not a free agent signing, but it nonetheless seems like Bryant is on board with what the front office is doing, and it appears that Bryant’s spirit of cooperation extends to the coaching staff, too. Lakers coach Byron Scott said recently that Bryant, who turns 37 this month, will probably see time at power forward, and while Spears asked Bryant’s thoughts about playing small forward, the Mamba made it clear that position matters little to him.

And-Ones: D-League, Kaminsky, Towns

August 2nd, 2015 at 5:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look around the Association..

Adam Johnson of D-League Digest looked at the D-League’s salary structure. As Johnson learned from multiple league sources and agents, the league has a three-tiered salary system for the simplicity of making deals with players. The “A” salary is $25K, “B” salaries are $19K, and “C” salaries are $13K. Interestingly enough, players are sometimes asked to downgrade to accommodate a signing. “If a player is designated an “A” contract but the team wants to bring on an additional “B” player, they might ask the “A” player to reduce their salary to a “B” level to compensate for the difference,” according to a league source. “It’s a balancing act. You can have four “A” contracts at one point in the season, but that team will need to correct that amount of salary at some point with more “C” contracts so they don’t go over the salary cap.”
The numbers say that rookies Frank Kaminsky and Delon Wright are poised to make a noticeable impact in 2015/16, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d) writes. Unsurprisingly, it’s Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns who is projected to have the best year of any first-year player. Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell and Knicks rook Kristaps Porzingis round out the top five.
Steve Ilardi and Jeremias Engelmann of ESPN.com ran down the winners and losers in free agency this summer. Of course, the Spurs are among the offseason’s biggest winners after landing ex-Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge and former Pacers forward David West. The ESPN duo also gave a tip of the cap to the Celtics for their savvy under-the-radar moves.

Eastern Notes: Jerebko, McRae, Dedmon, Hornets

August 2nd, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jonas Jerebko said he got several free agency phone calls after the clock struck midnight on July 1st, but he was glad that one of them came from Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Jerebko, who inked a two-year, $10MM contract with the Celtics, wanted to stay in Boston after being acquired from the Pistons in a February trade. “It was like proof that you had a good year,” Jerebko said of the calls from other organizations. “I had other teams interested, but after talking to Danny and the way we worked stuff out, this is where I wanted to be and we worked it out.” Jerebko averaged 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game after the deal, both up from his numbers in Detroit.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Sixers will have Jordan McRae for training camp, tweets Jake Pavorsky of Liberty Ballers. He cites an unidentified league source and says no formal deal has been reached yet.
Dewayne Dedmon had his non-guaranteed minimum salary become fully guaranteed when the Magic elected not to waive him by Saturday’s deadline, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows. Jordan Clarkson, Erick Green and Tyler Johnson all had their guarantees of varying amounts picked up, too, as had been expected.
Tyler Hansbrough‘s deal with the Hornets is fully guaranteed for one year at the minimum salary, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The camp deal between the Hornets and Elliot Williams covers two seasons at the minimum salary, as Pincus shows (Twitter link).

Cavaliers Rumors: Varejao, Dellavedova, Jones

August 2nd, 2015 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

In two years, the Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejao could be a trading chip similar to Brendan Haywood, according to Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. The frequently injured Varejao received a contract extension last summer partially for that purpose, Pluto reports. His salaries of $9.6MM for next season and $9.3MM for 2016/17 are fully guaranteed, but the $10MM he is scheduled to receive in 2017/18 is not guaranteed, making him an attractive pickup for a team looking to shed salary. Haywood, who had a non-guaranteed salary of $10,522,500 next season was dealt to the Blazers along with Mike Miller for trade exceptions worth $10.5MM and $2.85MM and was subsequently waived by Portland.

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

With the trade exceptions in hand, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report identifies five players who could be useful pickups between now and February’s trading deadline. They are the Pistons’ Danny Granger, the Nets’ newly signed Andrea Bargnani, the Wolves’ Kevin Martin, the Magic’s Channing Frye and the Lakers’ Nick Young.
The one-year deal between the Cavs and Matthew Dellavedova is equivalent in value to his qualifying offer, but it also includes a 15% trade kicker that he’d receive if he waived his de facto no-trade clause, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link).
James Jones is indeed making the minimum on his one-year deal with the Cavs, according to Pincus.

Central Notes: George, Granger, Pistons

August 2nd, 2015 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

The Paul George injury that occurred one year ago Saturday essentially ended an era in Indiana, according to Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports. Playing in a USA Basketball scrimmage, George suffered a broken right tibia and fibula, knocking him out for most of the 2014/15 season. The Pacers began assembling a younger, faster roster, and the moves culminated with this summer’s trade of Roy Hibbert to the Lakers and the loss of David West in free agency. Monta Ellis, who was signed as a free agent, is now Indiana’s oldest player at age 30.

There’s more from the Central Division:

The Pacers have built a talented roster filled with athletic wings and combo guards, but still need a healthy season from George to be contenders, writes Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star. George was able to return for six games at the end of last season, aiding a late Pacers push toward the playoffs, and the team is optimistic about his outlook for next season. Indiana’s roster overhaul has brought seven new players to the team since the end of last season.
Danny Granger will probably be the first player trimmed from an overcrowded Pistons roster, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The recent signing of Adonis Thomas for camp gave Detroit 18 players with guaranteed contracts, and all except Thomas appear to be fully guaranteed. Granger, 32, played in just 30 games for the Heat last season, averaging 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds. He was traded to Phoenix in February and went from the Suns to the Pistons in a July 9th deal.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy displayed unusual patience this summer, writes Sean Corp in the Detroit Free Press. Instead of throwing a max offer at another free agent after missing out on early targets Danny Green and DeMarre Carroll, the Pistons waited for an opportunity. Their patience paid off when they were able to cheaply acquire a package from Phoenix that included Marcus Morris. Van Gundy credits GM Jeff Bower for pushing the patient approach.