Louis Amundson Met With Lakers, Clippers
At the start of the week, we heard that free agent big man Louis Amundson was hopeful of landing a new contract soon. Since then, at least two more potential suitors have emerged. Amundson visited with the Lakers and Clippers this week, and his meetings with both teams were positive, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
"They were good meetings," Bartelstein said. "I wouldn’t quite use the word frontrunner right now, but there’s interest, and hopefully we can get something done soon."
Both Los Angeles clubs could use some frontcourt depth. The Clippers have recently been linked to Lamar Odom and Antawn Jamison, so it's not clear if Amundson would be an alternative to those guys, or if the Clips would try to sign more than one of them. The team still has a pair of roster spots open. As for the Lakers, they signed Chris Kaman last month, but only have Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill, and Robert Sacre as additional frontcourt pieces, so they'll almost certainly add at least one or two more bigs before camp gets underway.
Amundson, 30, averaged 1.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 39 total games with the Timberwolves, Bulls, and Pelicans last season. For his career, he has averages of 3.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 327 career contests (12.8 MPG).
Lakers Notes: Kobe, Paul, Stern, Fisher
Last night, Kobe Bryant sat down for a chat with Jimmy Kimmel in Los Angeles for an AXS TV special titled "Kobe Up Close". Here's a look at Bryant's candid interview from the Nokia Theatre..
- Bryant was asked if he's certain that he'll be a Laker for life and he responded in the affirmative, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. Of course, Kobe will be a free agent following the 2014 season, but it doesn't sound as though the Lakers star plans on making a big change next summer.
- Chris Paul personally called Bryant to inform him that the proposed deal to send him to the other Los Angeles team was squashed by the league office, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Paul began the phone call by exclaiming, "Man, you won't believe it!"
- Kimmel asked Kobe if Paul should be a Laker today. Bryant responded, "Legally speaking, yes. David Stern speaking? No," tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- When asked if he could have one former teammate return, Bryant said that it would be Derek Fisher because "that's my guy," tweets McMenamin. The veteran guard re-signed with the Thunder back in July.
- Bryant acknowledged that he might not be ready for the season opener, according to the AP.
- Kimmel asked Bryant if he'd be interested in owning a team after retirement and the guard inferred that he'd like to own a piece of the Lakers, tweets Shelburne.
- Lakers assistant Mark Madsen told Kennedy (Twitter link) that offseason additions Jordan Farmar, Nick Young, and Wesley Johnson have already begun working out in the L.A. gym this summer. The former-player-turned-coach is impressed to see the newest members of the club taking initiative.
Western Notes: Kobe, Young, Mavericks
Sitting outside of Staples Center tonight with late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant says that he'll never accept being called the greatest Laker ever from Magic Johnson considering that he learned so much from him. As for his injury timetable, he's not sure if he'll be back by opening night at this point but is trying his best to get ready (ESPN Los Angeles' Arash Markazi via Twitter). Here are the rest of tonight's miscellaneous tidbits from the Western Conference:
- Markazi and ESPN LA's Ramona Shelburne relay that Kobe would have picked North Carolina instead of Duke had he not decided to make the jump to the NBA out of high school, and shared that the Clippers feared they wouldn't be taken seriously if they drafted a 17-year-old despite telling him that he'd given them the best workout they've ever had (All Twitter links).
- Flabbergasted that his team was projected to finish 12th in the West this year, Nick Young is "upset and ready for the season," writes Markazi: "How are you going to be ranked that low with Kobe and Pau and Nash? There’s always going to be haters and we just have to keep proving them wrong."
- Tim Cowlishaw of SportsDayDFW thinks that the seventh or eighth-seed will be the best-case scenario for the Mavericks if all goes well this year. Jarret Johnson of the Star-Telegram looks at why there's optimism surrounding the team heading into the season.
- Noting that six general managers around the league have previous ties with the Spurs along with four former coaching assistants now leading teams of their own, Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation describes why San Antonio's structure is a model that many teams want to follow but will find hard to duplicate.
- Timberwolves' president Flip Saunders says that Kevin Love is now 242 lbs after playing last season at 250 (Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press via Twitter).
- Paul Coro of AZ Central tweets a picture of the Suns' new uniforms, which were debuted tonight.
Kupchak On D’Antoni, Kobe, Nash, Lakers’ Future
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak participated in a radio interview with ESPN's Colin Cowherd earlier today to discuss a few topics surrounding the franchise. He acknowledged that the transition from Mike Brown to Mike D'Antoni last season was "clumsy" and admitted that there was some feeling that Phil Jackson would coach the team during 2012-13 before eventually handing over the job to D'Antoni. We'll relay more of Kupchak's noteworthy comments, and you can read them below (credit goes to ESPN Los Angeles' Ramona Shelburne and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times):
On the health of Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant:
"Steve, to my understanding, is close to 100 percent, but he's not as young as he once was and Kobe's a big question mark. We're very optimistic, he's getting treatment every day, he's in the facility right now, but he hasn't been on a basketball court. Uncertainty going forward, I guess with our health status would be the biggest question mark."
Regarding any talks of a contract extension with Kobe:
"There really (have) been no discussions beyond next year for obvious reasons…You have a player who is up in age and just had a devastating injury. Obviously, we created an environment with our team where were looking to have financial flexibility a year from now, so that plays into it."
On the possibility of Pau Gasol remaining a Laker beyond this season:
"We're in a cycle…We're hopeful that within a year from now, we'll have enough flexibility. We're hopeful that Pau and Kobe can continue to play and we'll have options to rebuild the team."
Thoughts on the idea of tanking for a lottery pick in 2014:
"The ping-pong lottery thing, even if you have the very worst team in the NBA, you're not guaranteed to get the first pick…I'm not sure getting into the lottery and ending up with 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 is going to give us a top one or two pick in the draft…We still may end up drafting 12, 13 or 14, which is not a great place to draft if you just look back on drafts in this league."
More comments about the 2014 offseason:
"We'll have a lot of financial resources a year from now…I don't know if we'll get a star player to leave his home team to come here like (Dwight Howard) did to go to Houston. He took a huge financial hit just to do that…We have a pick next year, which is going to be a very good draft. We're very comfortable with the flexibility…It just doesn't mean you get free agents you can take players [via trade]. There are a lot of things you can do with cap room."
Lakers Sign Elias Harris
AUGUST 14TH: The Lakers have officially signed Harris, the team announced today.
JULY 26TH: The Lakers and power forward Elias Harris have agreed to a two-year deal, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Agent Brad Ames tells Wojnarowski that the agreement includes a "significant" guarantee for this coming season.
The 24-year-old Harris was a member of the Lakers summer league squad this month in Las Vegas, and he averaged 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 26.9 minutes per contest. He went undrafted last month out of Gonzaga, where he shared the front line with 13th overall pick Kelly Olynyk, now with the Celtics.
Harris' contract will have to be for the minimum, though it's not clear just how "significant" his guarantee is. The word "substantial" was used to describe the guarantee for Robert Covington's deal with the Rockets earlier this summer, and it appears $150K of Covington's $490,180 salary this year is guaranteed.
Mark Madsen, one of the coaches on the Lakers summer league team, was particularly struck by Harris' defensive versatility, as he told Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times.
Lakers Invite Nick Minnerath To Camp
According to his own Twitter account, the Lakers have extended a training camp invite to Nick Minnerath. He played for the Kings during the Las Vegas Summer League, and as a senior for the University of Detroit Titans last season he averaged 14.6 PPG and 5.9 RPG.
The undrafted 6'9" forward can bang inside, but what makes him attractive to the Lakers is most likely his ability to shoot. Through three years of college basketball, Minnerath shot 39.7% from beyond the arc, which, on paper, qualifies him as a perfect fit for Mike D'Antoni's offense.
Gary Forbes To Work Out For Lakers, Knicks
Unrestricted free agent Gary Forbes is expected to work out for the Knicks next week, after working out for the Lakers today, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter links). Both teams only have minimum-salary slots to offer free agents, so if either team were to bring Forbes aboard, it would have to be for the veteran's minimum or on a training-camp invite.
Forbes, 28, spent two seasons in the NBA, playing for the Nuggets in 2010/11 and the Raptors in 2011/12. In 111 career games, the 6'7" forward averaged 5.8 PPG and 2.0 RPG to go along with a decent 12.4 PER in 13.5 minutes per contest.
Forbes was sent to Houston by Toronto in the deal that netted the Raptors Kyle Lowry, and was released by the Rockets before spending the 2012/13 season playing international ball. He averaged 28.4 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 27 games for China's Zhejiang Guangsha Lions.
The Knicks and Lakers figure to work out plenty of players in search of a body or two to fill out their respective 15-man rosters. We heard last week that Sean May, D.J. White, and Lester Hudson were among the other former NBA players working out for New York.
Odds & Ends: Union, Lucas, Draft, Brown
With the offseason winding down, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld identified who the real contenders will be in 2013/14. The back-to-back champion Heat top the list with some of the other usual suspects, including the Spurs and Thunder. The Bulls should be vaulted back into contention with the long-awaited return of Derrick Rose. The Clippers are a bona fide contender after re-signing Chris Paul, landing Doc Rivers as coach, and adding J.J. Redick. The Nets, who now boast the most expensive roster in the NBA by far, hope to be among the league's elite with first-time coach Jason Kidd at the helm. And of course, the Rockets will be one of the most intriguing teams to keep an eye on after luring Dwight Howard away from L.A. Here's more from around the Association..
- NBPA executive committee member Jerry Stackhouse told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that LeBron James' comments about the union felt like a "kick in the stomach". "I don't think he's had any dialogue with anybody since the All-Star break, but it is what it is," Stackhouse said. "To make that statement about where we are as a union right now, he was misinformed."
- Point guard John Lucas III was a safe choice for the Jazz, in the sense that he won't threaten Trey Burke or expect to be the main one-guard for the long-term. However, Utah believes they have more than a capable stop-gap and more than a positive locker room influence in the veteran, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) runs down the 2014 NBA Draft and notes that its remarkable depth could make it the best ever. Ford's latest big board has Andrew Wiggins at the top, followed by Kentucky's Julius Randle, Australian Dante Exum, Duke's Jabari Parker, and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart.
- Sean Deveney of the Sporting News gives his immediate and long-term outlook for the league's 13 new coaches. The list starts with the latest hire, 76ers coach Brett Brown.
- Jordan Hill's summer assignment is to become the stretch four that the Lakers need, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Hill missed 53 games last year, mostly because of back and hip trouble.
International Notes: McGrady, Cooley, Snaer
The NBA free agent market is drying up, leading many players to look for work overseas. Here's the latest from the international scene:
- Tracy McGrady spent most of 2012/13 in China before hooking on with the Spurs in the final week of the regular season, and he's mulling whether to return to China or seek another NBA deal, according to the Global Times.
- We heard yesterday that undrafted big man Jack Cooley spurned several training camp invitations from NBA teams for a deal with a Turkish team, and agent Adam Pensack let Shams Charania of RealGM.com know the identity of those clubs, some of whom offered partially guaranteed contracts. The Blazers, Grizzlies, Spurs, Thunder, Nets, Heat, Lakers, Rockets, Pacers and Cavs all wanted to sign Cooley, Pensack says.
- The Nets also invited Michael Snaer to camp, but Sportando's Enea Trapani hears that he'll sign with Enel Brindisi of Italy instead (Twitter link).
- A report last month indicated that 42nd overall pick Pierre Jackson, whom the Pelicans acquired in the Jrue Holiday trade, would sign with ASVEL Villeurbanne of France, and Jackson added confirmation via Instagram. Tony Parker owns a share of the French team.
- Shooting guard Carlon Brown was in training camp with the Warriors last fall and spent the season in the D-League, but he'll be overseas for 2013/14, having signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel. The Israeli league announced the signing via Twitter (hat tip to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
Odds & Ends: Olympics, Bibby, Cooley, Saunders
The movement to prevent a 23-and-under age restriction for Olympic basketball may have taken a hit. The International Olympic Committee has rejected a proposal to increase the number of teams from 12 to 16 and shorten the length of the competition, USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt reports. Many NBA and pro basketball executives around the world believe the Olympics place too much of a strain on their stars, and some of them thought the proposal would have been an acceptable compromise. While we wait to see if the 2016 games are the last to feature rosters reminiscent of the Dream Team, here's the latest from around the NBA:
- Mike Bibby didn't play in the NBA this past season, but the 35-year-old is still trying to get back in the league, as he tells Alex Kramers of Kings.com. Whenever Bibby decides to stop playing, he says he'd like to get into coaching.
- Undrafted center Jack Cooley reportedly drew training camp invitations from more than 10 NBA teams after a strong showing in summer league, but he's decided to sign with Trabzonspor of Turkey, a source tells Sportando's Emiliano Carchia. It's a "substantial" deal, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link).
- Using the specter of a D-League assignment as a way to threaten first-round pick Shabazz Muhammad into proper behavior demonstrates how Wolves executive Flip Saunders holds an unsophisticated view of the D-League, opines Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.
- Jeff Caplan of NBA.com examines how the Lakers can be better in 2013/14 than they were last season, even after losing Dwight Howard.