Austin Reaves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Notes: Nunn, Backcourt, Westbrook, Outlook

September 7th, 2022 at 10:05pm CST by Rory Maher

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.

Lakers Interested In Jazz Vets, Hope To Preserve 2023 Cap Room

September 2nd, 2022 at 8:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers have “some interest” in Jazz veterans Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson, but are still trying to maintain their cap room for 2023, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports (Twitter links). The Lakers currently project to have about $30MM in cap room next summer.

As Zillgitt observes, Conley’s $24.36MM salary for 2023/24 is partially guaranteed at $14.32MM, while Clarkson has a player option worth $14.26MM, which may affect how much interest L.A. has in the two guards.

Bogdanovic is on a $19.55MM expiring contract, and several teams are reportedly pursuing the 33-year-old forward, a talented scorer and shooter who has converted at least 38.7% of his three-point tries in each of the last five seasons.

In order to match salaries, Russell Westbrook‘s $47.1MM expiring deal would have to be sent to Utah, because the Lakers don’t have any tradable mid-sized contracts. If they don’t want to take on money beyond next season, a package of Bogdanovic, Malik Beasley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker theoretically works for salary-matching purposes, and all are on expiring or pseudo-expiring deals (there’s a ’23/24 team option for Beasley at $16.52MM).

However, it’s unclear if the Lakers would be interested in that scenario, considering the Jazz might ask for both of the Lakers’ available first-round picks (2027 and 2029). Utah is in the middle of a roster teardown, with a particular emphasis on accumulating unprotected first-rounders.

In other Lakers-related news, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reassesses the team’s depth chart and rotation after acquiring Patrick Beverley from Utah in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson. Sources tell Buha that Thomas Bryant and Austin Reaves have been “standout performers” in offseason workouts, and Buha currently has both players slotted in the starting lineup at center and shooting guard, respectively.

Lakers Rumors: THT, Westbrook, Reaves, Nunn, Carmelo

August 31st, 2022 at 7:50am CST by Luke Adams

Before the Lakers traded Talen Horton-Tucker to the Jazz in the Patrick Beverley deal, the Pacers expressed interest in the 21-year-old wing, Michael Scotto said in the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast.

As Scotto explains, the Pacers were interested in pursuing a deal that sent Buddy Hield, Myles Turner, and Daniel Theis to the Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and Los Angeles’ 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. However, L.A. has been reluctant to include both of those first-rounders in any deal not involving Kyrie Irving, and wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about swapping Horton-Tucker for Theis.

Although Horton-Tucker is off the table, Indiana remains one of the two most likely landing spots for Westbrook, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says a deal involving the Pacers and Westbrook could involve just one of Hield or Turner — the Pacers still have $30MM+ in cap room and could take on Westbrook’s $47MM+ expiring contract without sending out both players. Still, Buha believes that Utah is a more viable destination for Westbrook than Indiana.

Here’s more on the Lakers from the HoopsHype podcast:

Scotto has gotten the impression that Austin Reaves and the Lakers have mutual interest in continuing their relationship beyond the 2022/23 season. Reaves will be a restricted free agent next summer and will be seeking a pay bump on his minimum-salary contract.
While Kendrick Nunn has been around the Lakers’ facility and has been working out, his ramp-up process has been slowed than anticipated, according to Buha. Nunn said a month ago that he feels 100% healthy, but the acquisition of Beverley gives the team some extra insurance at point guard.
A reunion between Carmelo Anthony and the Lakers remains possible, in Buha’s view, but he believes the veteran forward is more likely to land elsewhere. L.A. still needs more shooting, which Anthony could provide, but also wants to continue to upgrade its perimeter defense, which isn’t one of Carmelo’s strengths.

Lakers Notes: Westbrook, Closing Lineup, Nunn, LeBron

August 3rd, 2022 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

While former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel benched Russell Westbrook late in games a small handful of times last season, new coach Darvin Ham will have more power to do so this season, assuming Westbrook remains on the roster and Ham decides there are better fits in crunch time, says Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

Buha expects Westbrook to get opportunities to close out games, but notes that it will depend on his shooting, decision-making, and defense.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are, of course, locks to be part of the Lakers’ “closing” five, and Buha views Austin Reaves as the next-best bet to join that group because he can be a secondary ball-handler. Buha predicts that Juan Toscano-Anderson and Troy Brown will fill out the closing five in instances when Westbrook is on the bench.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Although Kendrick Nunn recently said he feels 100% healthy after missing the entire 2021/22 season due to a knee injury, he has yet to resume playing five-on-five, which will be the “next big hurdle” in his recovery process, Buha writes. The expectation for now is that Nunn will be ready to go for training camp.
Buha believes that the Lakers are done adding veteran free agents this offseason, and that any additional roster changes would come via trade. He notes that the team could also be active on the buyout market after the 2023 trade deadline.
LeBron James will become eligible on Thursday to sign a contract extension with the Lakers, but Chris Mannix of SI.com doesn’t believe James will be in any rush to sign that deal, since he can maintain leverage and keep pressure on the team by taking his time. He could sign that extension at any time up until June 30, 2023.

Lakers Notes: Anthony, Reaves, Bryant, Westbrook, Handy

July 27th, 2022 at 7:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

Carmelo Anthony may return to the Lakers for another season, but a decision isn’t expected quickly, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy. Like many NBA veterans, Anthony’s status is on hold while teams wait to see what happens with this summer’s trade rumors.

“They have a lot to sort out obviously,” an unidentified general manager said of the Lakers. “But as more things get set, they’ll probably get back around to bringing him in. It’s just, at this point, you don’t know what might happen with (Russell) Westbrook and whether you might need to take on players, so you see that around the league a lot — teams have 10, 11, 12 players signed and there’s no hurry to fill in the last spots until you see how the other stuff plays out.”

A return to the Knicks has been mentioned as a possibility for Anthony, and Deveney sees the Nets as a potential landing spot as well. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving reportedly wanted Brooklyn to sign Anthony when they joined the team in 2019, and adding him to the roster might be a way to mollify them if they’re both still with the Nets when training camp opens. The GM also mentions the Warriors, who would give Anthony his best chance to win a ring before he retires.

There’s more on the Lakers:

Austin Reaves has a strong case for a starting spot heading into camp, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Reaves will need to improve his outside shooting, but he can serve as a secondary ball-handler and his defensive abilities make him an ideal backcourt mate for Westbrook, Buha adds. He also notes that Thomas Bryant could become a starter if L.A. is determined to play Anthony Davis at power forward rather than center.
Westbrook will face a “moment of truth” if the Lakers can’t find a way to trade him, states Dan Devine of The Ringer. If Westbrook plays another season in L.A., he’ll either have to adapt to a different role or get out of the way of his star teammates, Devine adds.
Assistant coach Phil Handy recently signed an extension with the Lakers, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Handy had been heading into the final year of his contract.

Lakers Notes: Reaves, Pippen Jr., Buss, Impatience

July 15th, 2022 at 10:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Lakers guard Austin Reaves earned a spot on the 15-man roster prior to training camp and became a rotation regular as a rookie, accomplishing two of his goals last season. However, the team fell woefully short of his third goal, which was winning a championship.

“Individually, I think it went about as good as it could have gone for me,” Reaves told Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “Doing all those things was special. And as a team, I mean, to say the least, it sucked, to be honest. We had high expectations for ourselves and felt like we just couldn’t piece it together throughout the year.

“For me, the main goal is always to win, so it sucked in that aspect.”

After going undrafted out of Oklahoma, Reaves signed a two-way contract with the Lakers and was later promoted to a standard deal, although his salary for 2022/23 is non-guaranteed. As Buha details, Reaves has been diligent in his offseason approach, focused on improving his outside shot and getting stronger to avoid a second-year slump — he has bulked up to 209 pounds with weight training, up from 197 last season.

“It’s my big focus,” Reaves said. “I go in there with a good attitude every day, and whatever they tell me to do, I do. Just putting my body in the best position so the rookie wall or whatever, it doesn’t hit you like that. And you can more push through it because you’re in better shape and better conditioning.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Undrafted rookie Scotty Pippen Jr., son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, is trying to forge his own path in the league, writes Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. The younger Pippen was signed to a two-way deal after the draft and his father recently came to watch him play in Summer League. “I think just having my dad supporting me is kinda just like a full-circle moment, I think especially for him seeing his son make it,” he said. “But I think it’s a dream come true. I’ve dreamt of this moment.”
In a lengthy Q&A with Mark Medina of NBA.com, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was asked whether she expected a major deal to happen this offseason, to which she replied, “Nothing would surprise me. We’re not making change for the sake of change. It has to be good, basketball decisions that help us now and doesn’t compromise our ability to deal in the future.
On ESPN’s First Take on Friday (video link), Brian Windhorst interpreted Buss’ quote as meaning she might not have faith in the current roster, with the key aspect being the last line about not compromising the team’s ability to make future moves. As currently constructed, in an optimistic scenario, Windhorst thinks the team might win 45 games in ’22/23 and make the play-in tournament.
With LeBron James eligible for an extension at the beginning of next month, a rival executive thinks the Lakers are getting antsy to secure his long-term commitment to the franchise, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. “They’re eager to do something,” the Western Conference executive said. “The team they have is just not good enough right now. Everyone there wants to see a resolution to the (Russell) Westbrook situation. They want to see about Kyrie (Irving). They want to get what they can from Indiana once they start selling off pieces, whether it is Buddy Hield or Myles Turner or both. So there is some major impatience, and they are looking at LeBron maybe getting an extension next month and they want to have everything in place. Well, nothing’s in place yet.”
In case you missed it, Westbrook parted ways with his longtime agent earlier today.

Lakers Notes: Westbrook, Klutch, Carmelo, Offseason

April 28th, 2022 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers‘ front office is internally blaming pressure from Klutch Sports Group for last summer’s acquisition of Russell Westbrook, multiple sources tell Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.

As has been reported by several outlets since last August, Klutch clients LeBron James and Anthony Davis played a part in recruiting Westbrook, helping convince the Lakers to go after the former MVP instead of trying to sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan or acquire Buddy Hield from Sacramento.

Still, while James, Davis, and their agency may have had a hand in the Westbrook trade, VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers’ front office ultimately had the final say. Pincus, who suggests that assigning the blame to Klutch Sports “may be an epic level of passing the buck,” writes that NBA front offices should consider their stars’ input but that the top basketball executives are responsible for making the decisions they feel are best for the team.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

While retirement is a possibility, most people around the NBA expect Carmelo Anthony to play for at least one more season, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, who spoke to multiple league executives about Anthony’s upcoming free agency. Deveney gets the sense that a return to the Lakers is the most likely outcome, but his sources mentioned the Nets, Heat, and Celtics as other potential landing spots.
In a pair of stories for The Athletic, Jovan Buha hands out grades for all of the Lakers’ players this season and explores which players should – and shouldn’t – be back for 2022/23. Buha identifies Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson, and Wenyen Gabriel as the non-stars who should return, and suggests the team shouldn’t retain Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Wayne Ellington, or Kent Bazemore.
Buha also published a two-part mailbag at The Athletic, discussing the Lakers’ head coaching search, possible mid-level free agent targets, potential Westbrook trade scenarios, and whether it makes sense for the club to trade its 2027 and 2029 first-rounders.

California Notes: Lakers, Holmes, Draymond, Clippers

March 15th, 2022 at 11:16pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The struggling 29-39 Lakers, winners of just two of their last ten games, are looking to the future, encouraged by the development of some of their youngsters, writes Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register.

Though the Los Angeles front office mostly opted to build its new-look roster around older veterans this summer, a handful of younger role players have emerged around 37-year-old All-Star forward LeBron James this season.

24-year-old guard Malik Monk and 23-year-old rookie wing Austin Reaves, alongside 25-year-old forward Stanley Johnson, have emerged as three of the Lakers’ more reliable players who may have yet to hit their ceilings. 21-year-old swingman Talen Horton-Tucker remains an intriguing option as well, though he has underperformed relative to his new three-year, $32MM contract this season.

“They’ve continued to improve and get better and more comfortable in our system, in our environment,” head coach Frank Vogel said of the Lakers’ youth movement. “Malik, Austin and Talen. That trio is another reason amongst others why I believe we have a chance.”

There’s more out of California:

The NBA has fined Kings big man Richaun Holmes to the tune of $25K after he threw a basketball into the crowd during a 134-125 loss to the Jazz on March 12, per a league press release (Twitter link). Holmes was ejected from the game at the time of the incident. It shouldn’t make too big of a dent in his wallet — the 28-year-old is in the first season of a lucrative new four-year, $46.5MM contract he signed with Sacramento during the 2021 offseason.
Despite being inactive for the last 30 Warriors contests this season due to a nagging back injury, All-Star power forward Draymond Green remains convinced he can still win his second Defensive Player of the Year Award this season, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Yeah, I’ve seen guys win with not many more games than I’m gonna play,” Green said. “I don’t know what league everybody else has been watching, but I have not seen anyone solidify themselves as Defensive Player of the Year.” Johnson notes that, should Green be available for all 13 remaining Warriors games during the 2021/22 regular season, he will only have suited up for 48 total this year.
With a 36-35 record, the eighth-seeded Clippers are six games behind the sixth-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference. L.A. has just 11 games left on its regular season slate. The team has little to no chance of avoiding the play-in tournament at this point of the year, barring a collapse from both the Nuggets and the 40-30 seventh seed, the Timberwolves. The team is also a whopping 5.5 games ahead of the ninth-seeded Lakers. Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register examines how the Clippers intend to operate down the home stretch of the season given the reality of their seeding. “We’ll get a chance to experiment with our small lineup, which we gotta get better at once we get everyone healthy and get everyone back and then kinda see how that plays out,“ head coach Tyronn Lue said. Lue also intends to work through after-timeout plays, with an emphasis on helping shooting guard Luke Kennard improve his timing off screens.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Westbrook, AD, Vogel, Reaves

February 13th, 2022 at 3:05pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James has to live with the consequences of the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade he pushed his team’s front office to make, opines Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Goodwill writes that, whether James cooked up the Westbrook deal or merely advocated for it, his interest in the idea ultimately compelled Los Angeles team president Rob Pelinka to pull the trigger, and the team is now struggling to stay afloat, currently the ninth seed in the West.

After the team used many of its remaining assets to acquire Westbrook from the Wizards and opted not to re-sign stellar defensive guard Alex Caruso over the summer, it had its hands tied at the trade deadline this past Thursday, ultimately deciding to stand pat. Beyond the maximum salaries of James, the tough-to-trade Westbrook, and big man Anthony Davis, the Lakers had just two players, Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn, making more than the veteran’s minimum. Horton-Tucker has struggled in an expanded role, while the injured Nunn has yet to play a single game with L.A.

There’s more out of Lakerland:

Lakers star big man Anthony Davis discussed his sense of relief following the trade deadline, now that the team knows its personnel heading towards the end of the season. “[The deadline passing] lifted weight off the [team’s] shoulders,” Davis said, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). “This is our team, let’s go.”
Following the Lakers’ inactive trade deadline, Los Angeles head coach Frank Vogel also expressed optimism for the home stretch of the 2021/22 season, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It’s a new day,” Vogel said. “I think there’s just a natural reset energy to our group, knowing that the trade deadline has passed. This is the group that we put together to start the year. This is a group we believe in.” That group has led the Lakers, currently on a three-game losing streak, to a 26-31 record and the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
One of the lone bright spots in this disappointing Lakers season has been the play of rookie shooting guard Austin Reaves, who has emerged as a reliable bench contributor on both ends of the court. Reaves initially signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after going undrafted out of Oklahoma this summer, then saw that deal converted to a standard NBA contract before the start of the season. The 23-year-old has emerged as a clutch role player of late, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times details. “He’s got a great computer to process help and see whether if he’s going to shoot or whether he’s going to make the extra pass and obviously he’s got a lot of guts to make big shots,” Frank Vogel said. “And he really competes on the defensive end and has a good IQ down on that end.” LeBron James also raved about the youngster: “Nothing has impressed me anymore on Austin. He’s made big plays over and over offensively and defensively.” In 21.1 MPG, Reaves is averaging 6.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 1.3 APG, and has supplanted veterans like Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore in L.A.’s perimeter rotation.

Los Angeles Notes: Lakers Injuries, Reaves, Clippers, Kennard

January 30th, 2022 at 1:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 24-26 Lakers are struggling to develop consistent chemistry due to injuries across the board, but most importantly to All-Stars LeBron James (currently out with a swollen knee) and Anthony Davis (recently back in the lineup after missing much of the season with knee and wrist injuries), as Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register writes.

Though starting point guard Russell Westbrook has begun to improve his scoring (if not his late-game decision-making), the absences of Davis and the 37-year-old James have made for choppy waters. The team has also not seen its fifth highest-paid player, Kendrick Nunn, since the preseason.

“It’s a long season; I wouldn’t count this team out,” head coach Frank Vogel said on the West’s current ninth seed.. “[We] have a belief in what we can be when all of the pieces finally come together and have a chance to jell. We’ve seen it in different bursts.”

There’s more out of the City of Angels:

Lakers rookie shooting guard Austin Reaves has been one of the few bright spots during what has been an otherwise largely underwhelming season for L.A., opines Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “He’s doing a great job of learning and adjusting,” future Hall-of-Famer teammate Carmelo Anthony raved. “And figuring out, ‘OK, if I don’t have the ball in my hands, back cut, offensive rebound, loose balls.’ He’s been doing a great job with doing that, and crashing from the weak side, getting tip-outs, diving on the floor for loose balls, taking charges, getting hit in his face. It seems like he gets hit every play down the court.” The undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma is averaging a fairly modest 5.9 PPG and 2.7 RPG, with .467/.316/.850 shooting splits, but the numbers belie his impact as a defender and as an occasional scoring option off the bench.
A depleted Clippers team missing perennial All-Star forwards Paul George and Kawhi Leonard has managed to find a way to recover from disadvantages of 20 or more points in three January games. Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register notes that the exhausted 25-26 club is in the midst of an epic eight-game road trip.
Clippers reserve long-range marksman Luke Kennard is interested in being considered for NBA All-Star Weekend’s three-point contest, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. He has the support of his head coach. “I think he would do great,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. The 6’5″ vet is currently the third-best three-point shooter in the NBA by percentage, making 43.9% of his 2.8 triples a night.