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Pacific Notes: Warriors Rumors, Lakers, Clippers

February 2nd, 2024 at 7:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The Warriors aren’t interested in trading Draymond Green or Klay Thompson ahead of the February 8 deadline, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, but they might consider moving Chris Paul or Andrew Wiggins.

Former No. 1 overall pick Wiggins is having a disappointing year, but he’s played much better recently, while Paul, who is currently injured after undergoing hand surgery, is 38 years old and on a pseudo-expiring contract. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, head coach Steve Kerr said he was aware of Wiggins being mentioned in trade rumors, but he hopes he’s still on the roster late next week.

“I’m very hopeful and I expect him to be here when the trade deadline passes,” Kerr said, per ESPN.

As for Green and Thompson, Windhorst’s report isn’t surprising. While Shams Charania of The Athletic has said Stephen Curry will be the only Warrior off the table in trade talks, he also downplayed the possibility of a trade involving Green or Thompson, two longtime veterans who helped Golden State win four championships — and make six Finals appearances — from 2015-22. Other reporting indicated Curry would have to sign off on such a deal, which was always considered unlikely.

Here’s more from the Pacific:

Appearing on 95.7 The Game’s Willard and Dibs show on Wednesday (Twitter link), Kerr said the Warriors might be better served by waiting for injured players to return rather than making trades. “We’re not going to find better players than (Chris Paul and Gary Payton II) in a trade,” Kerr said. “It’s exceedingly rare to make a deal where you can upgrade your talent to that level.” Payton has been out since January 2 with a grade 2 left hamstring strain. Kerr also mentioned Moses Moody as another injured contributor. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets, Moody will miss this weekend’s back-to-back, but he has a chance to return on Monday after being out since January 10 due to a left calf strain. Dario Saric is also out for at least Friday, as he’s away from the team with an illness.
After a major upset victory over the Celtics in Boston on Thursday without stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Lakers guard Austin Reaves said the team responded well to James’ frustrated comments about “doing their jobs,” which occurred after Tuesday’s lopsided loss to Atlanta (YouTube link). Reaves scored a season-high 32 points (on 10-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-10 from deep) in Thursday’s win.
The Clippers had more total victories in December and January than any team in the NBA. Should they even make a trade? Law Murray of The Athletic explores that topic, writing that P.J. Tucker, Bones Hyland and Brandon Boston look to be the three most likely trade candidates, but L.A. may just stand pat.
Tucker expressed frustration with his role — or lack thereof — in December, and nothing has changed since. However, he’s 39, doesn’t contribute much on offense, and holds a $11.54MM player option for 2024/25, which all hurt his trade value. According to Murray, the veteran forward has been a positive locker room presence, particularly for Russell Westbrook and James Harden, but the Clippers forward admits he’s trying to balance being a professional “while trying to get in a better situation for me, personally,” he told The Athletic. “It kind of is what it is at this point.” Tucker expressed skepticism about the possibility of turning down his player option, making him an unlikely buyout candidate. “That all depends on the situation, timing, where,” Tucker said. “It’s a lot of things that plays into that. I worked hard to be able to get myself in that position. The contract I got, the timing I got it, and all that … it means a lot and something I don’t take for granted. It’s definitely going to take a lot of thought and it’s going to take a real, real opportunity for me to have to go against that.”

Robert Covington Approaching 2023/24 Season With “Vendetta”

August 11th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Robert Covington feels like he has a lot to prove to the Clippers after being kept out of the rotation for nearly all of last season, writes Law Murray of The Athletic.

The 32-year-old forward appeared in just 48 games and averaged 16.2 minutes per night, the lowest total since his rookie season. He doesn’t understand why he spent so much time on the bench, adding that he hasn’t talked to head coach Tyronn Lue since the playoffs ended.

L.A. was Covington’s fifth team in four years when the Clippers acquired him shortly before the 2022 trade deadline. He became the primary backup at power forward and believed the fit was so good that he didn’t test free agency, opting for a two-year extension with L.A. instead.

Covington had a regular role at the beginning of last season while starting center Ivica Zubac was injured. But after entering health and safety protocols at the end of October, Covington didn’t see consistent playing time again. He was expecting to be traded before the February deadline, Murray adds, but he remained on the roster, although he was stuck behind Marcus Morris and Nicolas Batum. Even when Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were sidelined with late-season injuries, Lue didn’t insert Covington back into the rotation.

“I got a vendetta. It’s a bigger chip on my shoulder,” Covington said of his approach to the upcoming season. “Not playing that much last year really put me in a place — all right. I got to force them. So, come back, do what I got to do. They say this is the mentality of, you know, come back strong, get better. That way, it won’t be none of that. Won’t be no issues of, whatever the case. … It’s the way the year went. It wasn’t how I expected, but I said it’s come back, go to the drawing board, and get better.”

Covington addresses a few other topics in his interview with Murray. Here are some highlights:

On getting ready to enter another season with an expiring contract:

“It ain’t no difference. Only difference is that I didn’t play last year. I mean, that’s the only difference. I approach every chance, every opportunity like that —it’s no different. So my mentality don’t shift, I don’t get discouraged or anything. I got to do what I do. And I do what I do best. So I’m never going to stray away. Never going to stray away from anything of that nature. I am going to be who I am, and that’s just what it is.”

On whether there was anything to learn from spending so much time on the bench:

“I didn’t take nothing from last year. Last year didn’t go how I expected, so I didn’t take nothing from it. I just wash it away and start over, a new year. That’s just my mentality of it. … It’s nothing that could be talked about. I mean, I really haven’t had much feedback besides, you know, what I’ve been doing now. I haven’t talked about last year. I’ve put that behind me and focused on right now and moving forward. That’s what it’s all about. Can’t dwell on what happened last year, whatever the case may be. It happened. So I’m just gonna wash, move forward.”

On his early impressions of offseason additions Kenyon Martin Jr., Jordan Miller and Kobe Brown, along with other workout partners such as Bones Hyland and Brandon Boston Jr.:

“Those guys are going to be special. I like Jordan’s tenacity, his pressure on defense, I like his cutting off ball. I like the plays and reads he made. The other guys came up here and played really well. You know, BB is starting to get better. Bones is getting better. KJ is athletic as hell. He’s gotten so much better. It is great to sit up here and see them dudes sit up here and prosper.”

Raptors’ Thaddeus Young Among Players Earning Salary Guarantees

July 1st, 2023 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward Thaddeus Young got good news on Friday when the Raptors opted to keep him on their roster rather than waiving him. Because he’s still under contract, Young’s $8MM salary for the 2023/24 season has become fully guaranteed, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It was previously only partially guaranteed for $1MM.

Young didn’t initially look like a great bet to earn that full $8MM, since Toronto was facing a cap crunch and he didn’t play a major role in 2022/23. The 35-year-old, who appeared in 54 games for the Raptors last season, averaged just 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per night — all three numbers were career lows.

However, the Raptors gained significant cap flexibility when Fred VanVleet opted to leave Toronto for Houston in free agency. With no risk of surpassing the luxury tax threshold, the team opted to hang onto Young, whose expiring salary could come in handy in a trade at some point during the 2023/24 league year.

Young was one of several players who had a salary guarantee deadline on Friday, as our tracker shows. Hoops Rumors can confirm that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of the Thunder ($1.9MM) and Brandon Boston Jr. of the Clippers ($1.84MM) also remain under contract and have fully guaranteed salaries for 2023/24, as does Timberwolves guard Jordan McLaughlin ($2.32MM), which was anticipated.

Trail Blazers forward Trendon Watford was the only roster casualty among Friday’s group, having been cut before his $1.84MM salary became guaranteed. The Magic postponed their decision on big man Bol Bol, though his new salary guarantee date has yet to be reported.

Trade Deadline Leftovers: VanVleet, Anunoby, Siakam, Bridges, Bulls, Knicks, More

February 10th, 2023 at 6:50am CST by Luke Adams

After agreeing to acquire Jakob Poeltl from San Antonio, the Raptors didn’t make any additional deadline-day moves, but it wasn’t for a lack of options.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter video link via The Rally), the Bucks were among the teams expressing interest in Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet in advance of the deadline. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) hears that those talks included Grayson Allen and a future first-round pick. Grange adds that the Clippers talked about Luke Kennard and Brandon Boston Jr. in their VanVleet discussions with the Raptors, but weren’t willing to include a first-rounder.

As for OG Anunoby, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of his Lowe Post podcast that the Grizzlies and Pacers were comfortable including three first-round picks in their offers for the Raptors forward, but Toronto was prioritizing young players over future draft picks and neither package included the kind of players they were seeking (hat tip to RealGM).

According to Lowe, the Pacers’ offer also included Houston’s 2023 second-round pick, which Indiana would control if it lands at No. 31 or 32 (it’d be at No. 31 if the season ended today). However, it’s probably safe to assume that two of the first-rounders the Pacers were willing to give up were Boston’s and Cleveland’s 2023 picks, which figure to fall pretty late in the first round.

Lowe also stated on his podcast (hat tip to RealGM) that the Nets briefly pursued Raptors forward Pascal Siakam between their Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant trades, in the hopes of convincing Durant to stay in Brooklyn.

“I think (the Nets) told (Durant), ‘Hey man, in the summer, we can get some big names. There are going to be some big names who might ask out. We are going to collect stuff to give ourselves a shot at it,'” Lowe said. “… They tried to get Pascal Siakam now in the intervening 96 hours because KD made it known he likes Pascal Siakam. He thought he would be a good fit.”

Here are a few more trade deadline leftovers from around the NBA:

After the Nets agreed to acquire Mikal Bridges in the Durant blockbuster, Bridges drew considerable trade interest from rival clubs, Zach Lowe stated on his Lowe Post podcast (hat tip to RealGM). “I know of one team – and I’ve confirmed this – I know of one team who offered four first-round picks for Mikal Bridges,” Lowe said. “Now, I know of at least three first round picks. I think the fourth one may have had some protections or something, but I’m pretty sure that was a thing.”
The Bulls, who didn’t make a deadline deal, received inquiries on Alex Caruso and Coby White, but never seriously considered moving Caruso and got “underwhelming” offers for White, says K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Johnson also talked to a source who downplayed the discussions Chicago had with the Knicks about Zach LaVine, characterizing them as “preliminary.” Another source who spoke to Johnson insisted those talks didn’t happen at all, but didn’t rule out the possibility that such a scenario could be discussed in the offseason, depending on how the rest of 2022/23 plays out.
Spurs big man Zach Collins garnered some deadline-week interest, according to LJ Ellis of SpursTalk, who says from a league source that the Sixers, Nuggets, and Bucks inquired on Collins. Ellis also hears that San Antonio shopped Keita Bates-Diop in search of a second-round pick, but the forward ended up staying put.
If the 2023 first-round pick the Knicks sent to the Trail Blazers as part of the Josh Hart trade lands in the lottery, New York will instead send Portland the following picks, per Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link): The Pistons’ 2024 second-rounder, either the Timberwolves’ or Knicks’ 2026 second-rounder (whichever is least favorable), and the Knicks’ own 2027 and 2028 second-rounders.
John Hollinger of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Grizzlies acquired a minor pick swap in the Luke Kennard trade with the Clippers. Memphis now has the ability to swap a 2026 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable of the Celtics’, Heat’s, and Pacers’ picks) for the Clippers’ 2026 second-rounder.

Pacific Notes: Paul, Moody, Poole, Boston Jr.

December 4th, 2022 at 9:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns guard Chris Paul has missed 13 consecutive games due to a heel injury but insists he’s close to returning, he told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “It’s hard,” Paul said. “That’s my happy place is hooping, but I’ve sort of learned over the years that it’s a long game. Luckily we have enough depth on our team to where I shouldn’t be forced to come back until I’m ready.” Phoenix romped past San Antonio without Paul on Sunday.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors reserve guard Moses Moody said it’s been a little more challenging getting spotty minutes during his second season, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. “Last year, everything was new and I wasn’t positive about how prepared I was…Now I feel moreso that I know I’m ready,” he said. Stephen Curry said Moody has taken a positive approach to his situation, Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. “He comes with a great attitude just understanding the challenges of him getting in the rotation consistently and when it doesn’t happen, he stays positive, he stays engaged and then when he’s out there ready to go, he plays,” Curry said.
Warriors guard Jordan Poole isn’t sneaking up on anybody this season and Poole admits he’s adjusting to extra defensive attention, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. “A lot of defenses are loaded, either sending a blitz and making me get off the ball or, it’s kind of like boxes and elbows,” said Poole, who signed a four-year extension prior to the season.
Guard Brandon Boston Jr. has posted back-to-back double-digit scoring outings for the Clippers as the 2021 second-rounder tries to establish himself in the league, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. “I want those guys (Kawhi Leonard and Paul George) back, but I feel that everybody should be ready to step up,” Boston said. “I want to show that I belong up here (in the NBA) with the regular team and contribute for the team to win.”

Clippers Seek Point Guard; Bledsoe, Ibaka, Morris Available

January 31st, 2022 at 5:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers are shopping for a play-making point guard and are willing to move several veterans in order to achieve that goal, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reports.

The Clippers believe a starting point guard is the missing piece to become a championship contender when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George return to action, even though it’s uncertain whether they’ll be back this season or next year.

The front office has made Eric Bledsoe, Serge Ibaka, and Marcus Morris available to acquire another floor leader, O’Connor says. The team views current starter Reggie Jackson as more of a scorer than a pure point guard.

Bledsoe is signed through next season but his $19.38MM salary next season is only guaranteed for $3.9MM. Ibaka is making $9.7MM this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Clippers would prefer to hold onto Morris, who is in the second year of a four-year, $64MM contract, but the forward may be their most attractive trade piece.

O’Connor suggests the Clippers would also be willing to part with Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, Ivica Zubac, Jason Preston, Brandon Boston Jr., or Keon Johnson if the right deal came along.

As O’Connor notes, the Clippers have been linked in some fashion to Jalen Brunson, Dennis Schröder, Kemba Walker, Goran Dragic, Spencer Dinwiddie and John Wall in recent weeks. Brunson would seemingly be the best fit, though the Mavericks aren’t inclined to deal him, despite the fact that he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Dragic, currently in limbo, might be a good short-term fit. Wall, who hasn’t played this season while the Rockets seek a new home for him, could also be an intriguing possibility. The salaries of Bledsoe, Ibaka and Morris could be matched up to obtain Wall. The Clippers could also simply wait to see if Wall winds up on the buyout market and make a play for him at that point.

COVID-19 Updates: Wizards, Budenholzer, Celtics, Nance, Duarte, More

January 5th, 2022 at 12:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards are on the verge of replenishing their point guard depth, with Spencer Dinwiddie and Aaron Holiday now out of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link). Both players will remain sidelined for at least one more game, however, as they work on their conditioning.

Here are more protocol-related updates from around the league:

Mike Budenholzer has become the latest head coach to enter the health and safety protocols, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Darvin Ham will serve as the Bucks‘ acting head coach in Budenholzer’s absence.
Aaron Nesmith has exited the health and safety protocols, but another Celtics player – Payton Pritchard – has entered them, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Trail Blazers big man Larry Nance Jr. entered the COVID-19 protocols on Tuesday, but it’s possible he’ll be able to clear them quickly. According to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (Twitter links), head coach Chauncey Billups said Nance registered an inconclusive test, so if he can return two consecutive negatives at least 24 hours apart, he’ll exit the protocols.
Pacers rookie Chris Duarte has cleared the protocols, though he’s doubtful to play in Wednesday’s game vs. Brooklyn, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Cory Joseph, who was the last Pistons player in the protocols, has exited them, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Joseph remains unavailable for Wednesday’s game in Charlotte due to return to competition reconditioning.
Rookies Marko Simonovic (Bulls) and Brandon Boston Jr. (Clippers) were at their respective teams’ practices today and are no longer in the protocols (Twitter links via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago and Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times).
Other players who have cleared the protocols include Spurs forward Devontae Cacok and Mavericks rookie JaQuori McLaughlin. Cacok is out vs. Boston on Wednesday due to return to competition reconditioning (Twitter link via Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News), while McLaughlin is no longer on Dallas’ injury report.

COVID-19 Updates: Mavs, B. Boston, Cacok, Lakers, C. Thomas

December 29th, 2021 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have placed center Boban Marjanovic and guard Brandon Knight – who signed a hardship deal last week – in the health and safety protocols, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Marjanovic and Knight are the sixth and seventh Dallas players currently in the protocols.

As we noted earlier today, the Mavericks reportedly reached an agreement to sign Isaiah Thomas, who will be the team’s seventh replacement player. If Dallas had just five players in the protocols, the team wouldn’t be able to make another hardship signing, so the fact that Marjanovic and Knight are now in the protocols helps explain the Thomas deal.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the league:

Clippers rookie Brandon Boston Jr. has entered the health and safety protocols, the team announced today. Boston had been playing an increased role as of late with the Clippers shorthanded, averaging 19.6 MPG in 13 games this month.
Spurs two-way big man Devontae Cacok has joined teammate Dejounte Murray in the COVID-19 protocols, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). They’re the only two San Antonio players affected for now.
Lakers guards Austin Reaves and Kent Bazemore have cleared the protocols, tweets Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. They won’t be with the team in Memphis tonight, but should be available by Friday’s home game vs. Portland.
Nets rookie guard Cam Thomas has exited the protocols and is available, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

Pacific Notes: Ayton, Westbrook, LeBron, Boston

December 9th, 2021 at 3:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Suns center Deandre Ayton will be a restricted free agent this summer, but he says he’s focused on working hard and winning a championship this season, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

The 20-4 Suns hold the second-best record in the league, trailing the Warriors by a half-game. Ayton says the key to the team’s success has been maximum effort.

“All of it is from experience from the Finals and playing hard,” Ayton said. “We play super hard. We don’t know how to stop playing hard. Ever since I went to the Finals, I don’t know how to stop competing more than 100%. We have to stay at this high level of camaraderie and I have to make sure we win the game.”

In 18 games this season (30.9 MPG), Ayton is averaging 16.3 PPG and 11.1 RPG. He says he has his eye on some individual awards as well.

“I want All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year,” Ayton said, per Spears. “I really want that. I want to be on that talk of First-Team Defense.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:

Russell Westbrook has been steadily improving throughout the season for the Lakers, prompting Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report to wonder whether people jumped the gun on judging the team’s trade to acquire him.
The Lakers‘ season may hinge on whether LeBron James and Westbrook can form a winning partnership, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. McMenamin takes an in-depth look at the dynamic between the two players, noting that defensive lapses and turnovers have plagued the team. The duo’s chemistry has been slow to form with James sidelined for 12 games, but they’ve looked much better together recently.
Rookie Brandon Boston Jr. had a breakout performance for the Clippers in their 114-111 victory over the Celtics Wednesday night, dropping 27 points and four steals in only 25 minutes and making 9-of-13 shots, including 5-of-8 threes. Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times writes that Boston is one of the keys to the Clippers’ present and future.

Clippers Notes: Ibaka, Boston, Winslow, Outlook

October 5th, 2021 at 8:28am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers center Serge Ibaka, who is coming off back surgery, was cleared for contact on Monday, head coach Tyronn Lue told reporters, including Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register.

“He’s doing good,” Lue said. “We’re gonna ease him in as slow as possible and make sure he’s healthy and that’s a good sign for us. Hopefully, he’s able to get back on track (get on the floor) and take some contact.”

Ibaka was the Clippers’ starting center when he was healthy last season, but with his exact timeline for a return still unclear, Ivica Zubac figures to handle that role for the foreseeable future.

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Rookie shooting guard Brandon Boston Jr., the 51st overall pick in the 2021 draft, may not have a regular rotation role during the regular season, but he was part of L.A.’s starting lineup during his preseason debut on Monday. As Swanson writes, Boston was “super excited” about the opportunity. “It’s actually crazy, I’m not going to lie,” Boston said after the game. “There are only 450 of us that are here, so just making the best of it while I’m here. Doing the right thing, doing the little things I need to do and just attacking it every day.”
As long as Justise Winslow can stay healthy, the Clippers envision using him in a variety roles, ranging from a backup point guard to a small-ball center, writes Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times. “He showed us a lot in this last week and a half, two weeks,” Lue said, noting that he has been impressed by Winslow’s defensive versatility and his ability to start the fast break off a rebound.
John Hollinger of The Athletic isn’t particularly bullish on the Clippers’ outlook this season, forecasting a 38-44 record for the team, good for 10th in the West. Hollinger’s projection for the Clippers is based on an assumption that Kawhi Leonard won’t play at all this season, and he acknowledges that the club’s ceiling will be considerably higher if Leonard is able to return in the spring.