Lakers Notes: Hayes, Starting Lineup, Injuries, Lobs
Jaxson Hayes is dealing with a light sprain in his right wrist, but believes that he’ll be ready to go for the Lakers‘ regular season opener on Tuesday, reports Dan Woike of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Hayes left Friday’s preseason game early after injuring his wrist, but he says he’s ready to play through the injury. He is slotted to serve as the primary backup to Deandre Ayton this season after starting a career-high 35 games for the Lakers last season.
Hayes also spoke at greater length about his intention to become eligible for a Slovenian passport and play international basketball alongside Lakers’ teammate Luka Doncic, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter video link).
“We have the same agent, and my parents and his parents are all kind of working on it right now,” Hayes said. “But they came to me with the idea… I wanted to play on that stage, and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get on that stage.”
Hayes added that Doncic and his family had been discussing the idea with him for the last year and a half. Woike confirmed (via Twitter) that Hayes is serious about the plan.
We have more Lakers news:
- The Lakers unleashed their LeBron James-less opening night starting five in the preseason finale, writes McMenamin. The unit featured Gabe Vincent and Rui Hachimura alongside Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Ayton. McMenamin reports that Vincent, who averaged 16.2 points on 55.6% shooting from three during his strong preseason, was informed of his promotion on Friday morning. “I do think in that lineup there’s lot of shooting around Luka and [Ayton], and Gabe is another ball-handler, another tough defender, said head coach JJ Redick. “I think he fits in well, but you have to take a look at every matchup we play against and have to make a decision there.” The Lakers went just 1-5 during the preseason.
- Redick shared some minor injury updates on Sunday afternoon, as relayed via Twitter by SoCal News Group’s Khobi Price. Chris Manon, on a two-way deal, was a full participant after previously suffering a Grade 2 ankle sprain. Bronny James and rookie Adou Thiero were modified participants as they look to return from ankle and knee injuries, respectively.
- There’s a specific part of the Lakers’ offensive approach that Redick is concerned about heading into the season. “We’ve got to figure out our lobs,” Redick said, as reported by Price (Twitter video link). Redick added that a good lob connection is based on “concentration plus control.” Reaves expanded on that, discussing the difference between running the two-man game with Ayton as opposed to Hayes or Anthony Davis. “Every player is not the same,” he said. “I can throw some lobs to Jaxson that I can’t throw to DA. I can throw pocket passes to DA that I can’t throw to Jaxson. So it’s just reading personnel on the court and getting reps every single day together.”
Injury Notes: Queen, White, Brown, Raptors, Rockets, More
Rookie big man Derik Queen has been medically cleared to participate in full basketball activities, the Pelicans announced today (via Twitter).
Head coach Willie Green said Queen was a full participant in Saturday’s practice, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. While the team wants to get Queen up to speed, Green said New Orleans will be careful not to rush the process after a lengthy layoff.
Queen has been rehabilitating from July surgery to address a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist, an injury he sustained at Summer League in Las Vegas. He was a limited participant during New Orleans’ training camp due to the injury.
Queen was selected with the 13th overall pick in June after the Pelicans sent Atlanta this year’s No. 23 selection and an unprotected 2026 first-rounder (the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s picks) for the right to draft the Maryland big man, who was highly productive in his lone season with the Terrapins. In 36 games last season, the 20-year-old forward/center averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.4 minutes per contest.
We have several more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Bulls guard Coby White, who has been battling a calf strain since August and didn’t play in any preseason games this fall, “looked good” after going through most of the contact portions of Saturday’s practice, according to head coach Billy Donovan (Twitter links K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network). Donovan added that White would go through additional contact work on Monday after taking Sunday off. For his part, White said he was encouraged by today’s session, though he cautioned he’s still working on regaining his conditioning and rhythm. “We’ll see. It’s in the works,” White said of potentially playing in Chicago’s season opener, per Johnson.
- Celtics star Jaylen Brown sustained a left hamstring injury in Wednesday’s preseason finale. As Jay King of The Athletic writes, head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t say whether Brown would be active for next Wednesday’s season opener, but the injury doesn’t sound serious — Brown is considered day-to-day, per Mazzulla.
- Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic expressed optimism that lottery pick Collin Murray-Boyles could be ready for Wednesday’s season opener in Atlanta after the former South Carolina forward sustained an arm injury last week, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter links), Murray-Boyles is day-to-day with a right forearm strain.
- Although Raptors center Jakob Poeltl missed time during preseason with lower back stiffness and exited Friday’s preseason finale with the same injury, Rajakovic clarified after the game that the Austrian big man was pulled for precautionary reasons (Twitter links via Lewenberg). Poeltl is under contract through 2029/30 after signing a lucrative long-term extension in July.
- Forward Jae’Sean Tate, who underwent offseason ankle surgery, went through contract drills in Saturday’s practice, per Rockets head coach Ime Udoka (Twitter link via Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle). The team remains optimistic that Tate will be available for Houston’s season opener, but Dorian Finney-Smith probably won’t be, according to Udoka. Finney-Smith, a free agent addition, is recovering from June ankle surgery.
- Former Alabama forward Grant Nelson was originally expected to sign an Exhibit 10 deal with the Nets shortly after Summer League in July, but the signing was delayed until a few days ago due to an otherwise unspecified “stress reaction from overworking,” he told Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “It was like a small, little minor injury that held me out of training camp. And then I feel like I did everything I could. I caught the injury really early, so I wasn’t out long. But it worked out perfect. So now I’m back healthy, feeling 100 percent.”
- Backup Lakers center Jaxson Hayes exited Friday’s preseason finale with a right wrist contusion, the team announced (Twitter link via Dan Woike of The Athletic). Head coach JJ Redick said after the game that X-Rays on the wrist were negative, with another update on Hayes expected to come on Sunday, as veteran NBA report Mark Medina relays (via Twitter).
- Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija experienced upper back stiffness on Thursday in Utah, causing him to exit Portland’s preseason finale, per the team (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Avdija will miss additional time as a result of the injury.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Christie, Westbrook, Hayes, Collins
Within a story breaking down the Kings‘ decision to sign Russell Westbrook, Sam Amick of The Athletic says that “hordes” of opposing scouts have been attending Sacramento games during the preseason, since teams around the league anticipate that the Kings will be sellers at February’s trade deadline.
Westbrook is among several players on the Kings’ roster who will have something to prove this season, according to Amick, who notes that head coach Doug Christie falls into that category too.
As Amick details, citing league sources, the new contract that Christie signed in the spring when he was named the team’s permanent head coach is only guaranteed for two seasons, with a third-year team option. And his salary is only about $2MM annually in those first two years, followed by a significant increase if his option is exercised. In other words, Christie will have plenty of motivation to show during the next couple years that he deserves to keep his job.
We have more from around the Pacific Division:
- Malik Monk, who played with Westbrook in Los Angeles, is excited to have his former teammate join the Kings, as Sean Cunningham of KCRA News relays (Twitter video link). Referring to Westbrook as “probably one of the best teammates I had,” Monk added that he thinks Westbrook can hold his own as an undersized power forward and defend opposing fours, which would help the club while Keegan Murray (thumb surgery) is sidelined.
- After teaming up with Luka Doncic as members of the Lakers, center Jaxson Hayes wants to do so in international basketball competitions too. Hayes told reporters this week that he’s working on getting Slovenian citizenship in the hopes of representing the country in future competitions, per Eurohoops. A spokesperson for the Slovenian Basketball Federation confirmed that discussions are ongoing about adding a naturalized player at the center spot, but declined to offer specifics or confirm that Hayes is the player in question. “We are aiming to secure this player for a longer period to ensure the team’s stability in the coming years,” that spokesperson said.
- Speaking to Law Murray of The Athletic about the offseason deal that sent him from Utah to Los Angeles and his expectations for the coming season, John Collins said the Clippers were “one of the first teams” he thought of when his name began to pop up in trade rumors. His head coach and teammates also expressed excitement about the fit. “It’s great. We get a big player like John on the floor, alongside Kawhi (Leonard), teams have a nightmare as far as matching up,” Tyronn Lue said. “You want to put a smaller guy on John, or a smaller guy on Kawhi? … (Collins’) versatility on both sides of the basketball is a huge thing for us.”
Free Agent Rumors: Guards, Kuminga, Pacers, Hayes
An expectation that Bradley Beal will soon become an unrestricted free agent is affecting the markets for free agent guards Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and Malcolm Brogdon, who are drawing interest from many of the same teams, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Fischer, the Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, and Timberwolves are among the teams expected to have interest in signing Beal if and when he finalizes a buyout agreement with the Suns, which seems increasingly likely. A previous report also identified the Warriors as a possible suitor for Beal, with the Heat viewed as less likely after their trade for Norman Powell.
The Clippers and Bucks are known to have interest in Paul, Fischer points out, so if Beal ends up with one of those teams, it would likely rule that club out for CP3, perhaps increasing the odds of the 40-year-old reuniting with the Suns.
As for Brogdon, he has the Clippers, Suns, Lakers, Warriors, Timberwolves, and Bucks are also among the teams that have registered some level of interest in him, along with the Pelicans and Kings, Fischer reports.
Free agents like De’Anthony Melton and Ben Simmons may also find themselves involved in this game of backcourt musical chairs, according to Fischer, who suggests that their potential landing spots should become more clearer once one or two of those top guards – starting with Beal – finds a new home.
Here are a few more notes on free agents from around the NBA:
- There was no traction on the Jonathan Kuminga front over the weekend, sources tell Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Slater, the Kings have been the most aggressive suitor for the Warriors restricted free agent so far, but nothing has come close. In fact, the market for all of the top restricted free agents remains “ice cold,” Slater adds.
- The Pacers are expected to reunite with a pair of familiar faces to fill out their frontcourt. Speaking to reporters today, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said the club is planning to re-sign James Wiseman and that things are trending in the right direction with restricted free agent Isaiah Jackson (Twitter links via Tony East).
- Veteran center Jaxson Hayes gave up his right to veto a trade this season when he re-signed with the Lakers, reports Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link). By default, a player re-signing with his previous team on a one-year contract gets a de facto no-trade clause, but a team can ask a player to waive that right as part of his new deal.
Lakers, Jaxson Hayes Finalize One-Year Deal
July 6: Hayes is officially back under contract with the Lakers, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), Hayes actually got a slight raise to 120% above his minimum, so he’ll earn about $3.45MM in 2025/26.
July 3: Free agent center Jaxson Hayes is returning to the Lakers, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides are in agreement on a one-year contract.
Hayes, 25, signed a two-year contract with the Lakers in 2023 and has appeared in 126 games for the team since then, averaging 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks with a 72.1% field goal percentage in 15.6 minutes per night.
The former eighth overall pick took on an increased role during the second half of last season following Anthony Davis‘ abdominal injury and the subsequent trade sending Davis to Dallas. Hayes’ last 32 outings of the regular season were starts, as he boosted his averages to 8.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.0 BPG in 21.9 MPG during that stretch.
Hayes’ starting role carried over to the postseason, but he struggled in the Lakers’ first-round series vs. Minnesota and was limited to single-digit minutes in each of the first four games before being removed as the starter for Game 5. While he was perhaps miscast as a starter, the seven-footer is a solid reserve option behind presumed starter Deandre Ayton in the middle.
Charania’s report doesn’t include any financial details on the deal, but it will likely be a minimum-salary contract, given that Hayes was earning the minimum for each of the past two seasons.
The Lakers now project to have 15 players under contract, assuming No. 36 pick Adou Thiero gets a standard roster spot, notes Jovan Buha (Twitter link). However, Shake Milton‘s $3MM salary is non-guaranteed, so the team has a little flexibility with that 15th spot. Jordan Goodwin also doesn’t have a guaranteed salary, though the expectation is that he’ll return after playing rotation minutes down the stretch last season.
Trade Rumors: Lakers, Bucks, Durant, Wolves
The Lakers‘ obvious need for a center is hurting their chances of finding one, according to Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints. Sources close to the team and around the league tell Irwin that the offseason pursuit of a big man has been frustrating so far because rival clubs are hoping to take advantage of L.A.’s predicament.
“The worst spot you can put yourself in is trying to negotiate while everyone knows about your desperation,” a former executive told Irwin. “The whole league knows that not only do the Lakers need a starting center and probably a backup, but they need to bring someone in who Luka (Doncic) is going to want to play with. They basically have to hope someone else reaches their current level of desperation so that the talks can be held on even footing.”
Jaxson Hayes, who’s headed toward free agency, took over as the starting center after Anthony Davis was traded to Dallas in February. He put up solid numbers during the regular season, but was ineffective in a first-round playoff loss to Minnesota and wasn’t used at all in the deciding Game 5.
Irwin hears from sources close to the team that the Lakers hope to trade for their starting center and use the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception to sign a backup. According to Irwin’s sources, L.A. has been involved in discussions with the Nets about Nic Claxton, the Trail Blazers about Robert Williams and the Jazz about Walker Kessler. He adds that potential free agent targets include Brook Lopez and Clint Capela.
Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:
- The Bucks remain confident about keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo and will focus on trades and free agent signings to complement the two-time MVP, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN. The Khris Middleton trade in February moved Milwaukee below the projected tax line for 2025/26, creating access to the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. The Bucks also have the $5.1MM bi-annual exception, though ESPN’s story points out that it will be difficult financially to use both exceptions while re-signing Lopez and Bobby Portis.
- The Suns are finding it hard to get value for Kevin Durant because there isn’t an “open market,” explains Brian Windhorst of ESPN (YouTube link). Durant has manipulated the market by insisting that he’ll only sign an extension with Houston, San Antonio or Miami, and Windhorst says that advantage has given those teams leverage to limit their offers. He also points out that Durant is Phoenix’s only major trade asset due to its insistence on keeping Devin Booker, so it’s important to maximize the return.
- The Timberwolves seem more likely to keep the 31st pick in the draft than the 17th, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. The first-round pick, which was acquired from New York last fall, comes with a $4.2MM salary, which could hamper the effort to re-sign Naz Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and possibly Julius Randle while staying below the second apron. Hine hears that the Wolves’ front office likes having the first pick in the second round and expects to get a lot of offers between the first and second days of the draft.
Pacific Notes: Holiday, Clips, Hayes, Knecht, Bronny, Kings
A recent report indicated that the Clippers are expected to show interest in Celtics guard Jrue Holiday this summer. In an appearance on The Garden Report podcast with Bobby Manning of CLNS (Twitter video link), Law Murray of The Athletic said he thinks L.A.’s interest in Holiday was overstated, pointing to his contract and James Harden‘s likely return as reasons why it might be unrealistic for the Clippers to pursue a Holiday trade.
“For what Jrue does well, you already have a player like that in Kris Dunn, who is going to make like $25 million less than Jrue (next season), who is younger than Jrue, who arguably is at least as athletic, right around around the same size,” Murray said. “And the key thing for me is the role. This doesn’t sound like something that would come from the Clippers’ side of things.”
As Murray noted, there’s a sizeable gap between Holiday’s ($32.4MM) and Dunn’s ($5.43MM) salaries for 2025/26 (and beyond). And while Holiday certainly has a more accomplished résumé than Dunn, he’s also nearly four years older (Holiday turns 35 in June, whereas Dunn turned 31 in March) and is coming off a down year in ’24/25.
Here are a few more notes from around the Pacific:
- Jaxson Hayes‘ second season with the Lakers was more successful than his first, but it’s uncertain if he’ll return in ’25/26 following a disappointing playoff showing against Minnesota, writes Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. The 25-year-old center will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Lakers are known to be looking for upgrades in the middle.
- Lakers rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James each experienced “roller coaster” debut seasons in different ways, according to Price. Knecht, who had some big scoring outbursts early on in ’24/25, was sent to Charlotte in the Mark Williams deal, only to have the trade rescinded by Los Angeles due concerns over Williams’ medicals. “Anything can happen,” Knecht said during his end-of-season media availability. “Crazy year.”
- As for James, he had a slow start to his rookie campaign, most of which was spent in the G League. But the late second-round pick played some his best basketball of the season toward the end of ’24/25, Price notes. “It’s a huge difference in my confidence,” the Lakers guard said. “The start of the year, I was under a lot of pressure. And it was getting to me a little bit. So just having those games like the Bucks game, just having those games in the G League, just built my confidence every day and proved to me I know what I can do and I’m ready to keep growing as a player.”
- The Kings hosted a pre-draft workout with six prospects on Thursday, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat. Brooks Barnhizer (Northwestern), Saint Thomas (USC), Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Providence), Stefan Todorovic (Pepperdine), Matt Cross (SMU) and Tyson Degenhart (Boise State) were the six participants. Abdur-Rahim, whose father Shareef Abdur-Rahim played in Sacramento, said Thursday’s workout was his first with an NBA team, but he has more scheduled in the coming weeks (Twitter video link via Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento). The Kings control the 42nd pick in next month’s draft.
LeBron James Expresses Uncertainty About Future
In the wake of a Game 5 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday night that brought the Lakers‘ season to an end, star forward LeBron James expressed uncertainty when asked about his future and how much longer he plans to continue playing, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays.
“I don’t know,” James said. “I don’t have an answer to that. Something I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group and kind of just talk through it and see what happens. And just have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now, to be honest. So we’ll see.”
James holds a player option for 2025/26 worth approximately $52.6MM. Discussing what next season’s Lakers roster might look like, he said he’ll have “a lot to think about myself.” The four-time MVP subsequently clarified that any uncertainty he’s feeling is about how far off his retirement might be — not whether he wants to remain in Los Angeles.
“Just continuing to play, I don’t know where I’m at,” James told ESPN. “That’s what that is. Not coming back to play here. Just playing, period.”
James isn’t the only Laker facing a big contract-related decision who wasn’t ready to make any definitive statements immediately after the team’s season came to an end. Star point guard Luka Doncic, who will become fully extension-eligible on August 2, said he’s “really glad” to be in L.A. (Twitter video link via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype), but will need some time to consider his contract options.
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith, a midseason acquisition who helped stabilize the Lakers’ defense, will have to make a decision on a $15.4MM player option this offseason. Finney-Smith said he hasn’t thought about that option yet, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Even if the Lakers work out new deals with James, Doncic, and Finney-Smith this summer, the roster has a glaring hole in the middle that will need to be addressed in the coming months.
Head coach J.J. Redick moved Finney-Smith into his starting lineup in Game 5 ahead of big man Jaxson Hayes, who was a DNP-CD, and the Lakers played most of the night without a real center. Maxi Kleber made his Lakers debut coming off foot surgery, but saw just five minutes of action.
The Timberwolves capitalized in a major way on the Lakers’ lack of frontcourt size, making 20-of-22 (90.9%) of their shots in the restricted area, according to Jack Borman of Locked on Sports Minnesota (Twitter link).
Los Angeles was also out-rebounded by a 54-37 margin. Rudy Gobert grabbed 24 rebounds on his own, and his nine offensive boards were more than the eight collected by the Lakers’ entire team. That rebounding disparity helped the Wolves attempt 11 more field goals and eight more free throws than L.A.
The Lakers reached an agreement prior to February’s trade deadline to acquire third-year center Mark Williams from Charlotte, but they ultimately opted to void that trade due to concerns about Williams’ physical. Shortly after Los Angeles was eliminated from the postseason on Wednesday night, the Hornets big man published a tweet consisting of just a single character: a smiley-face emoji.
Asked after Wednesday’s game whether playing centerless basketball so frequently caught up with the Lakers, James jokingly refused to comment (Twitter video link via HoopsHype).
“My guy A.D. said what he needed, and he was gone the following week. So I got no comment,” James said with a smile, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “With that uniform on every night, I gave everything I had. And that’s all that matters.”
Lakers Notes: Game 4 Loss, Hayes, Finney-Smith, Doncic, LeBron
Coach J.J. Redick made two bold strategic moves that nearly led the Lakers to a Game 4 victory in Minnesota, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Redick decided to replace center Jaxson Hayes with Dorian Finney-Smith for the start of the third quarter, and he used the same five players for the entire second half. Buha notes that Gabe Vincent nearly checked in at one point, but Redick changed his mind and stayed with the same unit for the full 24 minutes.
“I think once you’ve kind of made that decision, and (the players) all are in, you just gotta trust them,” Redick said.
The move seemed inevitable with Hayes, who has been limited to seven points and eight rebounds in the series and didn’t reach double digits in minutes in any of the first four games. Finney-Smith enables L.A. to spread the floor on offense and switch more easily on defense.
The group started the second half on an 11-0 run and won the third quarter by a 36-23 margin, giving the Lakers their highest-scoring quarter of the series. They led by seven points with 5:06 remaining and seemed to be in a good position to tie the series, but couldn’t close out the game. A series of late mistakes proved costly, but players refused to blame the loss on their iron man performance in the second half.
“I don’t think fatigue had anything to do with that,” LeBron James said. “Just missing some point-blank shots, you know? We were getting into what we wanted to get into. We just weren’t able to convert.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Sunday’s game displayed how little trust Redick has in his bench, Buha adds. Along with Hayes, his other rotation members, Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin, tend to be one-way players. Buha believes Redick might use a center-less approach for the rest of the series, even though the Wolves have a lot of size on their front line.
- After battling through a stomach virus in Game 3, Luka Doncic seemed to be back to normal on Sunday, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Doncic finished with 38 points while logging a series-high 46 minutes. “This is the playoffs – fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this,” Doncic said. “I played a lot of minutes, but that shouldn’t play a role. I think they just executed better on the offensive end during the last minutes.”
- James also played 46 minutes and appears to be fully recovered from a left hip flexor strain he suffered two weeks ago, Buha states in a separate story. “He’s moving better,” Redick said after Game 3. “He seems like he’s getting healthier by the day. It’s typically a one-to-two-week injury. Believe it’s been two weeks tonight, if I’m mistaken, from the Houston game. Clearly he’s moving better.”
Lakers Clinch Playoff Berth
It was overshadowed by Luka Doncic‘s emotional return to Dallas, but the Lakers clinched a playoff spot with tonight’s 112-97 win over the Mavericks, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. At 49-31, L.A. can wrap up the No. 3 seed by winning Friday at home against Houston or Sunday at Portland.
Doncic led the way on Wednesday with 45 points after the Mavs welcomed him back with a tribute video during pregame introductions (Twitter link from Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal). Dallas fans cheered wildly for their former franchise player when his name was announced and continued to show their support throughout the game.
“I don’t know how I did it,” Doncic told ESPN (Twitter link). “Because when I was watching that video, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m playing this game.'”
The improbable addition of Doncic shortly before the trade deadline in February changed the course of the Lakers’ season, setting them up as a dangerous opponent heading into the playoffs. Doncic is surrounded by a roster that’s just as talented as the one he led to the NBA Finals last year, and he appears to be fully healthy after dealing with a string of injuries during the first half of the season.
LeBron James continues to perform at an All-NBA level after turning 40 in December, averaging 24.5 points, 7.9 assists and 8.3 assists in 68 games heading into tonight. He and Doncic are both creative passers with elite court vision and a history of playoff success.
Austin Reaves gives the Lakers a reliable third scorer who can carry the offense on any given night. Reaves has been handed a larger role under first-year coach J.J. Redick and has responded with career highs of 20.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 71 games.
The Lakers made another significant move at the deadline, acquiring Mark Williams from Charlotte in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and draft assets, but they later rescinded the deal due to concerns about Williams’ health following his physical. That decision left Jaxson Hayes as the team’s starting center with little proven help off the bench to back him up.
L.A. may have another roster move to make before the regular season ends. Jordan Goodwin was promoted from a two-way contract to a standard deal in late March, and either Christian Koloko or Trey Jemison is reportedly being considered for a spot on the 15-man roster to become eligible for the playoffs. Veteran center Alex Len appears to be most in danger of being waived if that happens.