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Western Notes: Kuzma, Anthony, Thunder, Jazz

August 15th, 2018 at 10:04am CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma doesn’t think his team will have to wait a year to contend, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. Kuzma believes the additions of LeBron James and other big-name free agents makes them instant contenders. “We think that a lot of people are underestimating us,” he told Youngmisuk. Kuzma added that many teams need to work on their chemistry but he’s confident the team’s younger players will blend well with the veteran additions. “I don’t know why people kind of just rule us out because we are young,” he said. “We are hungry. We are competitive. Anybody that watched us play last year, we were in a lot of games.”

We have more from around the Western Conference:

Rockets forward Nene Hilario believes Carmelo Anthony is still one of the elite players in the league, Mark Berman of KRIV tweets. “When he commits to do the right thing and they use his talent, man get out of the way. Simple as that. For me, he’s a top-10 player in the league,” Hilario told Berman. Anthony officially signed with Houston earlier this week.
The Thunder catch a little bit of a scheduling break, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman points out. Each team plays four conference foes three times while facing every other conference team four times. The Thunder only have to play the two-time defending champion Warriors three times, with the Lakers, Spurs and Grizzlies also in that group. The Grizzlies are the only projected non-playoff contender among that quartet.
The Jazz franchise has become a haven for foreign-born players and coaches, Brad Rock of the Deseret News notes. The current roster includes Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Ricky Rubio, Raul Neto, Naz Mitrou-Long and Thabo Sefolosha and the team also recently hired the league’s first Greek assistant coach.

Pacific Rumors: Ellis, Clippers Arena, Cousins, Lakers

August 13th, 2018 at 9:02pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings have officially hired Ty Ellis as head coach of their G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, according to a team press release. Ellis was head coach of the Suns’ G League team in 2016 before being elevated to an assistant coaching position with Phoenix last season. Ellis replaces Darrick Martin, Sacramento’s G League coach the last two seasons.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

A new lawsuit targeting the proposed Clippers arena in Inglewood alleges that two city-linked boards violated state laws governing open meetings, Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times reports. The suit also claims those boards also violated the environmental impact of construction projects in June when they approved the disposal of land to clear space for the arena, Fenno continues. The Clippers signed an exclusive negotiating agreement with Inglewood last year for a new arena but the team’s lease at Staples Center runs through 2024, Fenno adds.
The Warriors were expecting to use their mid-level exception on a wing player until they got a call from DeMarcus Cousins‘ agent during the second day of free agency, Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. GM Bob Myers revealed his summer plan during a 95.7 The Game interview. “We had been preserving our taxpayer mid-level exception for somebody that might fall through the cracks and not get paid in a very tight free agency market,” Myers said. “But mostly we were thinking wings. I figured if something like that were to happen it would happen July 8th, 9th, 10th.”
The Lakers won’t make the postseason, Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports predicts. Mannix made the comment during a NBC Sports Boston podcast, believing that the players around LeBron James won’t mesh well. “You have to assume it’s 48 wins to get into the playoffs in the Western Conference,” Mannix said. “I don’t see that team making up that difference.”

Pacific Notes: Kings, Clippers, Lakers

August 9th, 2018 at 8:33pm CST by Austin Kent

The Kings added to their glut of big men when they drafted power forward Marvin Bagley with the second pick of the 2018 draft. Now, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area writes, head coach Dave Joerger will have to figure out how to juggle the frontcourt rotation.

Given his stature as one of the top picks in the summer draft, Bagley is a lock to play significant minutes for the Kings. He could see time at both the four and the five.

Ham writes that Harry Giles, a first-rounder in 2017, could see major minutes in his first taste of NBA action as well. The big man may have to shake off rust after sitting out last year to fully recover from knee injuries, but could be part of the Kings’ starting frontcourt of the future.

There’s more from the Pacific Division this evening:

A batch of coaching changes demonstrate the Clippers‘ franchise-wise commitment toward player development, Tomer Azarly of the team’s official site writes. The club will have Casey Hill join Doc Rivers’ staff after serving last year as the head coach of the team’s G League squad. Brian Adams will take his place with the Ontario affiliate and Natalie Nakase will move from the G League to big league squad’s development staff.
Clippers‘ forward Danilo Gallinari will ask the team to let him play for the Italian national club in September, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando writes. Gallinari was limited to just 21 games last season due to a fractured hand but appears to be healthy this summer.
A panel of ESPN staffers has concluded that the team that added the greatest basketball player of his generation will have the biggest turnaround this season. Alas, LeBron James‘ Lakers are also expected to suffer from the most team turmoil, according to ESPN’s panel.

And-Ones: ROY Predictions, Offseason Rankings, NBAGL

August 6th, 2018 at 4:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has the best chance to win the Rookie of the Year award, according to an ESPN panel. Doncic will fill up the stat sheet and might wind up with the ball more often than second-year guard Dennis Smith Jr., according to Mike Schmitz. Top overall pick Deandre Ayton ranks second on the poll, with Schmitz noting that the Suns big man likely to get more playing time than any other rookie. Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton and Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. round out the top five.

We have more from around the league:

Retaining Paul George in free agency and dumping Carmelo Anthony‘s contract while receiving projected sixth man Dennis Schroder in return earned the Thunder the top spot on NBA.com’s David Aldridge’s offseason rankings. The rankings are based upon what teams have done during the offseason. The Lakers ranked No. 2 by virtue of signing LeBron James and handing out one-year contracts to other players, thus allowing them to be a force again in next year’s free agent market. The Nuggets gained the No. 3 spot by locking up Nikola Jokic and making trades that cleared roster spots and eased their luxury-tax situation.
Forwards DJ Hogg (Texas A&M) and Malik Pope (San Diego State) and swingman BJ Johnson (LaSalle) are among the top 10 prospects at the G League Invitational, according to Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. The invitational takes place Sunday in Chicago and over a dozen of last year’s prospects received training camp invites afterward.
The Warriors’ over-under odds for wins next season is 62.5, according to Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. The Celtics ranked second overall with a 57.5 over-under win total with the Rockets third at 54.5. The Hawks have the lowest projected win total at 23.5. The odds for each NBA team were passed along by ESPN’s Ben Fawkes.

L.A. Notes: James, Deng, Gallinari, Barnes

August 4th, 2018 at 9:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James has expressed interest in being part of a future NBA Africa game, writes Lindsay du Plessis of ESPN, which would make him the biggest star ever to participate. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the possibility in a news conference prior to today’s contest.

“Both Amadou [Gallo Fall, NBA managing director for Africa] and I have spoken directly to LeBron James, and he has stated that he would very much like to come to Africa and be part of the game,” Silver said. “I will say on his behalf that he has an extraordinarily complicated schedule, even in the offseason, and he is someone who, for the last eight years, has played in the NBA finals. So his season has gone from September to late June, so he has a very short break. During those summers he also often plays for the national team, Olympic Games, things like that.”

Silver added that the African experience, which includes several days of volunteer work as part of Basketball Without Borders, is high on James’ list of priorities and he expressed confidence that the Lakers star will be part of the game in the future.

There’s more NBA news from Los Angeles:

Luol Deng got a rare chance to show off his skills in today’s NBA Africa game and responded with 14 points, three steals and three rebounds, notes Mike Trudell of NBA.com. Deng played on opening night last season, then never got into another game as the Lakers devoted more minutes to their younger players. Deng, 33, is a two-time All-Star, but has become a salary cap problem for the Lakers with two seasons and $36.81MM left on his contract.
Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari looked fully healthy in capturing MVP honors in the game, writes Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report. Gallinari, who was limited to 21 games last season because of injuries and finished the season with a fractured right hand, hit nine of 10 shots and scored 23 points in leading the World Team to victory.
Matt Barnes blames “egos” for the Clippers‘ failure to advance past the second round of the playoffs when they had a core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, relays Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. Barnes made the remarks in an appearance on AM 570 L.A. Sports, saying the team lacked the “mental toughness” to put together a championship run.

Stein’s Latest: Sixers, Warriors, Rockets, Nets

July 31st, 2018 at 6:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Sixers’ much-anticipated offseason fell far short of expectations, Marc Stein of the New York Times opines in his latest newsletter (Sign-up link).

Philadelphia didn’t come close to signing either LeBron James or Paul George in the free agent market and couldn’t swing a deal with the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard, Stein continues. With Leonard landing in Toronto, the Sixers no longer have a clear path to the conference finals. They’re also still looking for a GM and the most consequential moves they made were re-signing J.J. Redick and dealing for Wilson Chandler, Stein adds.

We have more of Stein’s insights:

The Warriors were the biggest winners in the offseason. They not only stunned the NBA world by signing DeMarcus Cousins but they also made some underrated moves, such as locking up coach Steve Kerr to a long-term contract and signing serviceable forward Jonas Jerebko.
The Rockets’ offseason has been unfairly criticized. Re-signing Clint Capela to a team-friendly contract was a major coup and they should extract more production out of Carmelo Anthony than any other team in the league could.
The Nets will be active on the free agent market next summer but they won’t spend money simply because they’ll have a lot of cap space. Kyrie Irving will be a target if he declines his player option and becomes a free agent.

Western Notes: James, Batum, Katsikaris, Jones

July 30th, 2018 at 7:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

LeBron James seriously considered joining the Sixers and Rockets before signing with the Lakers. In an extensive interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that was relayed by Dave McMenamin, James addressed a variety of topics, including which teams he considered during free agency.

“I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid or lining up aside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul],” he told Nichols.

The Sixers had the salary-cap space to sign James but the Rockets would have likely required a sign-and-trade with the Cavaliers to acquire his services. James also insisted he doesn’t see next season as a rebuilding year for the Lakers.

“We have an opportunity to do something that a lot of people don’t think we can do, and we love the notion of it’s another rebuilding year and we don’t have enough. So that will motivate the guys that we have anyways.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Rockets are actively seeking a defensive-minded player on the trade market and are willing to take on a long-term contract, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN in comments relayed by digital journalist Ben DuBose. Houston would presumably move forward Ryan Anderson, who has two years and $41.7MM left on his deal. The Hornets’ Nicolas Batum would be a logical target, as Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype notes. Batum has three years and $76.7MM remaining on his contract, which includes a player option in the final year.
The Jazz have hired Fotis Katsikaris as an assistant to Quin Snyder, the team announced in a press release. Katsikaris becomes the first-ever native Greek NBA assistant coach. He was a head coach in Spain last season and served as head coach of the Greek national team from 2014-16.
The Warriors are unlikely to pick up center Damian Jones‘ fourth-year option, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Golden State must make a decision on the $2.3MM option prior to the start of the season. If it’s declined, Jones will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

LeBron James Talks Decision To Sign With Lakers

July 29th, 2018 at 4:28pm CST by marksuleymanov

LeBron James‘ decision to sign with the Lakers ended his second tour of duty with Cavaliers and altered the basketball world. After appearing in four straight NBA Finals with Cleveland, James is heading to the Western Conference for the first time in his career.

Aside from an appearance at Summer League, donning a $495 pair of Lakers shorts, James had not addressed his four-year pact with Los Angeles. As James prepares to open a new public school called “I Promise,” in his native Akron, Ohio, James discussed his choice to join the Lakers via his Uninterrupted platform on Sunday.

“You look at the Lakers,” James said. “Being able to play for a historic franchise with so much history, and now being able to partner with Magic Johnson, someone I kinda like looked up to when I was younger and wanted to make no-look passes like Magic, wanted to get on the break and be Showtime like Magic and then for it to all come to fruition at this point.”

James, 33, joins the Lakers after a season in which he played in all 82 regular season games for the first time and averaged 27.5 PPG, 9.1 APG and 8.6 RPG. The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player cited timing as a major part of his decision and that his goal is to bring a championship to Los Angeles.

“I think timing is everything. For me to be in this position now, the excitement that I have to be a Laker, I’m happy to be a part of it because I believe the Lakers is a historical franchise, we all know that, but it’s a championship franchise and that’s what we’re trying to get back to,” he said. “I’m happy to be a part of the culture and be a part of us getting back to that point.”

Cavaliers Notes: Love, Nance, Veterans

July 24th, 2018 at 10:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kevin Love expressed his desire to stay in Cleveland during his exit interview with the team following the NBA Finals, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports. The power forward also reiterated his desire to stay once the news of LeBron James leaving town broke — during both interactions, he discussed his interest in a long-term deal.

Love inked a four-year extension with the Cavaliers worth an additional $120MM. As part of the arrangement, the big man declined his player option for the 2019/20 season, which is the first season the new pact will kick in.

Here some notes and reactions on the deal signed by Cleveland’s newest face of the franchise:

The Love signing suggests that the Cavaliers have no interest in a full teardown, Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated writes. Outside of rookie deals, Love is the only guaranteed contract on the books past the 2019/20 campaign.
Cleveland is reportedly interested in giving both Larry Nance Jr. and Rodney Hood new deals, Woo adds. Nance has one season at roughly $2.27MM left on his current deal. Hood is a restricted free agent, though he hasn’t had much interest this offseason after a shaky start to his Cavs career.
The belief around the league was that the Cavaliers were going to move their high-priced veterans, but it became clear early on that the franchise wasn’t going to find takers for many of its players, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. The scribe adds that Cleveland remains open to trades. However, after locking Love down long-term, there isn’t much urgency to move veterans.

Pacific Notes: Beasley, James, Livingston, Temple

July 21st, 2018 at 10:44am CST by marksuleymanov

In a somewhat surprising move, the Lakers plan to sign veteran forward Michael Beasley to a one-year, $3.5MM deal, using a significant portion of their room exception. Beasley enjoyed a rejuvenated season with the Knicks in 2017/18, averaging 13.2 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 74 games (30 starts).

Beasley reportedly had opportunities to sign with teams that offered more playing time, but a tough free agent market made the $3.5MM salary hard to pass up, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com. Also, Beasley has familiarity with LeBron James, as he played alongside the four-time NBA MVP with the Heat.

Since the Lakers signed James away from the Cavaliers, the team has further added Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and now Beasley. While it may not be the super team fans had hoped for, it’s an interesting conglomerate of talent.

Check out more Pacific Division notes:

Speaking of James, he made his first public appearance last Sunday to watch his new team in action at NBA Summer League. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report spoke to several Lakers’ executives who were on hand and discussed the prospect of James in Los Angeles and his role on the team. One executive actually believes the Lakers’ best lineup would be with James at center.
Shaun Livingston has been a valuable reserve for the Warriors as the team has dominated the NBA the past half-decade, winning three championships in the past four years. Michael Scotto of The Athletic (subscription required) spoke to Livingston during his basketball camp in New York City, where Livingston addressed the Warriors’ success and the perception that Golden State has “ruined” the league with their super team.
Ever since Zach LaVine‘s offer sheet was matched by the Bulls, the Kings have not made any major additions to the team this offseason. Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes that the Kings’ low-key approach thus far is okay and helps the team in the future.
The Grizzlies sent $1.5MM to the Kings as part of the trade for Garrett Temple , tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. That figure is the equivalent of Deyonta Davis‘ salary, which would therefore be covered by Memphis if the Kings choose to waive him.

Clark Crum contributed to this post.