Lakers Notes: Ayton, LeBron, Paul, Three-Point Shooting
Lakers center Deandre Ayton had to leave Sunday’s game in Utah midway through the second quarter due to a right knee contusion, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Ayton continued playing after an early collision with Ace Bailey, but the pain eventually became too intense.
“He had gotten hit on his leg in the first half and was kind of limping through it,” coach JJ Redick said. “And then couldn’t go in the second half.”
Ayton has been a bargain so far on the two-year, $16.6MM contract he signed during the summer after reaching a buyout agreement with Portland. He was averaging 16.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game coming into Sunday’s contest while shooting 69.6% from the field.
With Ayton sidelined, Jaxson Hayes started the second half and Maxi Kleber logged 14 minutes. Kleber was part of the closing lineup and had a dunk with 1:21 remaining to help L.A. hold on for a two-point victory.
“Obviously, Jaxson has been in a starting role for us before, so very easy for him to step in and into that role,” LeBron James said. “But Maxi gave us big-time minutes. Brought physicality, had a big-time move towards the end to get that dunk.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- James, who finished with 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes in his second game since returning from sciatica, talked about the process of getting back into playing shape (Twitter video link from Khobi Price of The Orange County Register). “The only way to get back in basketball shape is to be playing the basketball game,” James said. “My wind will get better and better. But this week was kind of like my training camp for me, to be honest. So I’m still working my way back.”
- James also offered a message to his longtime friend, Clippers guard Chris Paul, who will retire at the end of the season (video link from McMenamin). “Hope he can just get joy out of this final year,” James said. “… I hope he takes it all in. This is his last hoorah, so we’ll never get this moment again once you’re done to be able to go out and be in the arena.”
- The Lakers are off to a 12-4 start despite ranking 26th in the league in three-point shooting percentage, notes Dan Woike of The Athletic. The month-long slump continued Sunday as they were 10-of-38 (26.3%) from long distance. Austin Reaves, who missed seven of his eight three-point attempts at Utah, said the team is finding other ways to win. “I think it’s just chemistry. Care factor’s high,” he said. “You wanna go out there and do whatever you can do to help one another succeed. And I think that that goes a long way. There’s no selfishness; everybody wants to see everybody succeed.”
Lakers’ Maxi Kleber Cleared For Season Debut
Lakers big man Maxi Kleber has been medically cleared to make his season debut tonight in Atlanta, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register (Twitter link). He had been listed as questionable with a strained abdominal muscle, but he was upgraded to available shortly before game time.
Kleber told Price that he’s “gonna be ready, just be prepared and be back out with the guys, get back in rhythm and routine.”
Kleber was acquired from Dallas in February as part of the Luka Doncic trade, but he has yet to appear in a regular season game with the Lakers. He was recovering from foot surgery at the time of the deal and remained sidelined until the season ended. He did make one playoff appearance, logging nearly five minutes in Game 5 during the first-round loss to Minnesota.
Kleber was healthy coming into training camp in September, but he tweaked his quad on the second day of workouts. He suffered the oblique strain shortly before the start of the regular season, with a reevaluation set for two weeks later.
Kleber was a serviceable big man during his eight years with the Mavericks and will provide additional depth in L.A.’s frontcourt. He appeared in 440 games in Dallas, making 151 starts and averaging 6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 22.3 minutes per night. His career shooting numbers are 44.3% from the field and 35.4% from three-point range, but both percentages dropped sharply last season.
Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura have been healthy and productive early this season as the Lakers’ starting center and power forward. The team has also been getting production off the bench from Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes, so there may not be many available minutes for Kleber right away.
Kleber, who will turn 34 in January, has an $11MM expiring contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Lakers Notes: Luka, Reaves, Ayton, Kleber, LaRavia, Smart
Lakers guards Luka Doncic (lower left leg contusion injury management) and Austin Reaves (right groin soreness) have been ruled out for Monday’s contest in Portland, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays.
It’s the second night of a back-to-back for Los Angeles, which defeated Miami on Sunday to improve to 5-2 on the season.
Doncic missed three games last week due to the leg injury as well as a left finger sprain. This will be his fourth missed game.
As for Reaves, this will be his first absence of the 2025/26 campaign. A source tells Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the 27-year-old played through the groin issue on Sunday and the team is hopeful that it isn’t serious.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Starting center Deandre Ayton missed the second half of Friday’s win over Memphis and all of Sunday’s contest due to back spasms, per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. “He’s still dealing with some tightness and spasms in that mid-back,” head coach JJ Redick said before Sunday’s game. The Bahamian big man is questionable vs. Portland, McMenamin notes, as is Maxi Kleber, who could make his season debut on Monday after missing the first seven games with an strained abdominal muscle.
- After a slow start over his first four games (6.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists on .348/.333/.556 shooting), free agent addition Jake LaRavia has been scorching hot in the past three contests, averaging 21.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 2.7 SPG on .781/.667/.583 shooting. Redick was effusive in his praise of the 6’8″ forward after Sunday’s win, saying he “just knows how to play,” as Dan Woike of The Athletic writes. “He just has a really good feel,” Redick said of LaRavia. “His knack for the basketball as a defender. His knack for the basketball as a rebounder. He just has a real intuitive feel for the game.”
- According to Jillian Adge of The Kings Herald (Twitter link), the Kings were determined to keep LaRavia in free agency but were outbid by the Lakers — Sacramento was limited to offering the 24-year-old a starting salary of $5.16MM in 2025/26 after Memphis declined his fourth-year option last fall, while L.A. was able to exceed that figure ($6MM this season and next). Matt George of ABC 10 confirms (via Twitter) the Kings wanted to re-sign LaRavia and were confident they’d be able to, but the extra money — and LaRavia’s close relationship with Reaves — made signing with the Lakers an “easy” call for the former first-round pick.
- Veteran guard Marcus Smart, another free agent addition, had a solid all-around performance on Sunday, finishing with 11 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block. He also made several “momentum-changing hustle plays,” according to Price. “Unbelievable impact,” Doncic said of Smart. “I’ve played against this guy a lot. He was always guarding me, so I know how it feels for the other team. I’m glad he’s on my team, and the impact he has [is] unbelievable. He’s been hustling every game, every moment, every minute, every second.”
Lakers’ Kleber Out At Least Two Weeks With Oblique Strain
Maxi Kleber won’t be available when the regular season gets underway, according to the Lakers, who announced today that the veteran big man has an oblique strain and will be reevaluated in approximately two weeks.
Kleber, acquired from Dallas in February’s Luka Doncic blockbuster, broke his foot in January and didn’t make his Lakers debut until Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, the team’s last game of the season.
Coming into this season, there was a sense that Kleber might have a chance to play a regular role in Los Angeles’ relatively thin frontcourt, but injuries have once again been a problem. He sustained a minor quad injury early in training camp that limited him to just a single preseason appearance, and now he’s expected to miss at least the club’s first eight games of the season due to an oblique issue.
Kleber has shown in the past that he can be an effective rotation player when healthy — he averaged between 21 and 27 minutes per game while appearing in between 50 and 74 contests in Dallas from 2018-22. However, health problems have slowed him down in the past three seasons. The 33-year-old has missed more regular season games (132) than he has played (114) since the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
With Kleber unavailable and forwards LeBron James and Adou Thiero also out to open the season, the Lakers figure to lean more heavily on centers Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes and forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt in their frontcourt. Two-way center Christian Koloko could also play a role for L.A. in the early going.
Lakers Notes: Luka, Smart, Knecht, Ayton, Manon, Kleber
Perennial All-NBA guard Luka Doncic and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart will make their preseason debuts for the Lakers on Tuesday against Phoenix, head coach JJ Redick told reporters, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN and Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group.
Redick said both players will suit up for two of L.A.’s final three preseason games. Given Wednesday’s contest vs. Dallas is the second of a back-to-back, it seems likely that Doncic and Smart will play again on Friday against Sacramento, McMenamin observes.
Doncic hasn’t been injured during the preseason — the Lakers have just been cautious not to overexert him after the 26-year-old spent part of the summer playing for the Slovenian national team at EuroBasket 2025. Redick indicated that Doncic will be on a minutes restriction vs. the Suns.
Forward Jarred Vanderbilt said Doncic has looked good in recent practices, according to Price.
“He’s moving great,” Vanderbilt said Monday. “Everything that I’ve seen from him, like, he’s being vocal. He’s leading the charge, he’s being everything we need him to be right now. We’re happy to have him out there right now during this week, him getting some good practices and running with us, and just starting to build that momentum towards the regular season.”
Smart was originally supposed to play in Sunday’s game against Golden State but his preseason debut was pushed back a couple days. He has battled both Achilles tendinopathy and a stomach illness during training camp.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- While Dalton Knecht‘s trade value has reportedly taken a hit over the past several months, the second-year forward has drawn praise from Redick for his offensive play in training camp, Price adds in another story. Knecht was moved into the starting lineup for Sunday’s win against the Warriors and responded with 16 points. “His sort of ceiling is going to be based on his improvement this season as a defender,” Redick said of Knecht. “He’s a big-time threat and a big-time player, and he’s made improvements. That’s ultimately going to be what the ceiling is for him. He’s earned the opportunity to [get] a look with him in the starting lineup. And our conversations all summer, all preseason, this is a year of player development for him, of growth and what that looks like, it’s got to be incremental. He’s bought into that, which is great.”
- As Price writes, Deandre Ayton also had a solid showing on Sunday, recording 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes. The former No. 1 overall pick has been something of an afterthought the past couple years in Portland, but Austin Reaves believes the Bahamian big man is capable of producing at a high level for the Lakers. “Just how much skill he has,” Reaves responded when asked what has stood out about Ayton. “People forget about when he was in Phoenix and how dominant he was there and how he was one of the biggest reasons that team made it to the Finals [in 2021]. Talent is high. Can play in the pick-and-roll. Can protect the rim. We need that. We need him to flourish in that role.”
- Rookie wing Chris Manon will likely miss the remainder of preseason after suffering a Grade 2 ankle sprain, according to Redick (Twitter link via Price). Manon, who is known for his defense, signed a two-way contract with the Lakers in July after playing for the Warriors during Summer League.
- Veteran big man Maxi Kleber has dealt with a variety of injuries in recent years, including a broken right foot he suffered in January. He has been battling a quad injury during preseason but was able to play in a stay-ready game on Monday, tweets Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Western Notes: Kuminga, Kleber, Coward, Blazers, Grant
After Jonathan Kuminga took part in his first Warriors practice of training camp on Thursday – he participated in about half the team’s scrimmages, per head coach Steve Kerr (Twitter video link) – the 22-year-old forward publicly discussed his contract situation for the first time since finalizing a two-year, $46.8MM deal that includes a second-year team option.
Negotiations on that contract dragged on for the entire offseason in part because Kuminga reportedly didn’t want to simply become a trade chip after re-signing. So, now that he’s back under contract on a very tradable deal, does he feel as if the Warriors want to keep him for the long term?
“I would say so,” Kuminga said, per ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “Based on me being back here. At the end of the day, let’s see where this takes us. But my focus is this year pushing and actually helping us win. You never know what’s going to happen, but I’m happy, glad to be back.”
As for whether he wants to remain in Golden State for the long term? “I’m here now,” Kuminga said. “That’s everybody’s goal, to be somewhere for longer. You never know your future. So far that’s my goal. That’s what I want to accomplish. Being here for longer.”
Kuminga’s role has been inconsistent during his first four years in the NBA, including last spring, when he was a DNP-CD in a handful of games at the end of the season and in the postseason. He said on Thursday that he’s determined to find ways to “help us win” on both ends of the court in 2025/26 and that he intends to silence critics who believe he’s an offense-only player.
“If it’s on defense, if it’s an assignment, just go guard the best player,” Kuminga said. “Today we need you to score. Today we need you to guard certain people. That’s what I’m looking forward to and I’m open-minded to it.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Lakers big man Maxi Kleber is dealing with a quad injury, but it’s considered minor, according to head coach JJ Redick, who said on Thursday the team is being cautious with Kleber and he’ll miss a few days (Twitter link via Jovan Buha). Kleber, acquired from Dallas in February’s Luka Doncic blockbuster, broke his foot in January and didn’t make his Lakers debut until Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Minnesota, the team’s last game of the season.
- Cedric Coward, the No. 11 pick in June’s draft, is earning praise from coaches and teammates alike at the Grizzlies‘ training camp at Belmont University this week, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I think he’s kind of exceeded my expectations,” point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. said. “I never really saw any of his (college) highlights, but I’ve played and I’ve been around top picks. I feel like he’s been one of the better ones I’ve ever seen.” Memphis gave up a future first-round pick and two second-rounders in order to move up five spots from No. 16 to draft Coward.
- After declaring at a July 22 press conference that it’s “winning time now” for the Trail Blazers, general manager Joe Cronin walked back that comment a little this week when he discussed the team’s expectations for the coming season, notes Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “Do we want to make the play-in? Yes,” Cronin said. “Do we want to make the playoffs? Yes. Do we want to win 16 playoff games? Yes. But I don’t have expectations and I won’t be disappointed if those things don’t happen as long as we’re continually growing. We’re still thinking big-picture with this roster.”
- On media day on Monday, Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant answered a question about the possibility of him coming off the bench by replying, “I don’t really expect that.” On Thursday, Grant sought to clarify that he wouldn’t become disgruntled if he doesn’t end up starting. “I’m fine, man,” he said, per Highkin (Twitter link).
Lakers Notes: Smart, Vanderbilt, Kleber, Backcourt Rotation, Koloko
Head coach JJ Redick is hoping the offseason addition of Marcus Smart and better health from Jarred Vanderbilt will improve the Lakers‘ perimeter defense, writes Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. Smart is a former Defensive Player of the Year and Vanderbilt has also been a highly regarded defender, but they’ve both been slowed by injuries over the past two seasons.
“With a healthy Vando and hopefully a healthy Marcus, our ability to put more pressure on the basketball earlier in the defensive possession will be a real thing,” Redick said.
Smart has been limited in camp due to Achilles tendinopathy, but Redick told reporters that he should be fully recovered by the end of the week. He has only played 54 combined games the past two seasons, and the Lakers are counting on him to be an anchor for their defense.
“I’ve talked with JJ and what he expects from me on both ends, especially the defensive end,” Smart said. “It’s everything I’ve been doing my whole career. It’s nothing new and I remember the first thing he told me was, ‘Hey, if we’re going to get the Celtics’ Marcus Smart, that’s who we want, that’s who we need. And we need you to be that person and be who you are.’ So for me, it’s just coming out and giving everything I got on this court and leaving it out there every night.”
Vanderbilt had surgery on both feet last summer and didn’t make his season debut until January 25. He said he’s feeling much better in training camp after being able to train during the offseason.
“It feels great being able to have a full summer under my belt. I was able to really work on my game, work on my body, and just having that confidence going into the year instead of playing catch up,” Vanderbilt said. “Being able to be a part of training camp early, and it’s a different level of approach and preparation when you already put the work in and being able to start fresh.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Maxi Kleber was set to undergo an MRI on Wednesday after tweaking his quad on the second day of camp, according to Lakers reporter Jovan Buha (Twitter link). Redick said the injury doesn’t appear to be serious, Buha adds.
- Redick listed Smart, Gabe Vincent and Jake LaRavia as locks for the backcourt rotation along with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Buha tweets.
- Christian Koloko believes this year’s version of the Lakers is more driven to succeed (Twitter video link from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin). “You can just see that everybody is like more hungry,” K0loko said. “We knew what we did last year, we could have done better. We want to do better. We want to win the championship. Everybody knows what it takes to get to that next level.”
Lakers Notes: Doncic, Pelinka, LeBron, Thiero
The Lakers provided a huge show of support for Luka Doncic as he represented Slovenia at EuroBasket, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Team governor Jeanie Buss and president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka both made the trip to Poland to watch Doncic in action. They were joined by team stakeholders Kurt Rambis and his wife Linda, along with other staff members, and assistant coach Greg St. Jean worked on Slovenia’s coaching staff.
“Luka has a tremendous amount of heartfelt pride and appreciation for his roots and playing for his country,” Pelinka said. “I just think in the partnerships we have with our players, the Lakers want to be mindful of players’ passions and who they are as men and then lean in and support those things. So, around Luka, it was a very easy partnership decision that we wanted to support.”
Even though his team didn’t bring home a medal, Doncic was outstanding. He averaged 34.7 points per game, the highest by anyone since 1989, and raised that figure to 40.5 PPG in two knockout round contests. Team sources tell McMenamin that the Lakers’ coaching staff was impressed by the way Doncic moved after his offseason conditioning program. He was able to jump noticeably higher, split double teams and be more disruptive on defense.
“Players playing basketball in the offseason is something that, from a leadership standpoint, I support,” Pelinka said. “I think you could say in some sense that some of the offseason and sort of the current basketball lens, especially in the States, is on individual work. And I think that sort of the team environment can get lost.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Multiple stories have indicated that L.A. is prioritizing cap room for the summer of 2027, but Pelinka indicated that plans could change if the right opportunity comes along, McMenamin adds in the same piece. The team will face important financial decisions soon with Rui Hachimura ($18.3 million), Gabe Vincent ($11.5 million) and Maxi Kleber ($11 million) all on expiring contracts and Austin Reaves likely heading for free agency after declining a four-year, $89MM extension in June. Sources tell McMenamin that the Lakers would consider trading for a contract that extends beyond 2026.“In terms of team building, we’ve talked about the importance of having optionality and when I use that word, it’s not to say in the future,” Pelinka said. “I think optionality is also in the now.”
- Among his many accomplishments, LeBron James last season became the first player ever to reach 50,000 combined points in the regular season and playoffs. During a visit to China, he talked about what it took to achieve that record in an interview with CBV Game (YouTube link, hat tip to Lakers Nation). “I don’t think it’s about the record, I just think it’s a microcosm of my career, of my hard work and dedication to my craft, and my love for the game,” James said. “I put so many hours into trying to be the greatest of what I can become and the best I can become. That moment is there is an indication of that, of hard work paying off. It’s always pretty cool when you can have those moments that show that the work does pay off.”
- Rookie forward Adou Thiero told NBA on Prime (Twitter link) that he chose No. 1 as his uniform number as a tribute to Derrick Rose. “My first favorite player was Derrick Rose,” Thiero said. “So then I tried to go with the number I was throughout college (3) and everything. I wasn’t able to get that number so, you know, why not go back with what we started with.”
Lakers Notes: Doncic, Smart, Vanderbilt, Kleber, More
“External fretting” about whether or not Luka Doncic will make a long-term commitment to the Lakers has subsided significantly in recent weeks, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link), who says the star guard and his camp have worked closely with the front office this summer as it has bolstered the roster in free agency.
As previously reported, Doncic played a major role in the Lakers’ efforts to recruit both center Deandre Ayton and guard Marcus Smart to Los Angeles. According to Stein, Doncic’s pitch to Smart “particularly resonated” with the former Defensive Player of the Year, who ultimately chose the Lakers despite the division-rival Suns making a “determined push” to land him.
As of August 2, Doncic will be eligible to sign an extension that could be worth up to a projected $222.4MM over four years. While there’s no guarantee he’ll sign for the maximum four years or that he’ll get a deal done immediately on Aug. 2, it seems increasingly likely that the five-time All-Star will have a new extension in hand before the 2025/26 season begins, as reporting over the weekend indicated.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Like Doncic, Smart has been working hard this offseason on his body and his conditioning, according to Stein, who writes that the Lakers are optimistic about getting a “sleeker” version of the 31-year-old next season after he battled health issues over the past couple years.
- Stein has also heard that forward Jarred Vanderbilt is healthier now than he was at any point during the 2024/25 season. Although both players were on last season’s roster, healthy versions of Vanderbilt and big man Maxi Kleber could feel sort of like offseason additions for the Lakers, Stein writes. Vanderbilt played a very limited role in 36 regular season outings last season, while Kleber didn’t make his debut as a Laker until the playoffs — both of them missed time while recovering from foot surgery.
- People around the league believe Trail Blazers veterans Jrue Holiday and Robert Williams are potential trade targets to watch for the Lakers this season, according to Grant Afseth of Fast Break Journal. I’m skeptical of the Holiday fit, given that Los Angeles has shown no interest in taking on long-term money (Holiday is still owed $104.4MM over three years) and Portland was prepared to give up a pair of draft picks along with Anfernee Simons to acquire him (those two second-rounders ultimately weren’t included due to minor concerns about Holiday’s physical). However, if he proves he’s healthy, Williams might make some sense for the Lakers due to their limited depth behind Ayton in the middle.
- In case you missed it, the Lakers waived both Jordan Goodwin and Shake Milton on Sunday in order to create the cap flexibility necessary to sign Smart using their bi-annual exception.
Agent Says LeBron James Hasn’t Asked To Be Traded
Trade speculation has been swirling around LeBron James for the past two weeks since his decision to exercise a $52.6MM player option for next season was accompanied by a statement from agent Rich Paul indicating that James will be monitoring the Lakers‘ personnel moves to make sure they’re assembling a championship-level roster.
During today’s broadcast of L.A.’s Summer League game (Twitter video link), Dave McMenamin of ESPN relayed a conversation with Paul, who said James hasn’t asked him to work out a trade and he hasn’t discussed the possibility of a future trade with team officials. McMenamin adds that four teams contacted Paul directly to express interest in acquiring James.
Paul also dispelled a theory that James is upset because the Lakers didn’t offer him a contract beyond 2025/26, with McMenamin saying that Paul and James never asked the team for that.
James was at Saturday’s game to watch his son, Bronny James, and the rest of L.A.’s Summer League squad. McMenamin said he gave LeBron a chance to appear on the broadcast to discuss the situation, but he responded, “I ain’t got nothing to talk about.”
McMenamin states that it’s “business as usual” for the Lakers, who are trying to put together the best possible roster around James and Luka Doncic. He lists their assets in potential deals as their 2031 first-round pick and the expiring contracts of Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber and Gabe Vincent. They can open a roster spot by waiving Shake Milton before his $3MM contract for next season becomes fully guaranteed on July 20.
James raised some eyebrows around the league by visiting the Cavaliers’ practice facility last week. Although he explained it’s an annual occurrence because he lives in the area during the offseason, it’s possible that similar incidents will continue throughout the summer and maybe into the season until his future gets settled.