Lakers Interested In Shumpert, Chandler
The Lakers recently called the Knicks to express their interest in Iman Shumpert, sources close to the situation tell Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. No trade is imminent, however, and sources say the Lakers’ call was more about doing their due diligence.
The Lakers are unlikely to make a deal before the end of their current four-game trip, but they could be interested in bolstering their backcourt given the recent rash of injuries. Steve Blake has now joined point guards Steve Nash and Jordan Farmar on the injured list thanks to an elbow injury that will sideline him at least six weeks. Shumpert, of course, is a two-guard, but Kobe Bryant has been uncharacteristically pass-happy since making his return.
Shump isn’t their only possible target Sources tell Broussard the Lakers also are interested in center Tyson Chandler but have yet to inquire on him. Los Angeles is deciding whether to propose a Pau Gasol-for-Chandler trade and even though the Knicks aren’t looking to move him, they’ve gotten several calls. The Knicks would rather keep Chandler, but they’d consider moving him if it meant also dealing struggling guard J.R. Smith.
Lakers Open To Re-Signing Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol‘s frustrations, offensive struggles, and impending free agency have the Lakers considering trade options for the big man. However, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter) that the team is still open to re-signing him at season’s end. Los Angeles believes that Gasol can succeed in coach Mike D’Antoni‘s system and hopes that he does.
D’Antoni held a team meeting Friday to address the rising tensions between him and Gasol in which he urged the forward or anyone else who had an issue with his coaching to speak to him directly. With a relationship that is still termed as “professional,” one has to imagine that there’s at least a chance for reconciliation between the two.
As for the trade possibility, sources tell Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Lakers would be reluctant to surrender their hard-fought financial flexibility in a deal for Gasol or any other player. Yet it is believed the Lakers would consider taking back salary commitments for the 2014/15 season if they received a strong offer featuring a player who could significantly help them this season and beyond or other assets to help them reload around Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers have yet to engage other clubs in talks for Gasol and have told him that they’d like to work out a new deal, sources tell the ESPN.com duo. That could be easier said that done given Gasol’s friction with D’Antoni and Kobe’s brand new two-year, $48.5MM deal.
Odds & Ends: Gasol, Knicks, Clippers
It seems high trading season has begun early this year, as this week has featured another Rudy Gay swap, plenty of rumors about Omer Asik and Kyle Lowry, and a flurry of roster moves. Sunday is December 15th, the day many players become eligible for inclusion in trades, so the week ahead doesn’t figure to be any slower. Here’s more from a busy Association:
- Kobe Bryant dismisses the notion that Pau Gasol and Mike D’Antoni are at odds, as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes via Twitter. “That’s every year,” Bryant said. “They’re like an old couple. That’s every year. It’s not really anything new. It’s not a big deal.” Of course, D’Antoni and Gasol have only been together since last season.
- Every part of the Knicks franchise is in “complete chaos,” says Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). New York lost to the Celtics tonight for the second time in six days, but in contrast to Sunday’s 41-point blowout, this time it was only by four.
- Ongoing negotiations for a local TV deal helped motivate the Clippers to spend on Chris Paul and Doc Rivers, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling.
- Many around the league see Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg as the top candidate for an NBA head coaching job among those currently leading college teams, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
- HoopsWorld’s Nate Duncan tries to identify the players who’ll stick around for the long-term on the Suns, Jazz and Kings as each team rebuilds.
Odds & Ends: Gay, Pau, Fisher, Jenkins
Rudy Gay spoke to Sam Amick of USA Today about being traded for the second time in the calendar year, and indicated that he had yet made up his mind about his 2014/15 player option. Gay suggested he’ll make his decision with championship contention in mind, adding, “It’s really not as much about the money as you’d think.” If that’s truly the case, his decision to opt into the final year of his contract won’t be the lock that many expect.
Here’s more from around the NBA, as another week nears its end:
- I appeared on the latest episode of The Baseline podcast to discuss the Kings‘ acquisition of Gay, along with a handful of other topics, including the Raptors‘ next move, Omer Asik trade rumors, and the Clippers‘ signing of Stephen Jackson. You can listen right here.
- We heard earlier that the Lakers have been listening to offers for Pau Gasol, in part because he and coach Mike D’Antoni aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, and D’Antoni’s remarks today likely didn’t help mend any fences. Responding to Pau’s recent comments about being frustrated by his role, D’Antoni said, “That’s a classic, ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’ Well, you don’t have trouble getting up to the paystub line. You know what you need to do to get your check. You know what to do. They will. They’ll figure it out.”
- Derek Fisher is planning to retire at season’s end, and isn’t sure what his post-playing career will bring, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News: “I’m not going to want to necessarily just sit around the house, but I’ll take a step back from the grind of the NBA schedule and see where my heart and passion takes me.”
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains in a piece for SBNation.com why the window between December 15th and 19th could result in high trade activity.
- In a separate piece for The Score, Deeks examines a number of intriguing unsigned forwards who could help NBA teams this season. Deeks previously looked at guards and bigs.
- The Hawks recalled John Jenkins from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Since being assigned to the Bakersfield Jam a week ago, Jenkins appeared in four games, averaging 21.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG. He’ll be in uniform for Atlanta tonight against the Wizards.
Lakers Fielding Offers For Pau Gasol
The Lakers have been fielding trade offers for Pau Gasol for “a while,” sources tell Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, who reports that the team may be moving toward finding a new home for the big man. According to Deveney, tensions between Gasol and coach Mike D’Antoni have been “simmering” for the last year.
“I don’t think there is anything personal between the two guys,” one of Deveney’s sources said of D’Antoni and Gasol. “They’re both professionals. I don’t think they’re buddies or anything. But on the court, it is just not working out.”
Gasol has been the subject of plenty of trade rumors in the past couple years, but has always been considered a tough player to move. The fact that he’s on an expiring contract helps, but his $19MM+ salary will make it difficult to find a taker, especially considering the Lakers are reluctant to take on multiyear contracts that would compromise the team’s projected cap space for 2014 and/or 2015.
Additionally, Gasol’s play on the court this season hasn’t increased his trade value at all. The Lakers expected the 33-year-old to return to All-Star form following the departure of Dwight Howard, with whom Gasol never quite meshed. Instead, his .417 FG% and 15.4 PER are the worst marks of his 13-year career.
If the Lakers were to seriously consider a trade involving Pau, they would likely need to get at least one big man in return to bolster a thin frontcourt, says Deveney. L.A. would also like to get younger, so landing at least one draft pick would be a key, according to Deveney’s source. Given that asking price, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gasol simply stayed put, forcing the Lakers to make a decision next summer on whether or not the Spaniard will be a part of their future.
Odds & Ends: Knicks, Salmons, Bobcats
The Knicks were bent on injecting youth into their team, and they brought Josh Powell and Ike Diogu to camp with no intention of retaining them for opening night, no matter how well the two veterans played in preseason, a source tells Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. For now, New York seems engaged in a pursuit of Kyle Lowry as it tries to unload Raymond Felton, who made Ben Golliver of SI.com‘s “All-Atrocious Team.” Here’s more from around the league:
- New Raptors small forward John Salmons is a “prime candidate” to be dealt again before the trade deadline, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, pointing to his de-facto expiring contract. No Raptors appear off-limits for a trade.
- The Bobcats released James Southerland on Wednesday, but not because the organization was disappointed with him, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. “He was brought in as a developmental player. We like him a lot,” coach Steve Clifford said. “Nothing he did he could have done better. We just needed someone more ready to play.” Charlotte signed veteran Chris Douglas-Roberts to replace Southerland.
- Pau Gasol hinted that there’s a chance he could sign an extension with the Lakers, during his recent interview with Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The possibility of an in-season agreement has seemed like a long shot.
- A Prim Capital investor was found guilty of obstructing a grand jury investigation into the firm’s ties to the players union, reports Nate Raymond of Reuters. The son of former union executive director Billy Hunter has served as a Prim executive.
- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports profiles freelance trainer Rob McClanaghan, who works with some of the NBA’s top players and has exerted influence on front office decision-making.
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports examines several free agents and D-Leaguers who could be on the radar of NBA teams in a piece for the Score, calling Drew Gooden perhaps the most talented among available big men. Deeks looked at guards on Wednesday.
Pau Gasol On Free Agency, Grizzlies
Pau Gasol sat down with Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com and discussed his future with the Lakers. Although he made it clear he was interested in staying in Los Angeles, Gasol wouldn’t rule out the possibility of moving on to another club when he hits free agency this offseason:
“There’s different factors you have to take into account. The financial factor. That I’ve been with this franchise, for what I’ve been through, the loyalty I have to them. And also the chances of winning a championship. Those three are the most. What percentage I will give or prioritize, we’ll see when the opportunities come along. But I would like to first be in a position to win a championship again and enjoy the last few years of my career and be in a good position to do so.”
We’ve heard before that Gasol isn’t totally committed to staying in purple and gold so this statement don’t come as a huge surprise. What’s more intriguing is Gasol’s thoughts on the potential for a reunion with the Grizzlies:
“It’s appealing. One of the best centers in the NBA, one of the best interior players, is my brother [Marc Gasol]. There’s a lot of attractive factors there. But who knows if that’s even a possibility or if that will ever happen. Right now, I’m just trying to focus on (the Lakers’ opponents) and staying healthy and playing a very successful year so this team and others will have the certainty and the confidence that I am a difference maker, that I am an elite player and I have a lot of years in me.”
In a poll last week, most Hoops Rumors readers voted that they believed this would be Gasol’s final season in LA. The 33-year-old is playing below his career averages in most statistical areas and probably has his best playing days behind him. Still, Howard-Cooper is quick to point out that much of his appeal comes from intangible factors such as his vast playoff experience, and many teams will surely be interested in signing the 13-year veteran come next summer.
Poll: Is This Gasol’s Final Season With Lakers?
Pau Gasol was one of the most frequently mentioned trade candidates in 2012, but he stayed put, and such chatter has decreased considerably in 2013, even though he’s on an expiring contract this year. It doesn’t appear now as if the Lakers will part with Gasol this season, but the four-time All-Star may nonetheless be playing his final games in purple and gold.
Kobe Bryant‘s two-year, $48.5MM extension took quite a chunk out of the Lakers’ projected cap space for this summer, leaving room enough under the cap for one marquee, maximum-salary free agent along the lines of LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony, but little else. The Lakers have Gasol’s Bird Rights, so they can go over the cap to re-sign him if they want, but unless Gasol agrees to a pay cut soon after free agency begins, the Lakers would have to sacrifice those Bird rights in order to clear the cap space necessary to sign another team’s superstar. Gasol could make as much as $20,250,143 next season, so that salary will remain as a cap hold on the Lakers’ books until they either re-sign him at a cheaper salary or renounce his rights.
A pay cut seems inevitable for Gasol, who’s making nearly $19.3MM this season. Just how much he’ll have to sacrifice to remain with the Lakers is a matter of debate. Gasol has said already this season that he’d love to stay with the team, a stance he reiterated recently to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. He’s said he’ll prioritize more than just money as a free agent, and he’s close with Bryant, who wrote the foreword for his new book. Still, he acknowledges there are plenty of unknowns. Gasol could sign an extension, but he and the Lakers haven’t talked about it and it seems a long shot at best. Both sides appear willing to let free agency happen, leaving open the possibility that he could play for another team.
Gasol is 33, and his best years may be behind him, but he’s still one of the best and most versatile big men in the game. The challenge for the Lakers and the Arn Tellem client appears to be settling on a fair value for his services. Let us know whether you think they’ll come to an agreement or go their separate ways before next season. Feel free to elaborate in the comments.
Is This Pau Gasol's Last Year With The Lakers?
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Yes 74% (656)
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No 26% (226)
Total votes: 882
Pau Gasol On Future Beyond This Season
After enduring years of trade rumors and constant change in Los Angeles, Pau Gasol finds himself on the final year of his deal with the Lakers. After earning more than $156MM over the course of his career, the forward told Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo that he’ll be looking for more than money in his next contract.
“In the last years of my career I want to enjoy, I want to have the chance of winning, aside from being financially compensated,” Gasol said. “If you have to choose, best thing is to be in a situation where you can win another ring. [This]team there’s a lot of ifs with our team: We don’t know how Kobe will be. There’s a lot of things we don’t know about this team,” said Gasol (translation courtesy of HoopsWorld’s Steve Kyler).
Gasol is earning $19.2MM in his walk year and whlle the Lakers have said repeatedly that they won’t be trading him, one has to wonder if they might consider moving him if they can get something of value for the pending free agent. Through 18 games this season, the Spaniard is averaging 14.3 PPG and 9.9 RPG.
Lakers Notes: Kobe, Nash, Gasol
On a day when Derrick Rose was ruled out for a second straight season and the Timberwolves agreed to trade 2011’s second overall pick to Sacramento, Kobe Bryant dominated NBA headlines. The Lakers star signed a two-year extension with the team worth $48MM+, ensuring that he’ll remain under contract through 2016. We passed along several reactions to the agreement last night, but updates continue to trickle in, so today’s round of Lakers notes focuses heavily on Kobe’s new deal. Let’s dive in….
- Bryant tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that he and the Lakers didn’t really negotiate his extension. According to Bryant, the team proposed a deal and he “simply agreed to the offer.”
- Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles that the Buss family felt like the extension was the “right thing to do.”
- Buss on the deal: “This wasn’t something I decided to do; this wasn’t something [general manager] Mitch Kupchak decided to do. This was a Buss family decision…. We made him the highest-paid player in the NBA because we felt like it was the right thing to do. This wasn’t about what somebody else would pay him or outbidding anyone for him.”
- It’s possible the Lakers will waive Steve Nash using the stretch provision next summer. But that would likely only happen if that extra $6MM+ in cap space would be the difference between the team signing or not signing a top target, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Stretching Nash’s cap hit would give L.A. less flexibility in 2015 and 2016, which could discourage the club from going that route.
- Asked today if he’ll be the next Laker to sign an extension, Pau Gasol replied that he hasn’t talked to the team about it, and is keeping his focus on the court for now (Twitter links via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLA and Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times). Kupchak later confirmed that the team isn’t currently planning on an in-season extension for Pau (Twitter link via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News).
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Kevin Pelton presents a few best-case scenarios for the Lakers in the wake of Kobe’s extension.