HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy has the day's major story so far, about the return of Brandon Roy. While Roy suffers from a degenerative condition in his knees, Kennedy is confident that Roy can not only come back to play in the NBA, but do so at a high level. Kennedy recalls a conversation with Jamal Crawford, who said Roy looked dominant in pickup games against NBA players right before he retired. There will be plenty of suitors for Roy, Kennedy opines, believing he'd fit in as a sixth man with the Heat or the Lakers. There are several rumors on other topics around the league in Kennedy's latest chat transcript, and we'll hit the highlights here.
In his exit interview with the Knicks, J.R. Smith was told by his coach that the number one thing he needed to work on was his mid-range game. According to Newsday's Al Iannazzone, the guard still doesn't know if that improved part of his offensive attack will take place in New York.
Sam Smith of Bulls.com reported earlier this week that Pau Gasol would have interest in playing in Chicago if the Bulls and Lakers were able to work out a trade. However, Gasol reiterated to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times that he continues to want to play in Los Angeles for as long as he can.
"My position is still the same," Gasol said. "I still would love to be a part of the Lakers and continue to be here to help the team win more championships as soon as possible. It's out of my control and it's out of my hands, no matter what."
Here are a couple more Wednesday morning notes on Gasol and the Lakers….
Neither of L.A.'s two teams has played a game in a week's time, but that hasn't stopped the news from coming out of the City of Angels, as the Lakers and Clippers plot their offseason plans.
- Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com observes that Rich Cho, the last GM candidate who traveled abroad to speak with Blazers owner Paul Allen about the position, as Clippers GM Neil Olshey has reportedly done, wound up getting the job.
- We passed along today that Sam Smith of Bulls.com hears Pau Gasol would be interested in playing for the Bulls, but Kyler doesn't think Chicago would take on Gasol's contract, which has two seasons and close to $38.3MM left on it (Twitter link).
- Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld would be "more than shocked" if the Lakers fire coach Mike Brown, despite the team's first-round struggles and second-round ouster in the playoffs (Twitter link).
- Earlier this evening I examined the upcoming free agency of Lakers backup big man Jordan Hill.
Bulls.com scribe Sam Smith has a new column up today, which includes plenty of news, notes, and rumors from around the NBA. Let's dive in….
- Brooklyn is still considered the likeliest destination for Dwight Howard, though teams like the Rockets, Trail Blazers, and Warriors may be willing to risk renting D12 for a year. The Magic are expected to make another run at retaining Howard once the team has a new GM in place.
- Smith hears from "Lakers insiders" that Pau Gasol would be interested in playing for the Bulls. He adds that Gasol and Kobe Bryant were "constantly at odds" in Los Angeles this season.
- If the Bulls and Lakers were to discuss a Gasol deal, Luol Deng would have to be the centerpiece rather than Carlos Boozer, says Smith.
- NBA general managers previously rejected a rule that would allow players to touch the ball on the rim, but that idea could be revisited now that the league has introduced a new competition comittee.
- Kyle Lowry appears on his way out of Houston, according to Smith, who says the Rockets were "quietly shopping" the point guard before his injury this season. The Rockets would like to re-sign Goran Dragic, who isn't interested in returning as a backup.
We can safely assume Kobe Bryant will be a Laker next season, but beyond that, there are a number of questions surrounding the team's roster going forward. GM Mitch Kupchak told reporters, including Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, that he'll be open to "all opportunities" to improve the team in the coming weeks and months.
"Why not? Sure," Kupchak said, of exploring a major trade (via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com). "When you lose before you think you should have lost, you have to open up all opportunities."
With over $80MM+ already committed for 2012/13, the Lakers are wary of adding any more salary and increasing tax penalties, but still plan to offer Andrew Bynum a contract extension, according to Kupchak. If Bynum is part of the team's long-term future and Kobe isn't going anywhere, Pau Gasol is the most logical trade candidate, though the Lakers GM says he has yet to have that conversation with the club's owners.
"I have not met with ownership," Kupchak said. "I do not know what direction the team is going to go, what the parameters are going to be going forward, so there wasn't really anything additional to share with Pau."
Since they're over the tax line, the Lakers don't have many options for bringing in talent besides the trade market. However, the team will have the $3MM taxpayer mid-level exception at its disposal, along with the $8.9MM trade exception acquired in December's Lamar Odom trade.
The 76ers defeated the Celtics tonight in an ugly, defensive affair to force a Game 7 on Saturday night in Boston. Early in the game, an ESPN reporter spoke with Allen Iverson who was in town to deliver the game ball to tonight's referees. Iverson said he still wants to play basketball, whether in the NBA or elsewhere. Here are other links from late Wednesday night:
- Arash Markazi and Pedro Moura from ESPN Los Angeles give their differing takes on whether Clippers stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will be teamed up in LA for the remainder of their careers.
- Derek Page of HoopsWorld says that for the Mavericks, in lieu of letting key pieces of their championship team leave via free agency, anything in the offseason short of Deron Williams would deem that decision a "momentous mistake." Meanwhile, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News says via chat that Pau Gasol would not be a good fit in Dallas.
- Speaking of Deron Williams, Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star Ledger examined the Nets offseason uncertainties outside of their potential free-agent-to-be point guard. The Nets have only four players that are guaranteed to be under contact for next year's Brooklyn debut.
- The Bird Rights hearing between the NBA and NBA Players Association will be in mid-June, says Ian Begley of ESPN New York, citing an unnamed source. Begley notes that the Knicks will be particularly impacted due to waiver pickups of Steve Novak and Jeremy Lin.
- The 2012 Olympic schedule for Team USA was unveiled, according to Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops.
- ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein offer their takes on Shaq as a potential fit as the future general manager of the Magic. Broussard says Shaq has acted as a mentor to Dwight Howard throughout the season as they apparently bonded over their dislike for Stan Van Gundy. Hiring O'Neal could be an attempt to persuade Howard to stay. Meanwhile, despite previous reports, Broussard adds that the Bobcats will in fact reach out to Van Gundy.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters on Wednesday that the Lakers plan to pick up center Andrew Bynum's team option for next season. This move would not have an impact on the much-speculated swap of Bynum for Dwight Howard, as they would have to pick up his option before making the move. Kupchak's statement was part of the Lakers' 2012 exit interview process today, as documented by Mike Trudell on Lakers.com. Many players brought up the much talked about issue of the offense stalling when Kobe goes into "one-on-one" mode, while others discussed their future with the team:
- Pau Gasol said that he met with Kupchak and Mike Brown and they didn't offer him any insight as to the organizations' plans for Gasol this offseason. Gasol reiterated that the trade rumors shouldn't alter a player's game, but admitted that his change in role, many times deferring to Andrew Bynum as the second option, may have affected his production.
- Metta World Peace doesn't think the Lakers need radical change, even stating that they should be up 3 games to 2 on the Thunder right now, says Andy Kamenetzky of ESPN LA. Artest extolled Mitch Kupchak and says it is up to the players to pick up their game to help Kobe Bryant. Kamenetzky adds that there is speculation that Artest or Steve Blake could be trade candidates, but Artest said he loves it in Los Angeles.
- Kupchak offered information beyond their intentions for Bynum. In his talk with media, Kupchak discussed the failed preseason trade for Chris Paul, Gasol's resulting play, the looming opt-out decision of Ramon Sessions and more.
The Thunder advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals last night, sending the Lakers to their second consecutive second-round exit. Despite the loss, Kobe Bryant vowed after the game that L.A. would be back in contention next season: "This is not one of those things like where the Bulls beat the Pistons and the Pistons disappeared forever."
Before the team returns to the court for the 2012/13 season, the Lakers will have a number of roster moves and decisions to make. Here's the latest on a few of the issues facing the club:
- Andrew Bynum told reporters last night, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com, that he's not sure what his future in Los Angeles holds. According to Bynum's agent David Lee, the ball is in the Lakers' court when it comes to talking about a contract extension for the young center.
- Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLosAngeles.com looks at eight questions facing the Lakers as the team prepares for the offseason. Within the piece, he suggests that coach Mike Brown won't be fired, and wonders whether Ramon Sessions will pick up his player option after a poor postseason.
- Over the luxury-tax threshold and with only the 60th pick in the draft, the Lakers will have to make trades if they hope to improve their roster, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
- Pau Gasol's time as a Laker will likely end soon, since he's their only logical trade chip, says Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets that he expects the Timberwolves to get involved in Gasol trade discussions again.
- Gasol should be the first domino to fall, but the Lakers will be faced with other decisions too, writes McMenamin.
- For his part, Gasol doesn't think the Lakers need to significantly overhaul the roster, as he tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Gasol, Bynum, and Bryant all suggested that a full training camp would've helped the Lakers, who were adjusting to Brown's system.
It's been a busy night both on and off the court in the NBA, as the Lakers appear to be on their way to elimination at the hands of the Thunder, while the Magic are making wholesale management changes. Here's the rest of the late-night story:
- The Blazers have not asked for permission from the Celtics to speak with Danny Ainge about their GM opening, Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com tweets.
- The Rockets remain interested in trading for Pau Gasol, salary cap guru Larry Coon says, via Twitter.
- Coon also believes the union will not prevail in its quest to secure Bird rights for players who were claimed off waivers (Twitter link).
- Pacers assistant Brian Shaw is drawing interest for head coaching positions elsewhere, but the Pacers place a high value on him, Chris Mannix of SI.com notes (Twitter link).
- Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld profiles the top five vote-getters for Executive of the Year.