Pacific Notes: Beverley, Rondo, Warriors, Ayton
The Clippers announced on Wednesday that starting point guard Patrick Beverley is out with a left calf injury for Thursday’s game against the Mavericks (Twitter link). In addition to Beverley, forward Montrezl Harrell is still away from the team.
Beverley suffered the injury in the first quarter against the Suns on Tuesday afternoon. The defensive-minded point guard’s injury isn’t considered serious, however, which is good news for the Clippers, who have championship aspirations.
Without Beverley, Reggie Jackson could be inserted into the Clippers’ starting lineup, with Lou Williams and Landry Shamet also handling point guard duties.
Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:
- Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters on Wednesday that Rajon Rondo has begun daily coronavirus testing after returning to Florida to rehab, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). Assuming Rondo tests negative for seven consecutive days before re-entering the NBA’s campus, he’ll have to do a four-day quarantine upon returning. That means he could theoretically rejoin the Lakers by the time the postseason begins, though he may not be ready to play by then.
- Anthony Slater of The Athletic examines how the Warriors could use their $17.2MM traded player exception to acquire a bridge player and ultimately flip him in a second deal to upgrade the roster. Slater brings up Myles Turner and Aaron Gordon as potential targets who make more than the TPE.
- After missing 35 games earlier this season, Suns center Deandre Ayton welcomes the opportunity to compete down in the bubble, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The 22-year-old big man says that he’s matured and is confident in his abilities. “I can say I’ve grown up in a way to where I’m just not being a robot running the play,” he said. “I’m the playmaker when I got the ball, for real, and just me seeing the type of dominance and the type of effect I have on both sides of the floor. Affects the whole game and the whole team has bought in.” Through three games in the bubble, Ayton is averaging 16.6 PPG and 9.0 RPG.
Rajon Rondo Returning To Florida To Rehab Off Campus
Veteran Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo will be returning to Florida on Wednesday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. While discussing Rondo’s new travel plans, head coach Frank Vogel mentioned that the former four-time All-Star will not immediately return to the NBA’s restart campus in Orlando to quarantine.
According to McMenamin, the plan is for Rondo to continue his rehab close to the NBA’s campus. The veteran point guard fractured his right thumb in a team practice three weeks ago, and underwent surgery to address the injury. At the time, the team projected a six-to-eight-week absence for him.
Rondo’s injury has created more rotation minutes for guards Alex Caruso and Dion Waiters. In the Lakers’ three Orlando games, Waiters is averaging 20.7 MPG and Caruso is averaging 24.9.
Though the 34-year-old Rondo isn’t the defender he once was, the Lakers could still benefit from his playmaking and defensive rebounding acumen in short bursts. Los Angeles is hurting for additional backcourt bodies — the team will be pursuing its 17th title this summer without nominal starting point guard Avery Bradley, who opted out of the season restart due to family health concerns.
Rajon Rondo Undergoes Right Thumb Surgery
Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo underwent successful surgery on his fractured right thumb on Wednesday, the team said today (Twitter link). The club reiterated the same timeline that was announced earlier this week, indicating that Rondo will resume full basketball activities in approximately six-to-eight weeks.
As we noted when the injury was first reported, the Lakers will have to lean more heavily on some of their other backcourt options now that Rondo is on the shelf and Avery Bradley has voluntarily opted out of the restart. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, and Alex Caruso are all candidates to receive a bump in minutes, while recently-signed guards Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith will move up the depth chart and could see some action.
Rondo, 34, was playing a career-low 20.8 minutes per game this season after averaging 31.7 MPG during the first 13 years of his NBA career. Still, that made him a regular part of L.A.’s rotation off the bench. He has recorded 7.1 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 3.0 RPG in 48 games (three starts) in 2019/20.
Rondo left the NBA’s Walt Disney World campus to undergo Wednesday’s procedure and figures to remain away from Orlando as he goes through his rehab process. However, the club expects to get him back at some point in the postseason. A six-to-eight week absence would give the veteran a chance to return for some or all of the Lakers’ second-round series, which projects to start on or around August 31.
Lakers’ Rajon Rondo Fractures Thumb, Out 6-8 Weeks
7:00pm: Head coach Frank Vogel said he expects Rondo “to be part of our playoff run,” according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
7:19am: The Lakers‘ backcourt depth has taken another hit, as the team announced late last night that point guard Rajon Rondo suffered a fractured right thumb during Sunday’s practice. Rondo will undergo surgery on the thumb and is expected to resume full basketball activities in about six-to-eight weeks, as Mike Trudell of Lakers.com tweets.
Rondo, 34, was playing a career-low 20.8 minutes per game this season after averaging 31.7 MPG during the first 13 years of his NBA career. Still, that made him a regular part of L.A.’s rotation off the bench. He has recorded 7.1 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 3.0 RPG in 48 games (three starts) in 2019/20.
With Rondo sidelined and Avery Bradley having voluntarily opting out of the restart, the Lakers will have to lean more heavily on some of their other backcourt options. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, and Alex Caruso are all candidates to receive a bump in minutes, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
As Slater points out, recently-signed guards Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith also move up on the depth chart and move closer to assuming rotation roles with Bradley and Rondo out of the mix.
The Lakers won’t be eligible to sign anyone to replace Rondo, since the NBA’s transaction window closed on June 30. At this point, only substitute-player contracts can be signed — and substitute players are only eligible to replace those who are opting out or who contract COVID-19.
Although L.A. will be without Rondo for the eight seeding games and the start of the postseason, his timeline puts him on track to make it back later in the playoffs, assuming the Lakers – as expected – make a deep run. If he were to return to action eight weeks from today (September 7), the Lakers could be in the midst of the Western Conference semifinals at that time.
Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin of ESPN first reported late on Sunday night that Rondo had suffered a significant hand injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Smith, Bradley, Rondo
The stakes are high for LeBron James as the NBA season moves closer to restarting, writes Scott Cacciola of The New York Times. At age 35 and with a fourth championship possibly in reach, the Lakers star will have a chance to significantly add to his legacy.
Teammates say James maintained his leadership role through the nearly four-month hiatus, offering advice on group chats regarding topics such as gyms that were available for workouts and opportunities to speak out about social justice. He also stayed in top physical condition in preparation for a playoff run.
“He’s in the gym early, he’s leaving late and he’s the last guy working — and probably working the longest and the hardest,” Danny Green said. “He hasn’t changed at all, man.”
There’s more Lakers news to pass along:
- Veteran guard J.R. Smith, who signed with the Lakers last week, said the coaching staff has given him a clearly defined role, Cacciola adds in the same piece. Smith was instructed to “shoot the ball at a high level” and concentrate on defense, leaving the playmaking duties to others. “It’s fortunate,” he said, “because I’ve never been the guy who was really trying to set up guys.”
- Even though Avery Bradley opted out of the restart, he will receive a championship ring if the Lakers win the title, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Bradley, the only player from a serious title contender to pass on playing in Orlando, made the decision because of health concerns involving his six-year-old son. “Will I accept the ring? I’m neither here nor there about it,” he said. “I am 10 years in this league. The physical possession of a ring doesn’t make me feel like more or less of a person. I play basketball strictly for enjoyment and to add to the support of my family. Supporting them is exactly what I’m doing right now.”
- Rajon Rondo is sporting an impressive physique in a Lakers practice video that has been circulating on social media, notes Austin Boyd of Heavy. The 34-year-old guard is notably leaner and stronger than when the season was suspended in March.
L.A. Notes: Lakers, Clippers, Rondo
With a potential return to NBA activity on the horizon, Lakers All-Star LeBron James has recently been conducting private workouts in a home court, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link). According to Charania, James has played with up to two teammates per session, but Charania maintains that “all the (necessary) safety measures have been taken, I’m told, in these private workouts.”
The Lakers were having one of the best seasons in the NBA when league play was paused in March due to the spread of the pandemic. Led by All-Star starters James and Anthony Davis, the squad currently boasts a 49-14 record, good for the top seed in the Western Conference.
There’s more out of Los Angeles:
- The Clippers, too, have been holding safe private workouts and on-court practices involving a limited number of players, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium in the same video conversation (Twitter link). The identity of the Clippers players participating was not disclosed.
- Brett Dawson, Bill Oram and the Kamenetzkys of The Athletic examines how the Lakers are being impacted by the extended season suspension. On May 16, the Lakers reopened their practice facility, the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo. The team is allowing its players to access the facility while respecting pandemic-imposed restrictions. The Lakers’ older veteran players (including James) may struggle to get back into game shape, the authors speculate.
- During the NBA season intermission, Lakers bench guard Rajon Rondo was actively supporting the community in his childhood home town of Louisville, Kentucky, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The 2008 NBA champion has recently returned to Los Angeles and is staying in touch with his Lakers teammates over Zoom workouts. “We are still training like we are coming back to make a run for it,” Rondo said.
Danny Ainge Talks Draft Prep, Celtics’ Engagement
Executives and coaches around the league are taking different approaches to keep their teams engaged during the NBA’s hiatus. Celtics team president Danny Ainge is simply trying to keep his guys motivated, as he believes the season will resume and wants to be ready for that moment.
“We’re approaching this like we’re going to return to play and that we’re going to be playing playoff basketball,” Ainge said told reporters earlier this week including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “And we are staying in touch. We are having conference calls where we have guest speakers, motivational speakers, that address all of our guys on Zoom. We are doing workouts with the coaches and with the strength coaches via Zoom and so forth.”
Who have the guest speakers been so far? There are some notable names on the list.
“Maybe I don’t want to say that, just because maybe they’ll get bombarded by other people that read this,” Ainge said. “But we’ve had… Mark Wahlberg, (he) was great. He was a lot of fun. Our players got a good kick out of him. He had some pretty good stories. LL Cool J, his story is pretty fascinating. Jim Cash (one of the Celts’ board of directors), who’s always magnificent to listen to, had some great wisdom and knowledge for the players. And we had Dr. Myron Rolle, who has a fascinating story (neurosurgery resident, former NFL player), here at Mass General. So, yeah, we’ve had some very inspirational speakers.”
As for the evaluation part of his job, Ainge doesn’t envision the current circumstances making it that much more difficult. He did admit that not having pre-draft sessions (which is a possibility) could force teams to miss out on some gems.
“Let’s just take Rajon Rondo as an example,” Ainge explained. “Had I not been able to see him in the draft workout and sat down and talked with him and looked into his eyes, I don’t think I would have drafted him. So I think there is value in that. At the same time we drafted Avery Bradley without any draft workouts. We drafted Steve Nash back in our Phoenix days without a draft workout. So I think you don’t always get guys in for draft workouts, but you have to be prepared to take guys. That’s why we’re doing so much homework at this time and taking advantage of getting ahead of the game in case we don’t get draft workouts. But we’ll be prepared.”
Lakers Notes: Davis, Rondo, Kuzma, Dudley
The Lakers haven’t missed a beat with Anthony Davis out of their lineup for the last three games, beating Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Cleveland by an average margin of nearly 20 points per contest as the star big man recovers from a lower back injury. As Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times writes, the team’s success prompted Davis to joke today that the Lakers don’t actually need him, but head coach Frank Vogel wasn’t quite ready to make light of the situation.
“This is L.A., you know everything I say will be quoted out of context,” Vogel said. “So I was gonna make a joke, but I’m not gonna joke because we definitely need Anthony Davis.”
As for when Davis might return to the Lakers’ lineup, the team isn’t ready to offer a specific timeline, once again listing AD as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. Orlando. For his part, Davis said he feels much better, but hasn’t yet taken any contact or sprinted, per Ganguli.
“When I feel like I’m able to get back to my old self and do the moves I’ve always done and be successful at it, that’s when I’ll be able to get back on the floor,” Davis said.
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- Rajon Rondo missed Monday’s game due to a fracture in his right ring finger and is expected to be sidelined for a few more days, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The veteran point guard has been ruled out for Wednesday, while his status for Saturday’s game in Houston remains up in the air.
- Despite Kyle Kuzma‘s strong recent play, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report makes the case that newly-promoted head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has to do his due diligence to see if the Lakers can upgrade their roster by moving the third-year forward, since the team doesn’t have many other draft assets or prospects to offer.
- He wasn’t one of the Lakers’ most noteworthy offseason signees, but Jared Dudley has proven his value to the franchise. As Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet relays (via Twitter), LeBron James referred to the veteran forward as “one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.”
- In contrast to the first go-round, Dwight Howard‘s second stint with the Lakers has been “pure joy” for both sides, Helene Elliott writes in a column for The Los Angeles Times.
Lakers Notes: Augustin, Collison, Rondo, Kuzma
D.J. Augustin could be an option for the Lakers as they seek help at point guard, writes Sean Deveney of Heavy. A source tells Deveney the team would be the front-runner to land Darren Collison if he’s serious about returning to the NBA, but the Lakers’ front office is exploring other options as well.
LeBron James has been handling most of the point guard duties, with help from 33-year-old Rajon Rondo and combo guards Alex Caruso and Avery Bradley. Offseason addition Quinn Cook has fallen out of the rotation.
Augustin, who has an expiring $7.25MM contract, would provide a more dependable option in the postseason. Deveney speculates that he might be available if the Magic decide to point toward next season after this week’s injury to Jonathan Isaac, particularly now that Markelle Fultz replaced Augustin as a starter. The Lakers don’t have a second-round pick to offer until 2023, but Deveney notes they do have Talen Horton-Tucker, who was drafted by Orlando last year.
There’s more Lakers news to pass along:
- Collison, who said he wants to join one of the L.A. teams, would be the Lakers’ best option if he has kept his game sharp during his brief retirement, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Pincus points out that Collison spent the 2013/14 season with the Clippers, but also played for Lakers coach Frank Vogel in Indiana.
- Rondo said he was convinced to spend another year with the Lakers after the organization acquired two of his former teammates by trading for Anthony Davis and signing DeMarcus Cousins, relays Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Cousins, who hasn’t played because of injury, was especially important, with Rondo telling general manager Rob Pelinka during free agency, “If you go grab Cous, you got me.”
- The Lakers have started listening to trade offers involving Kyle Kuzma, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. After hearing his name included in numerous rumors during his first two NBA seasons, Kuzma feels ready for whatever happens, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I’ve been in trade rumors ever since I came here,” Kuzma said. “I think that’s just a thing that happens when you’re a Laker. You’re always in trade rumors, especially in this time, so it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Just control what you can control.”
Lakers Notes: Caruso, Rondo, KCP, McGee
Lakers guard Alex Caruso received assurances from the new coaching staff that he’d have a legitimate chance to make the rotation before he agreed to re-sign, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register reports.
Caruso’s conversation with coach Frank Vogel convinced him to ink a two-year, $5.5MM deal in July, though Caruso did not receive a bigger offer in the early stages of free agency.
“I knew there was opportunity,” Caruso said. “Coach Vogel called me when I was pretty close to making a decision and said there’s opportunity for minutes and that’s all I’ve ever needed in my career.”
Vogel has delivered on that pledge. Caruso has played in 27 of 29 games, averaging 5.4 PPG in 20.4 MPG.
Goon provided a number of other insights regarding the players who re-signed with the Lakers in free agency:
- Rajon Rondo knew when he agreed to a two-year, $5.26MM contract with a player option that he’d have a reduced role. Rondo has appeared in 17 games, averaging 7.7 PPG and 5.6 APG in 21.36 MPG. “Very transparent,” the veteran point guard said of the front office’s plans for him. “Told me my role coming in, what they expected from me and how I could be a part of this run we’re trying to make.”
- Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said it wasn’t a slam dunk he’d return, even though agent Rich Paul also represents the Lakers superstars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. “I wanted to be back, but with my agent, went through the process of free agency,” he said. “Pros and cons, where I want to be. It was all about what I wanted, and we just took it from there.” Caldwell-Pope signed an incentive-laden two-year, $19MM deal with a player option.
- Center JaVale McGee was intent on returning, especially when he learned that Davis preferred to play power forward, opening a starting spot for him. McGee took a two-year, $8.2MM deal with a player option. He’s averaging 7.1 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 27 starts. “I felt like this is the best opportunity for me to possibly start and win the championship out of any other team,” he said. “I took it.”