Tag: lakers news

Lakers’ Russell Westbrook explains how he’ll share the ball with LeBron James

Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, two primary ball-handlers, will need to adjust to different styles of play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers needed to add a reliable third scoring option behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis next season, and they found their man.

Los Angeles traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and their 2021 first-round pick for Russell Westbrook and three future second-round picks from the Washington Wizards.

Though Westbrook is bound to be a Hall of Famer whenever he decides to stop playing, his fit with James and Davis has produced concerns.

Westbrook isn’t a floor-spacing shooter by any means, despite attempting shots at a high volume. He’s more of a relentless downhill attacker who can manipulate help defenders and find open teammates. But there are questions if that’ll work with a clogged offense since James works best with the ball and Davis operates best inside the arc.

During his introductory press conference, Westbrook explained how he’ll share the ball with James and spread the floor without having the ball in his hands, via NBA TV:

“As you know, Bron is one of the best players to play this game and his ability to kind of be able to do everything on the floor allows me to be able to just figure it out. I’m coming to a championship-caliber team, and my job is to make sure that I’m able to make his game easy for him. And I’ll find ways to do that throughout the game.

As it pertains to ball-handling and all that, it really doesn’t matter. There’s many different ways you can impact the game without having the ball in your hands, and I’ve been able to do that for many years and we’ll figure it out.”

The Lakers have signed Wayne Ellington and Carmelo Anthony, among others, to alleviate possible spacing issues. Both are proven, knockdown shooters.

If Westbrook can figure things out offensively as he said, he’ll play a major part in trying to bring Los Angeles its 18th title in franchise history.

[vertical-gallery id=42000]

[mm-video type=video id=01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7 playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7/01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7-c59cd70ec8174677aa1aa4d591e13eaf.jpg]

Lakers re-sign Talen Horton-Tucker to three-year deal

The Los Angeles Lakers are retaining Talen Horton-Tucker for three more seasons.

The Los Angeles Lakers are continuing their free agency moves by retaining a key player.

After letting Alex Caruso, Ben McLemore and Andre Drummond walk to new teams, the Lakers made the decision to keep Talen Horton-Tucker.

Horton-Tucker, 20, burst onto the scenes during the 2020-21 preseason and showed flashes of a player who could develop into a budding star one day.

He eventually garnered more minutes as the season progressed and was one of the few reserves who could create their own shot, primarily by attacking the basket and finishing contested attempts.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Lakers are keeping Horton-Tucker for three more seasons:

Horton-Tucker still has plenty of room to grow on the defensive side of the ball as well as hit his 3-pointers more consistently, but he’s the best asset the Lakers have, and keeping him should’ve been an easy decision.

Horton-Tucker could make the case to be a starter despite the shooting woes, though he’s expected to take a big leap this season regardless.

[vertical-gallery id=41754]

[mm-video type=video id=01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7 playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7/01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7-c59cd70ec8174677aa1aa4d591e13eaf.jpg]

Report: Lakers sign Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington in free agency

The Los Angeles Lakers are bringing back Dwight Howard at center and adding sharpshooter Wayne Ellington.

The Los Angeles Lakers have added two more free agents who were interested in joining the team again.

The first player returning is Wayne Ellington, who just played with the Detroit Pistons and was reportedly interested in signing with L.A. a few days before the free-agent market opened.

Dwight Howard is another player returning to the Lakers after playing a pivotal part in the 2020 championship run. Howard, who spent last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, reportedly was ready to return to Los Angeles for the third time in his career.

The Ellington signing was reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports; the Howard move was reported by both Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN at the same exact time:

Ellington made over 42 percent of his threes last season in Detroit on over six attempts a game, providing L.A. with the high-volume 3-point shooting that will pair well alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.

Howard is still a solid rebounding center who knows his role on the offensive end; he has the ability to play alongside Davis in certain lineups and will bestow the vertical threat L.A. desperately needed last season.

The two join Trevor Ariza as players who have signed with the Lakers, though Alex Caruso is departing to the Chicago Bulls.

[vertical-gallery id=42000]

[mm-video type=video id=01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7 playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7/01fbvz7s1w2brc60f2s7-c59cd70ec8174677aa1aa4d591e13eaf.jpg]

Lakers news: NBA spokesman responds to LeBron James’ criticism of player injuries

The NBA responded to LeBron James’ recent comments about the surge in player injuries.

After the L.A. Clippers ruled star Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely with an ACL injury Wednesday, a large spotlight beamed on the soaring number of injuries in the NBA this season.

Leonard was the latest All-Star to miss a playoff game this season, joining players like Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and more who have dealt with injuries in the postseason.

Then LeBron James chimed in on Twitter and blasted the league for how this season was handled, saying he understood the business aspect of the situation as well.

James’ comments prompted the NBA to respond. NBA spokesman Mike Bass provided a statement, via Marc Stein of The New York Times:

The league trimmed the regular season to 72 games instead of the usual 82 in a year where the coronavirus pandemic drastically affected normal business operations.

However, the shortened 70-day offseason also affected the NBA teams that made it far during the Orlando bubble.

The Los Angeles Lakers dealt with injuries to James and Anthony Davis. The Miami Heat suffered various injuries throughout the season and developed no rhythm. The Boston Celtics lost Jaylen Brown before the playoffs because of a season-ending injury. The Denver Nuggets lost breakout star Jamal Murray for the season.

While the Nuggets managed to advance to the second round of the playoffs — though the Phoenix Suns won 4-0 — the Lakers, Celtics and Heat didn’t make it past the first round.

Injuries happen every season, but it’s definitely having an impact on the players’ bodies as the season nears a close.

[pickup_prop id=”8033″]

[vertical-gallery id=27681]

[mm-video type=video id=01f7q12wyzrqnkt84xav playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f7q12wyzrqnkt84xav/01f7q12wyzrqnkt84xav-f9bf7747db7c09ec9ede4a48deb97bff.jpg]

Report: LeBron to miss back-to-back games against Clippers and Blazers

LeBron James is expected to miss the next two games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers due to rest his right ankle.

Just when the Los Angeles Lakers take one step forward last night as they defeated the Denver Nuggets, they presumably take a step or two back today due an update to LeBron James’ ankle injury.

Reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, James is expected to sit out the next two games for the Lakers to rest his right ankle. He sat out last night’s game against Denver after re-aggravating the ankle during Sunday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors.

James could possibly miss more games, sources told Wojnarowski, and he and the team will continue to proceed with caution as the playoffs rapidly approach.

This comes at a crucial time in the Lakers schedule and season as their next two games is a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday and most importantly against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, which will decide who gets the tiebreaker between the two teams in arguably the most important game of the season for both parties.

Following last night’s victory, the Lakers currently sit as the 5th seed in the Western Conference, holding a .5 game lead over the Dallas Mavericks in 6th and a one game lead over the Trail Blazers in 7th.

James has played just two games since returning from a career-long 20 game departure from the lineup, in which he said following Friday’s 110-106 loss to the Kings that “I don’t think I will ever get back to 100% in my career.”

[mm-video type=video id=01f4sz8je1px65mxn3ze playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f4sz8je1px65mxn3ze/01f4sz8je1px65mxn3ze-41bb08ec64e1077294eeacc797224202.jpg]

Lakers-Blazers Game 2 injury update: Rajon Rondo questionable, Collins out at least a week

The Los Angeles Lakers may have Rondo back but the Blazers will be without Zach Collins for Game 2 and more.

[jwplayer JDiqv0kV]

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers had injury news go in different directions on Wednesday evening ahead of Thursday night’s Game 2.

For the Lakers, they received even more good news about veteran guard Rajon Rondo, who has been upgraded to “questionable” to play in Game 2 after being held out of Game 1 but being “medically cleared to play,” according to head coach Frank Vogel, according to the latest NBA injury report.

As for the Blazers, however, starting power forward Zach Collins will miss Game 2 and his status for a return this series in serious doubt as he is not scheduled to be re-evaluated until next week. That means that barring something unforeseen, Collins will miss Games 3 and 4 for the Blazers as well.

If Rondo is back, that will likely mean fewer minutes for Alex Caruso, who played 30 minutes last night off the bench for the Lakers. It could also mean fewer minutes for other Lakers guards, such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

As far as Portland, they started Wenyen Gabriel in Collins’ place in Game 1 and will continue to roll with that into Game 2.

[lawrence-related id=33810,33807]

How to Watch Nuggets vs. Lakers, NBA Live Stream, Schedule, TV Channel, Start Time

Watch Nuggets vs. Lakers Live Online.

After a horrid road trip that saw them lose two games and the league’s best record, the Los Angeles Lakers return home to take on the Denver Nuggets. In their final game before a headline showdown with the Clippers on Christmas Day, the Lake Show needs to get back to its winning ways. 

Nuggets vs. Lakers

When: Sunday, December 22

Time: 9:30 p.m. ET

TV: NBA TV

Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

Anthony Davis’ health is a concern for the Lakers. The All-Star forward missed the team’s loss against the Indiana Pacers earlier in the week before returning against the Milwaukee Bucks. A sprained ankle has the big man hobbled during a crucial stretch of games. Despite being slowed a bit, Davis still put up 36 points and 10 rebounds over 43 minutes in a 111-104 loss to the Bucks. 

With such an important game on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if Davis is given the green light to play against the Nuggets. The same can be said for LeBron James. However, with this being a home game against another quality opponent, the likelihood of them both playing seems pretty high. 

Denver (18-8) is not a team to be taken lightly. The Nuggets are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. While Nikola Jokic has continued to perform at a very high standard, fourth-year point guard Jamal Murray has developed into a nice complementary piece. The 22-year-old is coming off of a 33-point performance in a win over the Orlando Magic and is averaging 17.5 points a game. 

We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.

Draymond Green thinks Lonzo Ball should have kept championship comments to himself

Draymond Green doesn’t get why Lonzo Ball said the Lakers could have won a championship last season when L.A. didn’t even make the playoffs.

[jwplayer ceYbVjwP-z6KDnl0B]

In an interview with Big Boy on Real 92.3 LA this past summer, Lonzo Ball said he thought the Los Angeles Lakers had as good of a shot as anybody to win the NBA championship before injuries and trade rumors derailed their season.

“I thought we had a good chance, honestly,” Ball said in September. “Looking back on it, we were moving in the right direction and then ‘Bron went down, Rondo went down, I went down, B.I. went down, so it was just like … there was a point we were looking at the stands for people because we ain’t got no bodies.”

Draymond Green, who made the NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors last season (and the four seasons before that) thinks Ball should have stayed in his lane, to borrow a phrase from LaVar Ball. In a recent interview with ESPN, Green said he thought it was funny that Lonzo was talking about the possibility of winning a championship when the Lakers didn’t even make the playoffs.

“Recently, Lonzo came out and said, like, ‘Yeah, the Lakers: we could have won a championship.’ That’s just something where it’s like, yeah, you’ve got LeBron James — of course you could have won a championship. But you didn’t make the playoffs. You can’t just come out and say that. Like, there’s some things you just got to keep to yourself,” Green said.

To be fair to Lonzo, the Lakers were two games back of the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference before James got hurt against Green’s Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day (and for the record, the Lakers won that game).

That being said, Green is probably right. Not only did the Lakers not make the playoffs, but Lonzo doesn’t even play for Los Angeles anymore. Sure, the Lakers could have made the playoffs, but the only team’s playoff hopes he should be concerned with now are the New Orleans Pelicans’.

The way things are going right now, though, both Green and Ball will be at the NBA Draft Lottery next season.

[lawrence-related id=17991,17976]