Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 109 – NBA Blog

Chris Paul reportedly wants no part of Celtics

Amid reports that New Orleans’ discussions had cooled with the Clippers and Warriors over what each team was willing to trade for Chris Paul, the Celtics were in a holding pattern last night.

Though the Celtics appear willing to trade Rajon Rondo and perhaps Glen Davis to the Hornets for Paul despite a sizable risk of losing the high-scoring point guard to free agency next summer, the gamble could make for a very brief attempt at the 18th title in franchise history.

Though the combination of Paul, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen sounds intriguing, especially over the short span of a 66-game season, it still doesn’t appeal to the 26-year-old star.

A source who has spent time recently with Paul insisted yesterday that the Hornets star considers the Celtics a non-starter for his career, and has no intention of signing an extension to play with the C’s in the long term.

The team is simply too old to stir his interest.

— Reported by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald

Magic Johnson wants to buy the L.A. Dodgers

At a time when Major League Baseball wants to restore the Los Angeles Dodgers’ brand following years of damage under the ownership of Frank McCourt, Earvin “Magic” Johnson — arguably the most popular athlete in the city’s history — is a major player in a group that wants to buy the team.

“I’m a big baseball fan,” Johnson said by phone Friday, “and you think about what the Dodgers have meant to baseball and to Los Angeles, and that part’s a no-brainer. … I’ve been to that place [Dodger Stadium] hundreds and hundreds of times.”

Johnson was approached about a month ago by Stan Kasten, the former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals — someone Johnson has known for about 30 years, and who once offered him a job to coach the Atlanta Hawks. Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, a private global financial services firm, is the money muscle behind the group, which is called Guggenheim Baseball Management. According to a fact sheet about the group, Guggenheim Partners has more than $125 billion in assets under management.

— Reported by Buster Olney of ESPN the Magazine

Will Lakers start Odom, Gasol and Bynum?

The Lakers’ first headache will be to determine who’s on their team when training camp starts next Friday. Their next one will be figuring out a starting lineup.

When Andrew Bynum returns from a five-game suspension, Coach Mike Brown might take a long look at a large frontcourt of Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, an idea tossed around as a curiosity piece the last few years but never fully employed by Phil Jackson’s staff.

The move would send World Peace to the bench, which goes hand in hand with the Lakers’ concern about his physical shape. They hadn’t been allowed to contact him during the lockout, but he looked heavier when he arrived at the training facility, adding some of the weight he dropped last season.

Heavy or not, the Lakers will not use their amnesty provision on him or Luke Walton this season unless they acquire a starting small forward in a trade or free agency in the next few weeks. The Lakers need to keep World Peace right now because they’re not sure what free agents they can get with their limited spending power.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Kris Humphries files for annulment against Kim Kardashian, says he was defrauded

TMZ has learned … Kris Humphries just filed for an annulment against Kim Kardashian, on grounds Kim defrauded him into marrying her.

Sources close to Kris tell TMZ … Kris was not in on the alleged fraud, meaning he did not stage the marriage for Kim’s reality show. We’re told Kris wanted this to be a genuine marriage, but Kim was never really on board.

Kim has already filed for divorce — but according to the docs, obtained by TMZ — Kris wants Kim to pay his attorney’s fees.

— Reported by TMZ

Las Vegas NBA odds say Heat will win 2012 championship

The Las Vegas oddsmakers are banking on LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat to get back to the NBA Finals in 2011-12, and once again the folks in Sin City view the Heat as the favorites to win it all.

Miami’s Big Three, runners-up a year ago, are listed at 2-to-1 to take home the title in the truncated NBA season.

“There was very heavy betting on the Heat at the start of last season because you have LeBron and Chris Bosh and they’re saying that they’ll win seven championships,” Benjamin Lee Eckstein of AmericasLine.com said. “Once again this year they’re the immediate favorites.”

— Reported by Bernie Augustine of the New York Daily News

InsideHoops.com editor says: We have a ton of NBA free agents who still need to find homes and plenty of trades that may materialize, but just based on the core players each team has under contract right now, this certainly seems reasonable.

Kobe Bryant needs to keep pacing himself

Kobe Bryant received an innovative procedure on his surgically repaired right knee, and teammate accounts suggest the Lakers star appears healthy. But that doesn’t mean Bryant’s immune from future injuries.

Bryant remains a stubborn and determined force, willing to find any nuance or edge to maintain dominance. But that doesn’t mean he won’t continue facing his physical decline.

The Lakers’ star isn’t done. He has the goods and a healthier body to put together an MVP-caliber season. For Bryant to reach that point, however, Coach Mike Brown must decide how he should play Bryant in the 2011-2012 campaign without seriously compromising his body.

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times Blog

NBA owners and players resumed talks today

NBA owners and players resumed talks Friday aimed at ending the 148-day lockout in time to save the league’s Christmas Day schedule.

That deadline has created a sense of urgency because the Dec. 25 schedule is traditionally a showcase for the league. This season’s three-game slate was to include Miami at Dallas in an NBA final rematch, plus MVP Derrick Rose leading Chicago into Los Angeles to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

After a secret meeting earlier this week, the sides have returned to the table for more discussions. Commissioner David Stern has said the league needs about 30 days from an agreement to when games could be played.

Participating in the talks for the league were Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labour relations committee, and lawyer Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube. The players were represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher, vice-president Maurice Evans, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Steve Nash and Jason Kidd planning charity basketball game in California

Steve Nash and Jason Kidd are planning to stage a star-studded Dec. 10 charity game at University of California-Berkeley, Kidd’s college, to benefit each player’s youth foundation.

“Excited to go back to the Bay Area with Jason to play for the fans and raise money for the children our foundations benefit,” Nash said. “We go way back to college so to see the distance we’ve both come and to take it back to those days will be a lot of fun and for a good cause.”

Yahoo! writer Marc Spears tweeted today that the rosters will include Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Stephen Curry, David Lee, DeMar DeRozan, Corey Maggette, Trevor Ariza, Ricky Rubio, Shawn Marion, Michael Beasley and likely Amar’e Stoudemire and Kevin Durant.

— Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Besiktas in Turkey now wants Lamar Odom

The Turkish team that features New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams is pushing now to add Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom to its roster, according to sources close to the situation.

And Odom, sources said, is giving the offer real consideration after Minnesota’s Kevin Love turned down the chance over the weekend to join Williams with Istanbul-based Besiktas.

Besiktas has been trying for days to acquire a top-flight big man to pair with Williams, who erupted for 50 points Tuesday in a EuroChallenge game. Yet in that victory over Gottingen of Germany, Besiktas lost Cleveland Cavaliers forward Semih Erden to a thumb injury that only increases its need for a frontcourt boost.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

NBA players withdraw California complaint against NBA, move legal fight to Minnesota

The complaint in the lawsuit filed by David Boies on behalf of NBA players has been voluntarily dismissed by Boies’ firm.

“We assume that Mr. Boies was not happy with either the reassignment of the case from Oakland to San Francisco or the fact that the new judge scheduled the first conference for March 2012,” said Rick Buchanan, NBA Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “This is consistent with Mr. Boies’ inappropriate shopping for a forum that he can only hope will be friendlier to his baseless legal claims.”

According to the Associated Press, “NBA players have filed an amended federal lawsuit against the league in Minnesota. Locked-out players filed class-action antitrust lawsuits against the league last Tuesday in California and Minnesota. But the California complaint was withdrawn Monday and the cases put together in Minnesota.”