Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 29 – NBA Blog

Lakers sign Travis Wear to 10-day contract

The Lakers today signed forward Travis Wear to a 10-day contract.

Wear has appeared in 33 games (29 starts) for the South Bay Lakers this season, averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three-point range. In 2014-15, the UCLA graduate averaged 3.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 13.2 minutes with the New York Knicks.

In February, he competed for the second time with Team USA as part of the FIBA World Cup Qualifying first round, helping lead the team to a 4-0 record.

The Lakers roster stands at 16, including two two-way players.

Josh Hart out after hand surgery

Lakers guard Josh Hart, who fractured the fourth metacarpal on his left hand at Wednesday’s practice in Miami, had surgery today to repair the fracture. The surgery was performed by Dr. Steven S. Shin.

Hart is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

According to ABC7.com, “Hart is averaging 6.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 21.5 minutes per game this season. The 30th pick in the NBA draft has started 20 games and four of his six double-doubles have come in his past 10 games as a starter. “He brings a lot to the team,” said point guard Lonzo Ball, who cut Hart’s steak for him at a Miami steakhouse when some players went to dinner the same day Hart injured his hand.”

Lonzo Ball gets six steals in Lakers win

Lonzo Ball’s recent return from injury has been a success. First in very limited minutes, but now playing most of the game. The scoring stars in tonight’s Lakers win over the Heat were Isaiah Thomas, Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma. But Ball filled the stat-sheet quite nicely. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

As Lonzo Ball stood at his locker stall, he mumbled about how tired he was.

Despite still feeling some discomfort in his left knee, Ball was back in the starting lineup and had his best game since returning from a sprained left MCL, leaving his fingerprints all over the Los Angeles Lakers’ 131-113 rout over the Miami Heat.

Ball filled up the box score with 8 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and a career-high 6 steals in 34 minutes. It was the most minutes Ball has played in his three games back. He missed 15 games because of his MCL injury.

Six Lakers scored in double figures Thursday night, including Isaiah Thomas (29 points and six 3-pointers) and Julius Randle (25 points, 21 coming in the first half), but Lakers coach Luke Walton said Ball was the best player on the floor despite taking only five shots.

Lakers waive Corey Brewer

The Lakers have waived Corey Brewer.

“It was a pleasure to have Corey on our team,” said Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka. “Corey’s professionalism and competitive mindset will leave a positive mark on the Lakers for a long time. We appreciate his time with the team and wish him the best of luck for the remainder of his career.”

Brewer appeared in 54 games (two starts) for the Lakers this season, averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 12.9 minutes.

The Lakers roster stands at 15, including two two-way players.

Lonzo Ball excellent so far in return for Lakers

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News reporting on Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, who has played limited minutes in his return from injury but has played excellent basketball when out on the floor:

Ball has been on a strict minutes restriction each of his first two games after missing 15 with a left knee sprain. He was capped at 20 minutes on Friday against Dallas; 25 in Atlanta.

On his own, Ball has been startlingly impressive: 11 points per game, seven rebounds, 5.5 assists, two steals. He has attempted 12 3-pointers and made seven of them.

The Lakers have, for the most part, been fine. They have won three straight games out of the All-Star break and, after trouncing the lowly Hawks, have with 22 games left with as many wins as they did a year ago.

With Ball back and balling, the adjustment now comes for everyone else – as the missed connection with Caldwell-Pope showed.

“I think guys are going to have to get used to playing with him again,” Coach Luke Walton said.

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Lakers should have Lonzo Ball back right after All-Star break

The 23-32 Lakers, now with Isaiah Thomas in uniform, look forward to getting Lonzo Ball back as soon as possible. How much they’ll actually play together remains to be seen, but that’s a whole other discussion. Step one is just to get Lonzo back in action. Which reportedly should happen right after the All-Star break. Here’s the Daily Breeze reporting:

As Josh Hart ran off the Pelicans home court on Wednesday morning, he stopped in front of Lonzo Ball, who was chatting with reporters, to tease the point guard about when he would return to the court.

“First game back after All-Star, man,” Ball responded. “I’ll be there.”

Ruled out earlier this week for Wednesday’s contest at New Orleans and Thursday’s game in Minnesota, Ball said he “definitely” expects to play on Feb. 23 against Dallas, 42 days after spraining his left MCL in an overtime win against the Mavericks.

While Ball has progressed to full contact practices, the Lakers will not practice until next Wednesday, by which time Ball expects to be free of the soreness that has persisted.

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Isaiah Thomas plays well in Lakers debut, but in loss to Mavs

The good news is, Isaiah Thomas played well in his debut for the Lakers. The bad news is, the squad still lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 130-123. Of course, the Lakers are not a playoff contender and are focused on the future, in which case losing can also be a good thing. Anyway, here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:

In his first half wearing purple and gold, Thomas played 14 minutes, scored 16 points and hit four three-pointers with four assists. Bounced around the court, playing with joy and scoring better than he ever did in Cleveland.

He was, as fellow Cleveland export Channing Frye promised he would be, the old Isaiah Thomas…

The Lakers brought Thomas off the bench in his first game since being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he scored 22 points on seven of 12 shooting, making four of eight three-point attempts. Brandon Ingram also scored 22 points and Julius Randle, a Dallas native, led the Lakers with 26 points. Randle also had eight rebounds and seven assists.

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Isaiah Thomas begins Lakers career as reserve

Nothing’s shocking here, but Isaiah Thomas began his Lakers career as a reserve, coming off the bench. Won’t be surprising if this continues for the time being. But after some time passes, say two weeks or so, if he’s playing well and clearly deserves to start, it’s unclear who should start alongside him. Lonzo Ball and Thomas together? Interesting combo, because of the two Thomas is more of a shooting guard then Ball is. We’ll see. On all of this, here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Lakers coach Luke Walton confirmed Saturday afternoon to reporters that he did not plan to make any changes to his starting lineup. Walton and Thomas had dinner together in Dallas on Friday and discussed expectations and roles, sources told ESPN…

The plan is for Thomas to eventually work himself into position to join the starting five, according to sources.

A 2017 All-NBA second team performer who continues to work himself back into form after a hip injury, Thomas also didn’t start his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers when they hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2.

— ESPN.com

Cavs trade Isaiah Thomas to Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Channing Frye and a top-three-protected 2018 first round draft pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance Jr., it was announced today by General Manager Rob Pelinka.

Thomas appeared in 15 games (14 starts) for Cleveland this season, averaging 14.7 points, 4.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 27.1 minutes. The two-time NBA All-Star (2015-17) owns career averages of 19.0 points (.441 FG%), 5.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 456 career games (323 starts). In 2016-17, Thomas earned All-NBA Second Team honors when he averaged a career-high 28.9 points (.463 FG%) per game.

Drafted eighth overall by New York in 2005, Frye has played in 845 career games (439 starts) for New York, Portland, Phoenix, Orlando and Cleveland, with averages of 9.0 points (.442 FG%, .387 3FG), 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. The 2016 NBA Champion appeared in 44 games (one start) for the Cavaliers this season, notching 4.8 points (.497 FG%) and 2.5 rebounds in 12.4 minutes.

Clarkson (6-5, 194) has appeared in 53 games (two starts) for Los Angeles this season, averaging 14.5 points on .448 shooting from the field, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 23.7 minutes per game. He ranks second in the NBA in points per game off the bench (14.4) and has scored in double figures 39 times in 2017-18, including 12 games with 20 points or more. The 6-5 guard has averaged double figures in scoring in each of his four seasons, owning career averages of 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 28.1 minutes over 273 games (138 starts). The fourth-year guard from Missouri was the 46th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by Washington before being traded on draft night to the Lakers, where he went on to earn NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.

Nance Jr. (6-9, 230) has played in 42 contests (17 starts) for the Lakers in 2017-18, averaging career highs in points per game (8.6), field goal percentage (.601), rebounds per game (6.8) and steals per game (1.40) in 22.0 minutes. He has six double-doubles and has scored in double figures on 17 occasions this season. The Akron, Ohio native was the 27th overall pick out of Wyoming by Los Angeles in the 2015 NBA Draft and owns career averages of 6.9 points on .547 shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.16 steals in 21.6 minutes per game.

Lonzo Ball not returning from injury just yet

A post shared by Lonzo Ball (@zo) on Jan 12, 2018 at 1:11pm PST

The Lakers (19-30) have been without point guard Lonzo Ball (10.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7.1 apg) recently, and that’ll continue for a bit longer as the talented rookie isn’t ready to return from injury just yet. Here’s the OC Register reporting:

Lonzo Ball will miss his eighth consecutive game Wednesday after doing little during the team’s practice on Tuesday.

“Basketball-wise, you are looking at it,” Walton said, while Ball shot on a hoop at the far end of the court. “He started shooting toward the end of practice. He was in the weight room doing some rehab stuff.

Walton said Ball has started to work on lateral movement with the team’s trainers, but that he is early in that process.

“He’s got to start with them (the trainers),” Walton said, “but nothing to the extent of what it would take to be able to play basketball, move laterally and change direction, full speed, hit somebody, those type of drills. He has not done that. He is slowly doing that in a controlled setting.”

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