Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 45 – NBA Blog

Lakers sign Brandon Bass

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Brandon Bass to a multi-year contract, it was announced yesterday by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“I am excited to add a player of Brandon’s skill level and character to our roster,” said Kupchak. “His work ethic, toughness, and selfless play lend themselves well to our team.”

Bass is a solid player and it’ll be interesting to see how he fits alongside newly-acquired Lakers center Roy Hibbert.

The Lakers are still not in a position to be very competitive in a very difficult Western conference.

A 10-year NBA veteran, Bass spent the last four years of his career with Boston, most recently averaging 10.6 points on 50.4% shooting in addition to 4.9 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game last season. Since 2012-13, Bass has played in 245 of a possible 246 games (185 starts), including playing in all 82 games the last two seasons. For his career, the 30-year-old Bass holds averages of 9.1 points on 49.3% shooting and 4.7 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game.

The 33rd pick of the 2005 NBA Draft by New Orleans, Bass spent the first two seasons of his career with the then-Hornets before signing as a free agent with Dallas in 2007, where he spent his next two seasons (2007-09). In the summer of 2009, the Baton Rouge native signed a free agent deal with Orlando, where he remained until being traded to Boston on December 12, 2011. Prior to the NBA, the 2005 SEC Player of the Year spent two seasons at LSU before declaring for the Draft following his sophomore season.

Lakers sign Lou Williams

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams to a multi-year contract, it was announced yesterday by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“I am pleased to welcome Lou to the Laker family,” said Kupchak. “We look forward to his contributions both on-court in bolstering our guard rotation, and also for the veteran leadership he can provide to our young players in the locker room.”

Last season with Toronto, Williams averaged a career-high 15.5 points per game in 80 appearances off the bench, leading to his selection at year’s end as the NBA’s most valuable player in a reserve role. The 10-year veteran also led the Raptors in free throw percentage (86.1%) and made a career-high 152 three-pointers. On March 4, Williams set a Raptors record for points in a quarter with 21 in the fourth period against Cleveland.

Selected by Philadelphia with the 45th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft out of South Gwinnett High School (GA), the 28-year-old spent his first seven NBA seasons with the 76ers before signing with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2012 offseason, and was traded to the Raptors last summer. For his career, Williams holds averages of 11.9 points, 2.9 assists, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 22.9 minutes per game over 634 contests.

Lakers sign second round pick Anthony Brown

The Los Angeles Lakers yesterday signed Anthony Brown, the 34th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, to a multi-year contract, it was announced by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Brown, a 6-7 guard/forward from Stanford, appeared in 37 games (36 starts) for the Cardinal last season, recording 14.8 points, a team-high 6.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 43.1% from the field and 44.1% from three-point range. As a senior, Brown helped lead Stanford to the 2015 NIT championship and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team in addition to earning an All-Pac-12 Honorable mention. The Southern California native finished his career at Stanford averaging 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 144 games (106 starts).

Lakers, Lou Williams agree to deal

It’s been a tough free agency period for the Lakers. They need all the help they can get, at almost every position. And even though they already have a scoring guard by the name of Kobe Bryant, adding another will help, whether that player gets used as a point guard or simply as scoring punch off the bench. They just need players, period. Enter Lou Williams. Here’s the Toronto Star reporting:

Lou Williams has a new home and the Raptors have escaped making another tough decision that might not have resonated well with fans.

Williams, reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year, has reportedly agreed to a three-year, $21 million (U.S.) contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, sparing the Raptors from being anything like a villain in the departure of another free agent.

Along with Amir Johnson (to Boston on a two-year, $24 million deal) Johnson was a key part of last year’s Raptor success, and there were fans who would have liked both to return.

But the Raptors were not going to pay Williams that salary for three years and they weren’t going to go near $12 million a season for Johnson.

2015 Lakers summer league roster

The Los Angeles Lakers announced today their roster for the 2015 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The Summer League entry is highlighted by returning Lakers Julius Randle, 2015 NBA All-Rookie First Team member Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black and Jabari Brown along with 2015 NBA Draft selections D’Angelo Russell (second overall), Larry Nance Jr. (27th overall) and Anthony Brown (34th overall). Dwight Buycks, who was signed by Los Angeles to a 10-day contract in April of last season, and undrafted rookie Robert Upshaw are also part of the squad.

The team will hold its first practice next Monday, July 6 at the Toyota Sports Center and begin Summer League play in Las Vegas with a back-to-back set of games on Friday, July 10 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Saturday, July 11 versus the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers then follow up with a contest against the New York Knicks on Monday, July 13 before the Summer League tournament begins.

Full roster here: Lakers summer league roster

Report: Lakers will keep Robert Sacre

Look, people, Some free agent priorities are higher than others. And you need to remember, it isn’t all about the starters. Good bench guys at a cheap price are important, too. Every good team needs role players. Now, the Lakers aren’t actually a good team right now, but that’s not the point. If you can get an NBA player for under $1 million for the season, and he’s capable of tying his shoes, and he’s tall, then it’s probably a good deal for the dollar.

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog reporting:

The Lakers exercised a $981,359 team option to retain center Robert Sacre for the 2015-16 season, according to league source familiar with the situation.

The Lakers did not formally decide until the deadline at midnight on Tuesday. Sacre’s contract now become guaranteed.

Though Sacre averaged only 4.6 points on 41.2 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds as mostly a backup center, the Lakers still valued him for numerous reasons. The Lakers do not currently have any true centers on their roster, while they have a glut of power forwards, including Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr. Tarik Black and Ryan Kelly.

Report: Lakers will meet with Kevin Love

Would Kevin Love leave the Cleveland Cavaliers? He may not have had a dream season with them, taking a back seat to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and then watching the team enjoy success without him throughout most of the 2015 NBA playoffs, but he was still their third best player this season and surely enjoys being a part of a winning team, right? It’s still expected he remains with the Cavs, but, conversations elsewhere are being had. Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

The Los Angeles Lakers will meet with free agent Kevin Love later this week, according to league sources.

One source said the Lakers have heard Love is likely to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they still want to sit down with him. The meeting will be part of a busy week for the Lakers, who also will meet with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe.

Besides securing a top-flight power forward, either Aldridge or Love, the Lakers hope to add a center. In addition to Jordan and Monroe, the Lakers have interest in Tyson Chandler and Robin Lopez, Aldridge’s teammate in Portland the past two seasons, sources said. The Lakers also will place a call to Marc Gasol, although the All-Star center is widely expected to re-sign with Memphis.

Conner Henry named head coach of Los Angeles D-Fenders

Even if you don’t follow the D-League particularly closely, or at all, it’s still fun to know who the head coaches are, and which players truly shine in the league — especially since those players often wind up on an NBA roster, at least on a 10-day contract, if not more. Going back to that first thing, here’s the latest D-League coaching news:

The Los Angeles D-Fenders have named Conner Henry as head coach, it was announced today by team President/CEO Joey Buss and General Manager Nick Mazzella.

Henry returns to the D-Fenders after serving as an assistant coach for the team during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, before becoming the head coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants prior to the 2013-14 season. In his first year, Henry led the Mad Ants to a 34-16 regular season record, edging out the D-Fenders for the top seed in the NBA D-League Playoffs. Fort Wayne would then go 6-0 in the playoffs en route to an NBA D-League Championship. Henry was later named 2014 Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year by his D-League colleagues. Last season, the Mad Ants made a similar run, sweeping their first two playoff series before ultimately falling short in the D-League Finals to the Santa Cruz Warriors.

“We expect great things from Conner Henry,” said Buss. “We consider him to be the best coach in the league. His leadership is effective for winning and developing players, having earned a championship and development award in the last two seasons.”

“I’m looking forward to returning to Los Angeles and to the D-Fenders organization,” Henry said. “I would like to thank General Manager Nick Mazzella and the Buss family for having the faith to bring me home to pursue an NBA D-League Championship. Our coaches, players and management will have one goal in mind, and that’s for our team to compete nightly while representing the Lakers, D-Fenders and our fans.”

The D-Fenders set a single-season D-League record for wins when Henry was an assistant, tallying 38 wins in 2011-12 and making their first NBA D-League Finals appearance. After the 2012-13 season, Henry joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, amassing a 62-38 record in two seasons, winning the NBA D-League Championship in 2013-14 and falling just short in 2014-15. Henry served as head coach of the NBA D-League Select Team in the 2014 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, tallying a 3-3 record.

“Our goal is to cultivate players and staff for the Lakers and the NBA, while competing for a D-League Championship,” said Mazzella. “Conner has had great success over the past two seasons as a head coach in the D-League, and we are confident that with him at the helm these objectives will be met.”

Prior to his work in the NBA D-League, Henry spent four years in the Australian National Basketball League, serving as an assistant coach for the Perth Wildcats (2006-08), before becoming the head coach in 2008-09. Henry then joined the Sydney Kings as an assistant coach for the 2010-11 season, before returning stateside with the D-Fenders.

The 51-year old Henry enjoyed a lengthy professional career, including stints in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings from 1986-1988. Henry would also prosper in the CBA, as well as in the Italian, Spanish, French and Greek professional leagues. The Claremont, CA native attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and tallied 1,236 points in his four years. Henry was then selected by the Houston Rockets with the 19th pick of the fourth round in the 1986 NBA Draft.

Lakers draft workouts continue

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog reporting the latest on Lakers NBA Draft workouts:

Only two hours earlier, the Lakers worked out a prized prospect that might pave the way for a once storied franchise to return to prosperity.

Later on Tuesday afternoon, the Lakers worked out a player that might not even become available in the NBA Draft.

Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor intrigued the Lakers as a possible No. 2 pick with his size, post play and eagerness to wear purple and gold. Murray State sophomore guard Cameron Payne intrigued the Lakers as a possible prospect should they somehow climb up in the NBA draft after their No. 2 pick and before their 27th and 34th selections.

NBA fines Dwight Howard $15K

Dwight Howard fined for hard foul on Matt Barnes

The NBA announced today that they have fined Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard $15,000 for making contact above the shoulders with Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes in Rockets-Clippers Game 4 on May 10.

Howard’s actions occurred with 9:21 remaining in the first quarter of the Clippers’ 128-95 win over the Rockets on May 10 at Staples Center.

The Clippers currently lead their second round series with the Rockets three games to one.