Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog

Julius Randle returns to court for non-contact basketball drills

Here’s the Orange County Register with an update on a promising Lakers rookie who has gained at least a partial NBA education this season but won’t really begin until 2015-16:

Officially speaking, Julius Randle’s rookie season will have consisted of 14 minutes of basketball before it ended with a cruel twist and a bad break.

Unmeasured by statistics, is the vast majority of his season that has consisted of two surgeries, multiple stints on crutches and monotonous hours on an elliptical machine.

Finally, Randle was back on the court with the Lakers on Monday, more than four months after breaking his tibia on opening night, and two months after surgery to replace a screw in his right foot.

While Randle will not play again this season, the Lakers are slowly adding to his workload, which on Monday meant working with the coaching staff on some post moves and shooting.

No more Ronnie Price this season for Lakers

Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting on Lakers guard Ronnie Price, whose time with the team may be over since he’s currently injured, and will be in need of a new contract this summer:

Guard Ronnie Price, whom Lakers Coach Byron Scott has considered one of his toughest players and best defenders, is done for the rest of the season after having successful surgery to remove bone spurs and bone chips from his right elbow Wednesday.

The Lakers said Price, 31, is expected to be out approximately six to eight weeks, but Scott said that actually means Price will “be out for the year” considering the Lakers have only 26 regular-season games left.

Price, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer, appeared in 43 games for the Lakers and averaged 5.1 points and 3.8 assists in 22.8 minutes a game.

Lakers aware that the Kobe Bryant era is nearing its end

Here’s the Orange County Register reporting on a topic that will make us cry: That we don’t have a lot of time left to enjoy Kobe Bryant in the NBA. And the Lakers are very aware of this as they determine how to build their team for the future:

The days of the Lakers building a roster to satisfy the needs, and complement the style, of Kobe Bryant are gone.

Just three years removed from the blockbuster summer that brought Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to Los Angeles, one of the Lakers’ top basketball executives said circumstances have dictated that the organization change course.

“This team primarily has been Kobe’s team now for almost 18 or 20 years,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak said in a wide-ranging interview with media, “and we’re much closer to the end of those 18, 20 years than we are to the middle or the beginning. So at some point we have to start a new run.”

And while that will presumably include a 37-year-old Bryant next season, the Lakers are not simply planning on reloading this summer to make one more playoff push for the future Hall of Famer’s swan song.

Lakers stand pat at NBA trade deadline

Here’s the Orange County Register reporting on the 13-40 Los Angeles Lakers, who are without Kobe Bryant and with a limited present are focused on the future:

As much of the NBA descended into chaos, the Lakers remained intact at the league’s annual trade deadline.

While confused team executives and media members alike were trying to sort out the flurry of blockbuster deals in the minutes before Thursday’s noon deadline, things were pretty much normal for the Lakers.

Jeremy Lin shot free throws in one corner, while Nick Young held court in another. Good news: He and the dolphin species made up last week in Hawaii, following a well-documented incident a year ago in Mexico.

As this unfolded, the Laker most likely to have been traded sheepishly peeked out from the door leading to the team’s weight room.

“I thought J-Hill was gone, too,” Young said, teasing, as Jordan Hill listened in. “Fortunately they didn’t break any of us up.”

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News blog reporting on the 13-40 Lakers:

The Lakers appear likely to make lineup changes, regardless of whether they make a move leading into Thursdays’ trade deadline that ends at 12 p.m. PST.

With Byron Scott insistent he would evaluate his starting lineup every 15 to 20 games this season, the Lakers coach strongly suggested another shuffle will take place.

“I’ll probably make another lineup change just to get some other guys some time to just go out there and show what they can do as well,” Scott said. “So I do expect probably one more, at least, lineup change.”

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News reporting on Lakers forward Ed Davis:

Davis said in an interview with the Los Angeles News Group that he will opt out of his player option worth around $1 million that would secure his Lakers’ future for the 2015-16 season for one specific reason.

“I’m hoping for a long-term deal,” said Davis, who has until June 25 before formally deciding his move. “I’d love to return here. I know this will turn around eventually.”

The Lakers may keep Davis. But it appears their offseason priority involves the NBA draft and attracting a marquee star once free agency begins July 1. Of course, Davis’ future could hinge on what offers he attracts from other teams…

“This is definitely my first option,” Davis said of the Lakers. “They’re a team that gave me a look last summer when not too many teams were calling. This is definitely where I want to be at. Hopefully I can stay here for the rest of my career.”

Remember Steve Nash? Of course you do. He’s had a fantastic NBA career. But the part that many fans may have forgotten is, he’s still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Here’s ESPN Los Angeles reporting:

Lakers guard Steve Nash has basically been a ghost since October, when he was declared out for the season because of back injuries.

Nash hasn’t been a visible presence at games, and while Lakers coach Byron Scott said he has hoped that Nash would be around to help mentor younger players, Scott strangely added that he’s had consistent trouble reaching Nash by phone.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has a different view.

“He’s around,” Kupchak said after shootaround at the Lakers’ practice facility Thursday. “I’ve had multiple meetings with Steve. We have breakfast once a month. He will work with some of our players. He may have already started doing that. He’s not going to go out and advertise [but] he’s doing it. … As the season progresses, he’ll be more engaged.”