NBA trade talk, Russell Westbrook’s awkward Lakers fit, the hurting Hawks and more: Sam Amick’s NBA notebook
Welcome to the NBA’s co-star reunion week.
Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving makes his (non-vaccinated) season debut at Indiana on Wednesday night, with Kevin Durant and James Harden surely thrilled that he’s back in action. Golden State’s Klay Thompson is expected to return at home against Cleveland on Sunday when the Chase Center — along with Steph Curry and Draymond Green — will likely explode with enthusiasm after his two-plus-year injury absence. If the Denver Nuggets and the Clippers have their way with Jamal Murray and Kawhi Leonard, respectively, they’ll welcome them back at some point in the next few months and make life a whole lot easier for Nikola Jokic and Paul George in the process.
Meanwhile, in Lakers Land, where LeBron James and Anthony Davis spent the summer interviewing a variety of star players who they hoped would lighten their workload, it’s Russell Westbrook’s presence that has proven to be so problematic. It’s still an awkward fit between Westbrook and the Lakers, to say the least — especially with his massive salary slot ($44.2 million this season, $47 million player option for next season).
It was one thing when opposing team scouts (along with ESPN’s Tim Legler) were recommending he become the Lakers’ sixth man just five games in. But it’s been 39 games now, folks. And while Westbrook clearly passed the test back in late July, when he joined the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Damian Lillard in (essentially) interviewing for this job as the Lakers’ third star inside of James’ home, that has not been the case during this nine-game stretch in which Davis has been sidelined with an MCL sprain (and the Lakers have gone 4-5).
As one opposing team’s scout put it on Tuesday night when I theorized that Westbrook was partly brought to the Lakers for these times when one of their other two stars was out, “It’s only insurance if LeBron goes down. …You can’t have two balls for 48 minutes, (and) Russ is useless off the ball and too erratic with the ball.”
Except in their latest outing, of course.
Yes, Westbrook snapped his league-long streak of 407 consecutive games with at least one turnover in Tuesday night’s win over Sacramento and even registered a plus-17 mark (though he missed 12 of 19 shots). And yes, the Lakers (20-19, seventh in the West) have won four of their last five games.
But it’s James’ greatness (averaging 34.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists in the past nine games) and the emergence of minimum-salary addition Malik Monk since he became a starter five games ago (20.8 points on 55.6 percent shooting overall and 45.9 percent from 3 on 7.4 attempts per game) that has kept them afloat without Davis. Just take a peek at the on-off splits during this Davis-less stretch.
- James (last nine games): plus-2.7 net rating on; minus-17.7 off (20.4 swing).
- Westbrook (last nine games): minus-0.5 on; minus-8.2 off (7.7 swing).
- And then there’s Monk, the former No. 11 pick out of Kentucky in 2017 whose story has — like his game — caught fire of late: plus-13 on; minus-1.9 (14.9 swing) during his five-game starting stretch.
All of which explains why sources say the Lakers showed some covert interest in discussing a possible Westbrook trade with rival executives earlier this season. A deal appears extremely unlikely before the Feb. 15 trade deadline, if only because his deal that was once seen by so many as untradeable is such a massive obstacle. But inside the Lakers, it seems, there is some recognition that this hasn’t gone as (James and Davis had) planned.
As always, Westbrook’s across-the-board production in these past nine games has been at a high level: averaging 19.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists. But even with Tuesday’s outlier on the turnover front, his lack of ball control (5.1 per even after the Kings game; second in the league for the season at 4.6 per) and inefficient shooting (49.6 percent true shooting in that nine-game span) loom large for a Lakers team that is somehow, someway still fighting for playoff position as the halfway point of the season nears.
Sacramento still searching
Remember when the Kings thought they had a deal for Buddy Hield with the Lakers, who would have sent Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell their way? It was late July, and this was as good a sign as any that this Monte McNair-led front office was looking to upgrade the roster in the kind of way that might have finally put this woebegone franchise in the postseason for the first time since … 2006 (I was there. It’s true). The Westbrook deal, of course, derailed that plan and delayed the roster reconstruction that has yet to happen since.
Five months later, with the Kings (16-23) barely hanging onto the 10th spot in this watered-down West, they’re still highly motivated to make the kind of significant move(s) that would both bolster their postseason chances in the present while giving them a runway for sustained success in the future. More specifically, sources say Kings owner Vivek Ranadive has continued to make it clear to McNair that he has the green light to do whatever is necessary to meet those goals. And while the Kings would prefer to keep building around De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, their strong appetite to improve means that no player is off the table in terms of potential talks.
Wherever there’s an impact player who can be had, in other words, they’ll be exploring the possibilities. And yes, as you likely wondered, that includes Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons.
While I reported in early September that a Kings-Simmons was looking very unlikely, that was long before team officials had a chance to see nearly half a season’s worth of (mostly subpar) play. Sacramento’s interest is definitely there.
Still, sources say the Sixers — who have been on the lookout for an All-Star in return for Simmons for so long now — have continued to ask for a massive haul in return while frustrating some suitors along the way. As such, some team executives remain convinced that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is still waiting for Portland’s Damian Lillard or Washington’s Bradley Beal to be made available down the line (i.e. this summer at the earliest).
Meanwhile, the Kings have leveled out slightly since firing coach Luke Walton after their 6-11 start on Nov. 21. They’re 10-12 since opting for Alvin Gentry in the interim role.
Warriors and their (Thompson-less) brilliance
With Thompson set to return on Sunday, let’s take a moment to appreciate what the Warriors have done so far this season without him. Seriously, raise your hand if you saw this kind of dominance coming.
They have the league’s best record (29-7), the second-best net rating (9.8, just behind Utah’s top mark of 9.9), the league’s fourth-best offense (112 points scored per 100 possessions) and the top defense (102.2 points allowed per 100). Steph Curry’s massive role in it all has been well-chronicled, and I made it clear in mid-December that I saw Curry as the MVP front-runner (though he has stiff competition).
But just as Curry’s MVP case is strengthened by Thompson’s absence, the same should be said for Draymond Green’s latest Defensive Player of the Year campaign. Lest anyone forget, Thompson was considered one of the most reliable perimeter defenders in the entire league before he went down in the 2019 NBA Finals. The fact that Green is leading the best defense in basketball without him is nothing short of remarkable (side note: The Warriors had the league’s second-best defense when Green won the award in the 2016-17 campaign).
Utah’s three-time DPOY winner, Rudy Gobert, will certainly be on everyone’s short list again. But the list of usual suspects drops off from there, with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo the only other recent winner of the award to likely be in the mix.
Hurting Hawks
Speaking of teams that are motivated to make a move or two, we present the Atlanta Hawks. This is nothing like the we’ll-talk-about-anything approach of a team like the Kings, nor should it be. Atlanta’s unexpected run to the Eastern Conference finals last season validated the choice of general manager Travis Schlenk to build around Trae Young and John Collins (both of whom signed long-term deals in August).
But there’s a fine line between roster depth and roster dilution, and sources say the Hawks — well aware that their rotations are a bit crowded when fully healthy — are on the lookout for a one-for-two type of deal for an impact player. Veteran forward Danilo Gallinari (just $5 million of his $21.4 million guaranteed on his deal for next season) and third-year small forward Cam Reddish, it seems, are the most likely candidates to be headed out. The urgency is likely on the rise, as this Hawks team that was fifth in the East last season before its playoff run has now fallen to 12th (16-20; 27th in defensive rating).
