Lakers News: Latest Updates on Roster Moves, Point Guard Rotation and More
The Los Angeles Lakers and their fans are preparing for what will surely be a warm and friendly greeting when Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets come to town on Tuesday, but there was a bit of housekeeping to take care of before the season officially starts.
The Lakers trimmed their roster down, the general manager addressed a potential move (or lack of a move) at the point guard position and an NBA superstar discussed playing with Kobe Bryant.
Here is a look at the latest news from Lakers camp before the season tips off.
Lakers Trim Roster
The Los Angeles Lakers brought their roster down to 15 players with a couple of moves, per a team release on NBA.com: “The Los Angeles Lakers have waived guard Jabari Brown and forward Roscoe Smith, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.”
The regular-season maximum for a roster count is 15, so these moves should not come as a surprise, especially since both Roscoe Smith and Jabari Brown were not on contracts guaranteeing them money.
Brown actually led the SEC in scoring during the 2013-14 season at 19.9 points per game, although he went undrafted out of Missouri. Smith was also undrafted out of UNLV (he started at Connecticut before transferring) and posted career averages of 7.1 points and 6.3 rebounds a game in college.
Smith and especially Brown played against elite competition in college and may find their way to the NBA at some point. It just won’t be with the Lakers to start the season.
Point Guard Speculation
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times provided an update for those who are wondering if the Lakers are going to make a point guard move:
Steve Nash will miss the entire season, which triggered this speculation in the first place.
Jeremy Lin is the familiar name on that list, and one of the marquee offseason additions for the Lakers alongside Carlos Boozer and draft pick Julius Randle. Lin will likely be given every opportunity to prove himself as a point guard who can provide some outside shooting and the occasional scoring burst given that designation.
Ronnie Price is a veteran who has bounced around the league. He averaged 2.4 points, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals a game last year in Orlando and is really nothing more than a placeholder for the Lakers as they look toward the future.
Jordan Clarkson is a rookie and second-round draft pick from Missouri. He is arguably the most intriguing option at 6’4” with the quickness and explosiveness to get to the rim like a shooting guard. While he does bring a score-first mentality to the table, Clarkson is more than capable of setting up his teammates with impressive vision.
Interestingly, general manager Mitch Kupchak seemed to leave a small door open for a move down the line, according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register:
Carmelo Anthony Would Love to Play with Kobe
Carmelo Anthony made some head-turning comments recently, via Ramona Shelburne and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com:
"If I thought that [playing for the Lakers] was the right situation for me from an overall perspective as far as having a team there, then I would have looked at that situation more in-depth. I just felt more comfortable staying here in New York. But as far as playing with him ... I'm here now but I would always love to play with Kobe.
"
While Anthony ultimately decided to stay with the New York Knicks and sign a five-year, $124 million contract, the idea of Bryant and Anthony playing together is certainly intriguing.
These comments were undoubtedly a response to a report from Henry Abbott of ESPN The Magazine that suggested that free agents were scared to come to Los Angeles or simply did not want to be a part of the Lakers because they didn’t want to play with Bryant.
While that may or may not be the case for certain individuals, Lakers fans may cringe a bit hearing Anthony say that he would love to play with Bryant, considering the team met with the Knicks star this offseason.
An Anthony and Bryant pairing would be very difficult to deal with for opposing defenses and could have even propelled the Lakers into playoff discussions in a loaded Western Conference.
Instead, Los Angeles will likely be nowhere near those discussions this season.
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