Lakers Rumors: Latest on LiAngelo Ball Pre-Draft Workout, Julius Randle, More
Any and everything is on the table this offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers.
While many clubs don't have the cap space to chase even moderate talents, the Lakers can break the bank on two elites. While most of the other rebuilders will keep their top prospects as far from the trade market as possible, L.A. has told possible trade partners no one on the roster is untouchable, sources told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.
This will almost surely be a busy summer in L.A., for better or worse. It already has the rumor mill churning, and we'll examine the three latest reports below.
Ball in the Family
LaVar Ball is reportedly getting a second son to the Lakers—for a workout, at least.
LiAngelo Ball, younger brother of purple and gold point guard Lonzo and older brother of 2020 draft prospect LaMelo, told HoopsHype's Alex Kennedy the Lakers are on his private workout schedule:
League sources told Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania that Ball will audition for the Lakers on Tuesday. It's unclear what will happen next.
LiAngelo has always appeared the longest-shot NBA prospect of the Ball family. When he withdrew from UCLA in December—amid an indefinite suspension for a shoplifting incident during a team trip to China—multiple scouts gave him a zero percent chance of going in this summer's draft:
It's possible that hasn't changed. SI.com's Jeremy Woo has a 100-player big board for this draft, and Ball isn't mentioned.
Still, maybe L.A. gets some value out of this workout, either earning a bit more good faith with Lonzo and Co. or perhaps seeing if the 19-year-old LiAngelo might be worth trying to develop at the G League level.
Julius Randle Suitor Surfaces
Julius Randle's market has always been hard to gauge.
On the one hand, he's a 23-year-old former top-10 pick who has improved his player efficiency rating every season. On the other hand, he's a big man who doesn't space the floor or block shots during a time when the supply of that type of player is bloated and demand is minimal.
Still, there's always been one likelihood in Randle's restricted free-agency venture—interest from the Dallas Mavericks. They need a frontcourt centerpiece, and he hails from nearby Plano, Texas.
So, it's little surprise to hear The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor relay the expectations of multiple league sources that the Mavs plan to pursue major-money bigs like Randle, DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan. Randle is the youngest of that group, and that could make him the preference for a franchise likely centered around Dennis Smith Jr. and the upcoming No. 5 pick in the future.
While the Lakers have some control over this situation with the option to match any offer to Randle, they also plan on pursuing bigger fish like LeBron James and Paul George first. That's left Randle and his camp a little uncertain of how the franchise views his free agency.
"We still have no indication of where Julius stands among the Lakers' priorities, or if he is a priority at all," Randle's agent Aaron Mintz told Ganguli. "We are looking forward to the marketplace in July, when we will get a clear picture of Julius' future."
It should be noted that while Randle had his best scoring and shooting campaign in 2017-18, he averaged his fewest minutes in three seasons and wasn't promoted to the starting lineup until late December.
Assistant Coach on the Move?
Luke Walton and Jud Buechler have two things in common—both played their college ball for the Arizona Wildcats, and both are coaches for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The latter might not be true much longer.
Buechler is reportedly being eyed by the New York Knicks as they construct David Fizdale's staff. Sources told ESPN's Ian Begley the Knicks are in "serious talks" with Buechler, whose primary focus in L.A. is player development. He also coached the Lakers to the 2017 Las Vegas summer league title.
If Buechler joins the Knicks, it would only be his second NBA coaching job. He also played 12 seasons in the Association from 1990 to 2002 and won three straight championships with the Chicago Bulls.
Should the Lakers need a new player development coach, one would assume the opening to have substantial appeal. L.A. has each of the last two No. 2 picks on the roster (Ball and Brandon Ingram) and another player just named to the All-Rookie first team (Kyle Kuzma).
Statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
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