Category: Basketball

The battle for the last Knicks roster spot has taken a twist.

They waived John Konchar on Wednesday and signed Tony Bradley to a nonguaranteed Exhibit 9 deal as a training camp tryout. Bradley will join Drew Eubanks and James Wiseman as centers trying to win that battle.

Coach Mike Brown acknowledged that “we’re looking at that position heavily,” given that Andre Drummond is the only backup center on a guaranteed deal behind Karl-Anthony Towns.

But Bruce Brown and Ochai Agbaji — both wings, not bigs — are part of that veteran battle as well. The Knicks could theoretically take one of those two and kick the need for a third-string center down the road.

“Tony’s a veteran guy that’s still in his prime and has a good feel for the game,” Brown said of Bradley. “Knows how to play the game the right way.”

The Knicks also signed Jaden Akins to a two-way deal. He fills the last two-way slot, after previously signing Tyler Nickel and Kevin McCullar Jr.

Akins was with the Knicks at Summer League. Undrafted last year out of Michigan State, he spent last season with the Pistons G-League team.

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Brown joked about what position Josh Hart considers himself.

“Josh was a power forward but when it came to the conditioning test, the power forwards and centers have an easier time [requirement],” Brown said. “Not much, but an easier time than guards. So all year I was calling him a power forward and he was cool with it but I could tell he didn’t really like it. But as soon as he heard about the conditioning test, he said he was a power forward.”

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The Knicks championship helped rekindle familial relationships.

“I have people coming to me and saying, ‘I haven’t talked to my family member in 10 years,’ ” Miles McBride said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, we should not be the reason you’re rekindling relationships.’ But that’s cool to hear. It’s not what I want to hear necessarily but those are cool moments to hear that what we’re doing on the court was able to bring people back together.”

JJ Redick acknowledged something he hadn’t planned to divulge. 

When asked how different it feels being in his third year as an NBA coach than his first, he opened up. 

“I probably shouldn’t admit this,” Redick said at Lakers practice Wednesday, “but early in my coaching career I felt like I was cosplaying a little bit, you know? It’s like I was pretending to be a coach.”

Redick was stunningly hired to take over the Lakers’ helm in June 2024 after Darvin Ham was fired.

Why was it so eyebrow-raising?

He had no coaching experience. He was taking over a 17-time championship franchise. There was no margin for error. 

Talk about pressure.

Redick has always come across as ultra-confident. He had to be. But on Wednesday, he let us peek behind his tough veneer.

Even the coach of the Lakers can have imposter syndrome.

Good thing for the Lakers, their gamble has panned out.

Last season, Redick became the first coach since Phil Jackson to have back-to-back 50-win seasons.

Redick has drawn comparisons to Pat Riley, who had very little coaching experience (two years as a Laker assistant from 1979-81) before taking over the helm in 1981. Riley went on to win four championships in LA. Last season, he was honored with a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena.

As for Redick, he still has a long way to go. The Lakers haven’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs since he took over, though Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler desperately want to help him change that.

“I think he’s got a little more gray hair. but he’s been great,” Reaves said when asked about Redick’s growth over the last three seasons. “Care factor’s high, intelligence is high. He cares more than anybody else and wants to win just like we do. So, you know, having that as a coach, you respect that.”

This much is for sure: Redick has gained the respect of everyone in the locker room over the last two seasons. No one is second-guessing the Lakers’ decision to hire him anymore.

And Redick no longer feels as though he’s faking it.

“I just think you get more reps, you get more comfortable,” Redick said.

That said, Redick is very much still learning.

He’s the first to admit when he thinks he could’ve handled situations better. There was the time he snapped at a reporter who asked if he was going to lean on his assistants for substitution patterns ahead of Game 5 of the first round of the 2025 playoffs. Or when he and Doncic shared a tense moment on the bench last season. After both of those moments, he vowed to do better.

Redick is willing to do the hard work. He’s introspective. He obsessively rewatches games in a dark basement.

He’s his harshest critic.

That led to a major change last season.

“I had a great revelation towards the second half of last year that I talked about with my performance coach this summer,” Redick said. “…Some of the things that helped me as a player are deterrents for me as a coach. I think particularly with last year’s team — and I don’t know how this year’s team is going to be — but I felt like calm is better.

“When I played — I talked with Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] about it this summer — when I played, I played with an anger. There was an inner-anger that drove my competitiveness. That’s not always a good thing as a coach, particularly now.”

Redick, who was known as a dagger 3-point shooter during his 15 seasons in the NBA, realized he needed to adjust his style.

He set the tone. If he was too intense, it resonated differently as a coach than as a player. Instead of being inspiring, it was detrimental.

So, Redick adjusted.

After laying into the Lakers following an embarrassing 119-96 loss to the Rockets on Christmas, Redick was noticeably calmer when they dropped the rope in subsequent games. And as the season progressed that started happening less and less.

Then in the spring, the Lakers showed what they were made of by going on a 16-2 run. Everyone around the league began to wonder if they were championship contenders before Doncic and Reaves suffered injuries on April 2. 

Redick then inspired the Lakers to believe they could win without their two-highest scorers in the playoffs. They went on to beat the Rockets in the first round before being swept by the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.

This season will be yet another learning curve for Redick. 

But he’s ready for whatever comes.

He knows he belongs. 

And that’s very obvious to the rest of the league, too. 

Julius Randle spent a half-decade lifting the Knicks from cellar-dwellers to contenders, only to get traded away before they finally earned a championship. 

Now he’s back in the city, across town in Brooklyn, happy to have seen his old teammates become winners while trying to help his new ones on the Nets do the same. 

“I’m happy [for the Knicks], man,” said Randle, one of the first Nets to utter that phrase. “I kept in touch with guys. I’ve had a lot of great moments here in the city. I spent five years here, my family has grown here; so I was extremely excited, happy for those guys. A lot went into that; it’s not just myself, years before me. 

“So, just happy for those guys. I was just last month on a trip with OG [Anunoby] in Brazil, just kicking it, talking with each other. So it was a great thing, not just for them, for the organization, [but] for the city that has craved that — we know how New York is — so has craved that winning formula, winning environment. And we plan to do the same thing here.” 

As a soon-to-be 32-year-old — one who’ll be linked in trade rumors, since he can opt into unrestricted free agency next summer — Randle might not be around long enough for that. But almost anything is possible. The Knicks proved that. 

Randle arrived in the Garden in 2019, joining a Knicks team that was a league-worst 17-65 and had gone six seasons without the playoffs. Two years later, Randle made his first All-Star game, and he had them back in the postseason. 

But two years ago this month, Randle was traded to Minnesota in a three-team deal that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to the Garden. 

Randle wasn’t around to see the Knicks close the deal this June. And the end of his tenure with the Timberwolves was bittersweet … and desultory. 

After averaging 12.8 points and .342 shooting in Minnesota’s second-round defeat — finishing with three points on 1-for-8 shooting in Game 6, and blowing off his exit interview — Randle came under fire and was traded again. 

Anthony Edwards said Monday that he missed Naz Reid, but conspicuously didn’t mention Randle, and said he was pleased with the roster as is. 

“I’m gonna miss Naz for sure; that’s my brother. But I’m super happy about the changes in the locker room,” Edwards said in what many saw as a slight to Randle. 

But in need of an on-ball scorer, floor raiser and experience, the Nets are confident Randle is the right sort of veteran to guide their youngsters. 

“Everything [I’d] heard was not good but great, as a person, family man, worker, ultimate pro, about the right things,” Jordi Fernandez said. “He’s been in eight playoff rounds, [three]-time All-Star. 

“He’s going to impact what we’re trying to do here. … He’s coming here to get better, to lead by example. So, very happy before when we were trying to get him — and now that I’ve got [him], I couldn’t be happier.” 

Randle is happy to be back in New York, never wanting to leave. 

Now he’s back, older and wiser. When asked if he ever feels his veteran status, Randle joked “Yeah, I feel it every single day. … I’ve reached Unc status for sure.” 

Tasked with teaching the league’s youngest squad, teammates have asked him about playing alongside the late Kobe Bryant. 

Both Fernandez and GM Sean Marks will rely on Randle to lead, with Fernandez saying he’ll “challenge” the All-NBA forward. 

“I love to be coached, and there’s different ways he’ll challenge me in parts of the game, whether it’s my rebounding or if it’s running the floor or if it’s being better on defense,” Randle said. “I’m not afraid to be coached, and whatever he needs to do, you should coach your best players the hardest. 

“If he needs something from me, he’ll call me. So it’s a great relationship. But communication is key, and trust. So he’s been great at building that with me, and I trust him fully; so it’s been good.”

We are three weeks away from opening night for the Rockets, when they open their season at against Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks. It seems hard to believe, but the day is fast approaching. I thought now would be a good time to ask what your expectations are for the season, the playoffs, and what constitutes a successful season. Also, generally, what do you expect to to see from the Rockets?

Let’s look at something that’s a matter of public discourse, and of course, betting, in this brave new world of sports leagues promoting gambling. Let’s consider season win totals for the Rockets.

(The usual caveats about injuries and other catastrophes apply.)

Season Win Totals

Right now the range for season win totals for the Rockets seems to be from about 46 to 48 wins. This seems like a lot of regression for a team that won 52 games the past two years, and should honestly be better. They should be better because they’ll have a seasoned point guard running the show, and a bench that despite not wowing anyone with summer signings, should be far more useful than the bench of last season, overall.

Further, it’s not crazy to think the Rockets might have won 60 games last season, as they did in fact surrender 19 fourth quarter or overtime leads. If they’d won just under half those games, there’s your 60 wins. I can’t say this enough, this number is jaw droppingly bad, and extraordinary. It’s difficult to find much of anyone talking about it, and if they do, the conclusions roughly seems to be that this event doesn’t fit any normal patterns and is an outlier. Outliers being something that did in fact happen, but we’ve chosen to pretend they didn’t because they tend to drag our account of things out of coherency. But it did happen, even if it’s weird and bad.

Viewed in a positive way, not having so many blown leads boosts the argument for a higher win total.

Viewed in a negative way, it might point to a deep flaw in the players, team construction, approach to the game, or coaching. It might be some, or all of those. Which suggests what seems to be a suppressed win total isn’t that suppressed after all.

All that said, I’d go over, and hit good old 52 wins again, as a target, with a bias to higher, if I did such things as bet win totals.

Playoff Expectations

First, yes, I think the Rockets are a playoff team. There’s a tremendous amount of talent on this roster. There’s no reason to believe in a steep decline for Kevin Durant until we see signs of one. There’s reason to believe that the somewhat plodding, low mistakes, organization of Fred Van Vleet will be far better than Kevin Freaking Durant initiating the offense.

So I think the Rockets place between 3-6 in the NBA, inside the playoffs.

If they don’t win their first round series, I expect Udoka to be fired. I don’t think they can win a first round series with Udoka, but we’ll see. It would be hard to pick a weaker opponent than the very injured Lakers, and they won handily.

Normal expectations, for a team that had shown some success in the playoffs might be to make the Western Conference Finals, but we’re going to have to give Udoka a golf handicap here. He’s shown no sign of being up to par in the playoffs. So let’s say a single series win is success, and we should expect at least that.

The Rockets are like 22 to 1 to make the NBA Finals and 50 to 1 to win them, so if you’ve got a lot more confidence than me in the playoff future of the Rockets this season, those are attractive odds.

Team Expectations

First, I’m a Rockets fan, as approximately one zillion articles here will attest. I want them to win, to succeed, and if possible, dominate. I want to see another title before I’m dead. I don’t have some grudge that makes me want to see them fail.

Two, I think there is tremendous amount of talent on this team. I mean, there’s Kevin Durant, still able to do Durant things. There’s Amen Thompson, who could find an offensive breakout, or at least go back to being a DPOY candidate. At least? Yes, at least, that’s how high his defensive potential is. There’s Alperen Sengun, who might be greatly helped by having FVV back directing point of attack defense (though I think the biggest defensive weak point isn’t Sengun, it’s Durant). We can hope he’ll be more efficient, though I think the easiest way to see that would be to use him differently.

There’s Jabari Smith, who has quietly become a very good overall player, and is still in the growth stage of his career. There’s Steady Freddy Van Vleet, who can at least run offense. There’s Reed Sheppard, who put on that muscle everyone wanted, and was a top 10% three point shooter by percentage, and a top 6% three point shooter by volume. There’s Tari Eason, who got paid and is apparently now happy, and man mountain Steven Adams who might stay healthy. I think we’re going to see quite a lot of Marcus Smart, also.

Three, my fear is, this team is limited by coaching. There’s plenty of talent to be excellent here. Unfortunately, I feel as though if you gave Ime Udoka a roster of Damien Lillard, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Michael Porter Jr and Karl Anthony Towns, that he’d insist on playing the exact way the Rockets play now. Defense first, despite literally no good defenders, but great scorers and shooters. At least that team would have a couple of guards to initiate offense.

All that said, I think the regular season should be enjoyable, even if that enjoyment comes on the knife edge of Fred Van Vleet’s health (I don’t think anyone will enjoy Smart as full time PG). If the Rockets can get more guard play from VanVleet, Smart and Sheppard, and have Adams around to help dominate the boards again, they can make it work in the regular season, and probably finish top four. After that, all bets are off.

Conclusion

I think the Rockets have the talent to be great, and the coaching to be good, and that should lead to a successful regular season. I want to enjoy that as much as I can. What are you expectations? I’d put up a poll, but I still can’t.

Lakers coach JJ Redick made the mandate to the team’s crop of wings clear: It’s on them to establish the team’s defensive physicality.

They’re the ones who can set the tone in front of premier rim protector Walker Kessler.

After Tuesday’s practice, the second of the team’s training camp sessions, consider the message heard and fulfilled, to the point where Redick and his coaching staff had to cut a couple of drills and modify the latter third of practice because “these guys were just giving great effort and physicality”.

“It was wonderful,” Redick said.

Redick reiterated it’s been the wings who’ve stood out the most with establishing physicality.

“We talked about a line of confrontation,” the coach said. “Picking the ball up earlier, being disruptive earlier, eating at the shot clock earlier. Our physicality off the ball has been really good. It’s the entire group of wings. Anybody that’s been out there, it’s been really good.”

The stakes for the wings during training camp are clear.

Two of the Lakers’ starting spots alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler are up for grabs. 

As Jake LaRavia put it, the competition for not just those starting spots, but also playing time on the wings in general next to the Lakers star guards is going to come down to “who’s the best 3-and-D player for us.” 

And with multiple Lakers saying defense has been the main priority early in camp, players know that will determine how much court time they’re able to see. 

“It’s been high intensity from the start,” Quentin Grimes said. “We’re trying to set the tone defensively for who we want to be as a team, picking up full court, everybody, all five guys trying to switch one through five. So, just having that intensity the whole practice, JJ could see it, we could all feel it, the coaches could feel it.” 

The intensity comes at a cost, though.

“And then we have a pretty intense practice like that, things get sloppy offensively,” Grimes added. “And so [Redick] probably knew, like, ‘yeah, just shut it down’ because the intensity was getting really high, for sure.” 

The Lakers’ defense has been heavily scrutinized after their offseason reconstruction, with many external observers expecting for them to once again be a subpar defensive unit.  

But Kessler pushed back on that narrative.

“We’re going to be a nasty defensive team, I’m just being honest,” Kessler said. “Just seeing these guys hound the ball on the perimeter. We’re going to be really good defensively. We have a lot of defensive tools.”

Among those tools are Matisse Thybulle’s anticipation and instincts. 

Ziaire Williams’ size, length and athleticism. 

The point-of-attack defensive skills Quentin Grimes showed early in his career. 

Adou Thiero’s strength, size and athleticism. 

The hope is that’ll make life difficult for opponents, not just the Lakers who’ve had the misfortune of going against them the last couple of practices.

“Let me tell you, trying to score on Matisse and Ziaire, especially with Adou out there too, and then Walker on the back line is not easy,” Reaves said. “I had to deal with that all day [Tuesday] and [Wednesday], and it’s not fun. 

“So, defensively, we’re going to be much better. Those guys compete every possession, and then everybody else, fills in their roles and plays the right way. So, yeah, I see how special we can be.”

Knicks coach Mike Brown has spent much of the early days of training camp answering questions about how his team will address what he labeled “elephants in the room.” 

Miles McBride’s expiring contract is one of the biggest. 

The 26-year-old McBride is entering the final year of his three-year, $13 million contract and is set to become a free agent next year unless he and the Knicks agree to an extension. But there has been little movement in that regard, and his long-term Knicks future is uncertain. 

“Obviously I love being in New York,” McBride said after practice Wednesday. “I’d love to continue my career here, end my career here. Best fans, I feel like we’ve done, obviously, something great this past year and the years leading up to that and I want to continue with this team.” 

He is one of a trio of key Knicks whose contract situations are likely to hover over the season — Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart spoke Monday about the discomfort of not yet having signed extensions themselves. But McBride is the only one currently on an expiring deal, and the Knicks front office has a history of trading players on expiring deals rather than losing them for nothing in free agency. Mitchell Robinson this past offseason was an exception. 

And the Knicks have a well-documented edict from owner James Dolan to remain under the second apron. McBride, set to earn just under $4 million this year, is one of the best values in the league. But assuming he has another productive season, he is in line for a dramatic pay raise. 

The Knicks have significant money invested in their starting five and will already be hard-pressed to keep that unit together, much less anyone else. It is likely just not feasible to also give a big contract to a bench player, even if he plays a key role. Robinson was a casualty of that reality. 

The Knicks also have good depth at backup guard in Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson. They lack depth at center behind Towns, with Andre Drummond the only backup who is a lock to make the roster. McBride is the best trade chip on the bench that would actually bring back good value and it would make sense that the Knicks could look to flip him for a quality big man. 

“I feel like in a sense, every year you have to prove yourself,” McBride said. “I feel like there’s uncertainty across the board for everybody in the league. Everybody’s going for big contracts and this and that. So I don’t let it really bother me. At the end of the day, I just want to go out there and give it my shot, play my best basketball.” 

Along with Towns’ and Hart’s negotiations, it presents a potential distraction amid the attempt to repeat as champions. 

“We’re gonna face a lot of adversity and challenges throughout the course of the year,” coach Mike Brown said on Wednesday. “I addressed the group on that. I addressed individuals on that. There will probably be a time and place that I talk to [McBride] because he’s human, we’re all human, and we all want what’s best not just for ourselves but for our family as well as the organization, too. That’s a nice balancing act. But at the end of the day, he wants to be here, we want him to be here, and that’s something that I have faith in [president] Leon [Rose] and even Deuce’s representatives to figure that out.” 

That McBride played through injury and sacrificed his body last year also plays into this. 

He was terrific, shooting a career-high 42.0 percent from 3-point range before being sidelined after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia. He came back at the end of the regular season, though he was not as effective and struggled at times in the playoffs. 

“It’s kind of crazy, thinking about how unhealthy I was playing through that playoff run,” McBride said. “You go through surgery in an area where you need it. The easy medical term is sports hernia but it was a lot more complex than that. … The pain, there’s only so much you can do with that.” 

Healthy again, McBride is confident he’ll be back to his best while auditioning for a new contract — with the Knicks or someone else. 

LOS ANGELES — The offseason is where rosters and expectations are formed. Training camp is where the process to meet those goals begins, and the Los Angeles Lakers have been putting in the work through the first two days.

The Lakers came into the new season expected to take a dip defensively, but if what we heard at training camp on Wednesday is true, two players are looking to turn that perception on its head in Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams.

Take it directly from the guy who’s dealt with their defensive impact first-hand.

“Trying to score on Matisse and Zaire…is not easy,” Austin Reaves said after practice on Wednesday. “Had to deal with that all day yesterday and today, and it’s not fun…I think that they’re two of the best defenders in the league. They can guard multiple positions. Matisse’s anticipation is top tier. So excited to have them on our team and see what they can do.”

Thybulle and Williams both come to Los Angeles on minimum deals — the former a veteran, the latter still just 25 — each looking to prove they still belong in the league. If the impression they’re making on the rest of the roster bears true, they both may be integral pieces in making the Lakers one of the best defenses in the league.

“It starts with the defense,” JJ Redick said of Williams. “He’s a pest. He’s disruptive. He’s got great length. I think even going back to September when we watched pickup games and through the first two days of camp, his physicality stood out. I know he probably doesn’t have a reputation as being invisible, and you combine that with the length and the instincts, and he’s got just a solid base defensively.”

Modifying practice

Redick has been a coach of great detail in his tenure with the Lakers. So, naturally, when he has to modify practice, you’d think it would be a problem for him. Not on Wednesday.

“[Today] was great,” Redick said. “I mean, we actually had to modify the latter third of practice because these guys were just giving great effort and physicality. So we cut a couple things, but it was wonderful.”

Redick expanded, saying the wings were the main source of that physicality, especially on defense, being early disruptors, eating at the shot clock and maintaining that physicality off the ball.

“It’s been high intensity from the start,” Quentin Grimes said. “We kind of set the tone defensively with who we want to be as a team. Picking up full court, everybody, all five guys trying to switch one-through-five. We went smaller a couple times today, so just having that intensity the whole practice. JJ can see it. We could all feel it. The coaches can feel it.”

“It was very intense,” Sandro Mamukelashvili added. “Everybody’s very intense, hands-on, very, very physical. We try to set the tone from the beginning of the practice, make sure we pick each other up. But at the same time, it’s very, very healthy competition and everybody tries to establish themselves and get comfortable with each other and learn each other’s tendency.

“But today, it was very, very hard. We were going at it. We’re pushing, shoving, and just trying to make sure we help each other get better.”

Imposter syndrome subsiding

The majority of Lakers fans welcomed Redick with open arms three seasons ago despite no professional coaching experience. Many pointed to his lengthy playing career, the brief, but impactful, media career that followed and the natural charisma he’s had since he was at Duke as reasoning. Outwardly, he’s always had a confidence to him, too.

That wasn’t always the case internally, though.

“As I reflected this summer,” Redick said candidly. “Probably shouldn’t admit this, but early in my coaching career, it felt like I was cosplaying a little bit. It was like I was pretending to be a coach. You get more reps, you get more comfortable. I don’t think the confidence was ever not there, and you also just know what you want.

“When I played, I played with an anger. There was an inner anger that drove my competitiveness. That’s not always a good thing as a coach, particularly now. So, yeah, just working through all that stuff. But I think the biggest thing is just intrinsic knowledge. You do things enough, you just feel more comfortable.”

Redick led the Lakers to 50-plus wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach, something the franchise hasn’t seen since Pat Riley’s first two years. Aside from the few more gray hairs Reaves jokingly said he’s noticed, there’s been a tangible impact in his coaching style.

“He’s been great,” Reaves said. “Care factor is high. Intelligence is high. He cares more than anybody else in the gym. He’s been a good leader since day one. He’s confident in what he wants to do. He’s confident in himself and confident in his basketball.”

Other notes:

• Austin Reaves had to pause his media sessions to admire Luka Dončić hitting five halfcourt shots in the span of 30 seconds.
• Redick says Walker Kessler and Kevon Looney will be playing closer to the basket on defense while Mamu’s usage in that role will be more matchup-dependent.
• Mamu is concentrating on learning team principles and being a reliable contributor rather than worrying about starting or coming off the bench.

You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.

Two days into Lakers training camp while integrating nine new players during yet another physical practice session, Austin Reaves has been impressed with just how good this Lakers group can be.

As he stood before the media after practice Wednesday, Reaves was asked if he saw the makings of a championship team.

“I do,” he replied.

Reaves has such high hopes because of the defensive intensity the Lakers have displayed in camp.

It starts with center Walker Kessler, the team’s new rim-protecting 7-foot-2 center.

Then it goes all the way to the group of wing players the Lakers have who have been showing their defensive capabilities.

Read more:'This is a meritocracy': Lakers open training camp with mandate of competition

Reaves was quick to mention newcomers Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams, two wings the Lakers are depending on to be top-notched defenders, and second-year forward Aduo Thiero, who had a strong showing in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and during offseason pick-up games as a defender.

“Let me tell you, trying to score on Matisse and Ziaire, especially with Adou out there too, and then Walker on the back line, is not easy,” Reaves said. “I had to deal with that all day yesterday and today, and it’s not fun. So, defensively, we’re going to be much better. Those guys compete every possession, and then everybody else, you know, fills in their roles and plays the right way. So, yeah, I see how special we can be.”

Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton are two other new players who have been on point on defense.

Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt are two returners who are known for their defense.

It gives Lakers coach JJ Redick a solid group of defenders on the wing.

During practice Wednesday, Redick had to make it shorter than anticipated.

“We had to modify the latter third of practice because these guys were just giving great effort and physicality, so we cut a couple things,” Redick said. “But it was wonderful.”

Read more:How a healthy and motivated Walker Kessler could transform the Lakers' defense

When asked who stood out at practice, Redick didn’t hesitate.

“I would just say all our wings,” Redick said. “We talked about a line of confrontation, so picking the ball up earlier, being disruptive earlier, eating at the shot clock earlier. And I think our physicality off the ball has been really good. We worked on some squared-up reps today. Guys great effort, but it’s the entire group of … of wings. Anybody that’s been out there, it’s been really good.”

Redick mentioned how Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean talked about “deploying the soldiers.”

“Like, the guys on the wing that know their assignment, we’re going to deploy them and they’re going to attack and they’re going to be aggressive,” Redick said. “And then we got to have commanders behind them using their voices and that’s the responsibility of Walker and (Kevon) Looney.”

The Lakers’ defensive rating last season in the NBA was 115.5, ranking them 20th in the league.

They gave up 114.6 points per game, ranking them 11th, and they allowed teams to make 48.3% of their shots , ranking the Lakers 24th.

Yet after only two days of practice, Reaves has a stronger belief in this team’s defensive abilities.

And with that, he believes the Lakers can be championship contenders.

“I mean,” Reaves said. “I left here yesterday and headed to the golf course and was very excited on the drive over there with how yesterday went and kind of what I’ve seen this team could be.”

The Thunder and Spurs are considered the best teams in the NBA and both reside in the Western Conference. Last season, the Thunder was ranked first in defensive rating (106.5) and the Spurs were third (112.3).

With that in mind, Grimes was asked if the Lakers are being viewed as an underrated defensive team on the perimeter.

“I don’t think they’re underrating it, but I think it might be getting, like, overlooked a little bit because of the presence that teams like San Antonio and OKC have set the standard for it,” Grimes said. “But I don’t think we are getting … I think it might be overlooked a little bit. So, I feel like that’s kind of cool to fly under the radar, and we’ll surprise people maybe during the season.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Landry Shamet has never had this luxury. 

Entering his ninth season in the NBA, Shamet is with the same team three years in a row for the first time. 

At this point the past two years, he was on nonguaranteed deals and had to fight his way onto the Knicks roster.

Last year, he seemed to be on the outside looking in until Malcolm Brogdon unexpectedly retired, prompting Shamet to win the battle for the last roster spot. 

But after emerging as a key bench piece during the championship run, he was rewarded with a four-year, $24 million deal this past offseason. 

“It definitely gives you a sense of perspective and appreciation that I’m grateful for,” Shamet said after practice on Wednesday. “To be believed in and have that offered to me, for me and [his fiancée] Cammi to be able to stay here in New York and continue to grow this thing, it’s pretty special. To be asked to be a part of it is humbling and I’m grateful for it every day. It means a lot.” 

To finally have certainty and clarity about his standing is freeing — and extremely rewarding. 

“In a way, it just makes me proud of myself,” Shamet said. “That’s why you work through the difficult times and the challenging and the questioning ones. Typically, there’s really good stuff on the other end of that. It feels good, it feels good to be a part of this moving forward. I don’t want to drop my level or get complacent or any of that, that’s definitely not the feeling. It’s more, it just feels good to know that you don’t have that heavy wave right on your ass again this training camp.” 

Shamet was one of a trio of backup guards — along with Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson — who were free agents this past offseason but opted to return to the Knicks. All three spent various points of last season both in and out of coach Mike Brown’s rotation. 

That all three eagerly wanted to be back, despite at times not seeing the court last year, is indicative of a close bond that defines this group. 

“We care about each other,” Shamet said. “We want to win for each other. We’re willing to take on different roles and we know that we’ve got each other’s back. If Jose’s got it going and my minutes are shortened, awesome. And vice versa. All of us, Deuce [McBride] included in that, I would throw him in that as well, all of us kind of feel that way. That’s really cool. 

“I’ve been saying it, I’ve been a broken record about it, but you don’t see that — from a backup guard position, that’s very rare where no ego or ulterior motives get involved. That’s something special that you want to be a part of.”

Austin Reaves was asked what he has learned from playing alongside Walker Kessler at Lakers practice on Wednesday.

He began waxing poetic about Kessler’s care factor — before abruptly cutting himself off. 

Reaves lost his train of thought. 

Something stunning caught his eye. He came to a full stop. He had to acknowledge it. 

“Luka’s made five f–k,” Reaves said before pausing to collect himself. “Five half-court shots in the last 30 seconds. So, this is ridiculous. And he just made another one. I hate him.”

Reporters swung their heads in time to witness Doncic’s final halfcourt shot swish through the net. 

In other words, it was a typical Wednesday in Laker Land. 

This is the type of thing that can happen when Doncic plays around after practice. He led the league in scoring last season with 33.5 points per game. 

Last March, he averaged 37.5 points, 8 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game before suffering a strained hamstring on April 2 that sidelined him for the entire postseason. 

Doncic is back. He’s healthy. And he has apparently found his stroke. 

So much so that he made Reaves, a star himself who signed a four-year, $180 million contract in July, feel the need to take stock of the moment. 

It was especially striking because Reaves and Doncic have a brotherly rapport in which they love to tease one another. They joke about beating one another in golf. They throw towels at each other during their TV interviews. They’ve used the words “idiot” and “stupid” to describe one another. 

So when one of them heaps praise on the other one, it means something. 

All jokes aside, they’re good friends who have palpable on-court chemistry. 

In fact, Doncic made it abundantly clear to Lakers’ brass that he wanted to keep playing alongside Reaves, who turned down his $14.9 million player option in June. The Lakers then signed Reaves to the richest contract in NBA history for a player who went undrafted. 

Last season it became obvious that Doncic and Reaves soar together on offense. 

When LeBron James was sidelined at the start of last season because of sciatica, Doncic and Reaves led the Lakers on a 15-4 run. And when James missed a smattering of games in March, Doncic and Reaves helped ignite what went on to become a 16-2 run. 

This season, there are hopes that Reaves will develop into an All-Star. As for Doncic? He finished fourth in MVP voting last season behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic.

Here’s to guessing he’s going to try climb higher up that ladder this season as he attempts to lead the Lakers to their first championship since 2020. 

The Lakers are now Doncic’s team after James left in free agency for the 76ers. 

And if Wednesday’s theatrics are any indication, he’s more than ready to put on a show while embracing that challenge. 

Kawhi Leonard may no longer be with the Clippers – or even be in the United States – but the scrutiny surrounding him has followed him north of the border.  

Pablo Torre, the Pulitzer-winning journalist whose reporting about the Clippers’ salary cap circumvention sparked an investigation by the NBA, released another episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out” related to Leonard’s deal with Boingo Wireless.

Boingo Wireless was one of the four companies with endorsement deals with Leonard that were at the center of the NBA’s investigation.

Torre and his show reported that as part of his $1.9-million payment from Boingo, the lone “work” Leonard did as part of his contract was an hour-long photo-op with members of the U.S. military at Camp Pendleton in 2022

A former Boingo executive, who was granted anonymity, described the arrangement as “really gross” to Torre.

Leonard, who’s since been traded back to the Raptors, was asked by a Toronto media member whether he keeps up with Torre’s reporting.

“No, I don’t follow it,” Leonard responded. “I don’t know what to think of it all, [or] really, expect. I’m not really entertained by it.”

Leonard started his Raptors media day availability on Monday by saying he wasn’t going to discuss the NBA’s investigation that found the Clippers broke the league’s salary cap rules. 

In addition to a $30-million fine to the franchise, the team being stripped of five first-round draft picks (2029-33) and Clippers owner/CEO Steve Ballmer being suspended for a year, president of business operations Gillian Zucker (one year) and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank (six months) were also suspended for their roles in the scandal involving Leonard.

Leonard was forced to pay the NBA $700,000 for restitution for improper benefits provided by the Clippers, while his uncle and former business manager, Dennis Robertson, has been banned by the NBA from all business dealings for five years.

“Like I said before, the NBA did their job,” Leonard said. “The PA did their job. I don’t know. I don’t even know what [Torre is] talking about.”

Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened investigations into the Clippers over allegations it circumvented the NBA’s salary cap for Leonard.

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum organized the workouts in Los Angeles that many of the Celtics’ players attended last month in an effort to get a head start on building chemistry between a new-look roster on and off the court. The roughly week-long trip to the west coast included Tatum and LA native Paul George, who returning players Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh, Sam Hauser and more received the opportunity to get to know before they all converged on Boston in September. It also gave Mike Conley Jr. his introduction to his new team.

“From the outside looking in, I always thought he was one of the best players in the league,” Conley said. “Getting to know him now, he’s a guy that I feel like is really coming into his own as a leader, a guy that’s ready to make a jump, I think after the last couple of years with the injury.”

“He called everybody and said, let’s go workout, let’s go meet,” Conley recalled. “Let’s spend about 7-8 days out there, go golf, go out to eat. I feel like he’s setting up all kinds of things off the court. He’s bringing in huddles after practices. After every workout we we have, he has something to say, calling guys out, just really taking ownership of the situation, so that’s big.”

The newest Celtics see a vocal and involved Tatum through their first impressions of him, and Joe Mazzulla left room on media day for Tatum’s voice to grow into his 10th season. Tatum typically leads quietly by example, teammates have long observed, through his work ethic, consistent availability and versatile and unselfish approach to the game. Mazzulla said on Wednesday that he wants Tatum to continue that approach on the floor. Off it, Jaylen Brown’s absence leaves a void where he embraced an outspoken approach to leadership.

Payton Pritchard noticeably spoke out more often about play style preferences, things that the team has to do better while accepting various roles to make the team work. Mazzulla, the tone-setter in many ways, stressed a culture of connectivity since the offseason, acting on it through his trips to Nashville, Spain, Portugal, Dallas, Iowa and more. He also planned the Charleston, South Carolina trip that the team will take as part of camp next week, sensing a new-look team needed the bonding time after nearly a decade since Brad Stevens’ Newport, Rhode Island trip tipped-off Tatum’s rookie season.

Conley also plans to act as an extension of the coaching staff, pulling teammates aside whenever he sees something, but the Celtics want Tatum to embrace his standing as one of the league’s best players.

“We need him to come in with a high level of effort, a high level of attention to detail and competitiveness on the defensive end,” Mazzulla said. “Reading the game every possession, giving the game and the possession exactly what it needs all the time and playing with a high level of confidence.”

“When he’s at his best, our team’s at its best. Nothing changes in that. It’s been that way for a long time. It’s gotta stay that way.”

Tatum’s emergence into camp came at a time of sweeping change in the organization and inherent consolidation around him following Brown’s departure through an offseason trade. That’ll create a before-and-after storyline, highlighting the differences between George’s dynamic as a teammate in Brown’s place, how the team operates stylistically and the general vibes around it. Tatum and Brown certainly gained breathing room on and off the court following the 2023 Marcus Smart trade after playing alongside and leaning on him for leadership early in their careers. For the first time, Brown leaving centers the team around Tatum.

He’s not looking at it that way, however, stressing the importance of everyone across the roster in his comments at media day. Tatum paid respects, again, to Brown for the time they spent together and emphasized that his camaraderie with George stems from the fact that he idolized the veteran growing up watching him star for the Pacers. Other teammates have shied away from drawing comparisons to the state of the team before and after Brown.

Conley, obviously not present until this year, still sensed that Tatum begins this season wanting to prove something. It’s his first full season back from his Achilles tear, and he’s reflected on the perspective nearly losing his career gave him. He reached 80% this year and now has the chance, with expectations relatively lower for the Celtics compared to their championship-chasing seasons, to power them back to that level, help teammates grow and expand his game.

“This is 9-10 years in the league and if you take a 30,000 foot view on just his career, he’s accomplished a lot,” Mazzulla said on media day. “He’s been through a lot of experiences. That phase of his career, being coached by Brad, coming in as a rookie, going through all those Eastern Conference Game 7s and all those journeys, and then being coached by Ime, getting to the Finals … getting hurt and the process of coming back … every experience has to make you better and get you closer to the person and player that you’re trying to be.”

“I think he does a great job of learning from those. This is the next step. This is the next phase of that.”

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Warriors training camp takeaways: Starting five competition underway in Hawaii originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LAIE, Hawaii – While the second day of Warriors training camp on the campus of BYU-Hawaii was a bit lighter than the first, the team again went through controlled 5-on-5. Wednesday’s emphasis was a lot of work in transition. 

“We were a very poor transition team last year,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “One of our main focal points at camp is to try to clean up our transition, be more efficient. Gave away too many points last year, and we’re working hard on that.” 

The Warriors allowed the eighth-most points in transition per game last season (24.7). 

Bringing in veteran coach Frank Vogel to run the Warriors’ defense already is being felt by all, with a major focus on being a better team in transition. Vogel, 53, has 21 years of coaching experience in the NBA – 12 as a head coach and nine as an assistant. He ran the Dallas Mavericks’ defense last season after a one-year stint as the Phoenix Suns’ head coach.

“We’re using some of his transition defensive drills, some of his rebounding drills,” Kerr said. “We’ve been watching tape of Dallas’ training camp from last year. The drill work that Frank did with them, and Frank said, ‘No more Dallas tape after the game.’ Those guys don’t like watching another team, so now we have enough tape for ourselves to watch our own camp tape. 

“But Frank’s awesome. He’s a great, great coach, and he’s doing a really good job getting these guys organized, giving them kind of the expectations for how we’re going to defend, our terminology – I’m very confident.”

Here are three takeaways from the second day of Warriors training camp, which featured comments from Kerr and De’Anthony Melton. 

Gui Santos’ Next Steps

The best story last season, on the Warriors and perhaps throughout the NBA, was Golden State forward Gui Santos. Taken with the No. 55 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Santos spent his entire first season in Santa Cruz playing for the Warriors’ G League affiliate. Santos transformed his body and his game, slowly earning more opportunities. 

He played in 23 NBA games the next season, and 56 in 2024-25, watching his minutes per game go from 8.3 to 13.6. Last season was Santos’ breakout, knocking down the door and playing 68 games with 30 starts while averaging 20.5 points per game. 

“Gui’s great,” Kerr said. “Just from Day 1, the energy that he brought, coachability, wanting to get better, being in the gym all the time, soaking up the knowledge that he needed, and then building up the reps in Santa Cruz. Playing there for at least a couple years – two, three years – night after night, playing heavy minutes … now he’s worked his way up where he’s going to be again one of our most important players. He’s a guy everybody would love to coach. Just how hard he plays, and the knowledge and the awareness of how to play.” 

Santos averaged career highs in points per game (9.2), rebounds per game (3.9) and assists per game (2.3). Where he really shone was down the stretch of the season when the Warriors were hit hard by injuries to Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and eventually Moses Moody. In a season where the team was searching for silver linings, Santos was one of them. 

From the time that Butler sustained a torn ACL on Jan. 19 through the end of the regular season, Santos played in 35 games and started 28. His numbers rocketed to 14.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, shooting 50.8 percent from the field. As the Warriors wait on Butler and Moody’s returns from injury, Kerr wants Santos to stay within himself and build off the block he already has created. 

“Just continued growth shooting the ball. We asked a lot of him last year, and he turned it over quite a bit in those last 25 games when Steph was out,” Kerr said. “It was a good process for him to have to create shots for us because we didn’t have any other options, and then feel the mistakes that he made at the same time. 

“We’re just looking for continued growth. He’s a focal point of our team, our offense. But fitting next to Steph, next to Jimmy when he’s back, where he’s still able to attack and make plays, but also being the role player, fill-in guy that he’s so good at.” 

Yaxel’s Versatility 

On a team that still has Curry, Butler and Draymond Green, the spotlight is shining equally as bright on rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. He’s almost impossible to miss, whether it’s his size or bravado. And that size already has stood to Warriors veterans. 

“Man, Yax is … I think the big thing about Yax is he’s such a smart player,” Melton said. “So stuff just comes to him naturally. I don’t think he even notices sometimes. But like you said, his versatility. Like, he’s a big body. He can guard space, and that’s important. And he can go out to the rim not scared about it. And offensively, I mean, running into him when he sets a screen, you can feel the physicality you need, and that’s what you get from Draymond too. 

“Him rolling to the basket, we’re trying to tell him, ‘I don’t think nobody wants to step in front of you rolling to the basket.’ He’s such a versatile player. We just got to continue to have him do it more and more.” 

At 6-foot-9 and 241 pounds with a wingspan that stretches past 7-foot-3, Lendeborg is one of the biggest players on the Warriors. Lendeborg, who turned 24 years old on Wednesday, began his college career as a center at Arizona Western College, played bully ball his two years at UAB and then found himself on the wing at Michigan. 

There already have been instances in controlled 5-on-5 where Lendeborg essentially has been the Warriors’ center, which Kerr isn’t worried about offensively but acknowledged that would be a big adjustment defensively. Ideally, he’ll find his way as one of the Warriors’ two forward positions. 

The advantage of having Lendeborg’s strength, length and ability to shoot the ball makes Kerr comfortable playing him as a small forward or a power forward. 

“He’s just a basketball player,” Kerr said. “I mean, he can dribble, pass, shoot. It doesn’t really matter what position you play him.” 

Open Competition 

Kerr on Tuesday was adamant that Green will continue to be in the Warriors’ starting lineup to pair him with Curry as much as he can. The next day, the Warriors coach strongly stated the other three positions in the starting five are up for grabs as an open competition. 

“For sure,” Kerr said. “Yeah, yeah. Nothing has been decided yet.” 

Kristaps Porziņģis was expected to be the Warriors’ starting center like he was last season. But a health issue has him home instead of in Hawaii with the rest of his teammates. Al Horford could slot into that position, as could Green. Kerr preferably would have Horford come off the bench and Green play much more power forward than center to save his body. 

Santos has etched his name into the Warriors’ rotation for the foreseeable future, but even he could find himself in a competition with Lendeborg. Maybe they both start to give the Warriors newfound size on the wings. 

Who starts next to Curry has been a question since Klay Thompson departed in the summer of 2024. That also has been a question for Brandin Podziemski and Melton for stretches over each of the past two years, as well as this season, too. Podziemski played all 82 games last season and started 43 of them. Melton played in 49 games after making his season debut on Dec. 4 and started 24.

The elder of the two says he couldn’t care less about starting or coming off the bench going into his ninth season and third as a Warrior. 

“Nah, I think for me it’s just, man, we got such a deep team,” Melton said. “It’s just about collecting wins and adding them up. And I think, end of the day, we want to see where we’re at in April. … So for me, it doesn’t really matter. I think I just want to collect as many wins as possible.” 

Time is on the Warriors’ side to find the right winning formula of a five-man combination to start games. That’s what training camp is for, and that’s what playing six preseason games is for three weeks away from the regular-season opener against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

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