Lakers in the News: 5/23/12: Rumor Time: Derron Williams has Lakers on his list

[Cha*n]

Report: Deron Williams has Lakers on his list (behind Nets)

Kurt Helin

May 23, 2012, 3:18 PM EDT

A Deron Williams and Kobe Bryant backcourt, with Andrew Bynum in the paint. That team could be very dangerous.

Apparently, Deron Williams has thought about it.

In an article where he says the Lakers and Magic need to do a Bynum for Dwight Howard swap, Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated drops some interesting knowledge about D-Will.


A source close to the three-time All-Star said he would be interested in joining the Lakers, though it would have to be via a sign-and-trade deal. (Lakers point guard Ramon Sessions, who was acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, has a $4.5 million player option for next season.) The source said Williams’ preference,

[Cha*n]

Report: Deron Williams prefers the Nets, but Mavericks and Lakers are in play

By Royce Young | NBA Blogger

Dallas doesn't have the inside track for D-Will. (Getty Images)

Zero hour is coming for the Brooklyn Nets.

The franchise took a major calculated risk in targeting Deron Williams in a trade that sent substantial assets and talent out the door. He's an unrestricted free agent this July and if he choose to sign elsewhere, the Nets will be back to square one.

But according to SI.com, it sounds like the Nets are at least still the leader in the clubhouse.

A source close to the three-time All-Star said he would be interested in joining the Lakers, though it would have to be via a sign-and-trade deal. (Lakers point guard Ramon Sessions, who was acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, has a $4.5 million player option for next season.)

The source said Williams' preference, however, is for the Nets to improve the roster sufficiently enough that he can feel good about staying put rather than fear a repeat of this season, when they finished 22-44. As for Dallas, which sacrificed its best chance to defend the title by preserving salary-cap space last summer in anticipation of this free-agent class, the source said of the Mavericks: "There's no longevity there." If owner Mark Cuban can clear enough space to sign a worthy sidekick for Williams, though, then maybe he'd join his hometown team after all.

[chicky baby]

Please please make this happen.

[Cha*n]

NBA@2: The Lakers’ Andrew Bynum Dilemma

By Bill Ingram
Senior NBA Editor

For a brief period of time this season, I found myself thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Los Angeles Lakers really didn’t need Dwight Howard. There was a long stretch of games in March and April where Bynum looked like he might be the Lakers’ next franchise player, where he was the driving force behind the final push for the playoffs that went off without a glitch even as Kobe Bryant was sidelined with an injury.

Bynum had one of the best months of his career in March, when he averaged 22.2 points, 10.9 rebounds and just under two blocks per game. The Lakers weren’t dominant, going 11-6 in April, but Bynum was engaged, determined and an absolute beast.

April wasn’t that much different, as Bynum posted averages of 20.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and just over a block per game. The Lakers were 9-6 during that stretch despite the fact that Bryant sat out the middle of the month, going 5-1 without him.

[Cha*n]

[Cha*n]

Lakers ride off uneasily into another bumpy offseason

Posted May 23 2012 10:25AM

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Four losses in five games should have said enough about the jarring offseason that awaits the Lakers. Four losses in eight days that underlined the fact that their roster again was unable to stand up to the emotional challenge of the second round and the superior talent of an opponent.

But just in case the losses weren't enough, very early Tuesday, hours after their elimination at the hands of the young Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Lakers headed home to heal and plot a response. The team plane jetted into the dark Oklahoma sky and was some 10 minutes into the journey when it happened.

Turbulence. Twenty minutes of bouncing through the night. Part roller coaster, part life as a mid-air punching bag.

It could be that kind of summer after a second bad beating in the Western Conference semifinals in as many years. There can be no conversation about what happens now, post Oklahoma City, without unearthing the horrid memories of Dallas '11.

[Cha*n]

Lakers Descend Into the Realm of Average

The Los Angeles Lakers are just two years removed from winning their second of back-to-back titles. But the sad reality for the team is that its second-round exit was no surprise — L.A. was a barely above-average team this season, lucky to reach the second round rather than unlucky to fall short of the conference finals.

The Lakers offense was slightly above average and the team’s defense was average. It outscored opponents by 1.4 points per game, which normally would have been good enough for the eighth seed in the West rather than the third seed. Without home-court advantage in the first round, which they barely got, the Lakers likely would have gone home much earlier. In short, as David Roth put it on this blog on Tuesday, the Lakers stopped being the Lakers.

Since leaguewide offense was down this season amid post-lockout rust, the average team got worse on offense but better on defense, statistically speaking. Not the Lakers, who slipped in each category. Last season L.A.’s offensive rating, or points per 100 possessions, was nearly four points better than league average, and L.A. was minus-3 defensively — meaning it was seven points better than average per 100 possessions. This year, those figures were +1.4 and 0.

[Cha*n]

Lakers agonize after failure

L.A.'s elimination by the Thunder in second round means it's time for painful finger-pointing

By GREG BEACHAM

Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol spent the final minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers' final game arguing in Oklahoma City, disagreeing on the best way to run a pick-and-roll play.

It might have been the tandem's last few minutes together with a franchise that has little patience when even great players stop bringing home rings.

The Lakers were eliminated in the second round for the second straight year Monday night with a five-game loss to the Thunder. Although the Lakers had a solid season despite getting no real training camp to make the enormous switch from coaches Phil Jackson to Mike Brown, they weren't as good as the National Basketball Association's best.

That likely means changes for a franchise and a fan base that considers seasons ending before June to be abject failures.

"I'm really not used to it, so it's pretty odd for me," Bryant said of another early-by-Lakers-standards exit. "I'm not the most patient of people, and the organization is not extremely patient either. We want to win and win now, so I'm sure we'll figure it out. We always have. I'm sure we will again."

[Cha*n]

More later if more becomes available.

[chicky baby]

[SilverBullet]

[ForrestHump]

[danish87]

hate to say it.... but it sounds like hes trying to drive up value.

everyone's always rumored to be interested in playing for the lakers / with Kobe
_________________
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." - Jack Handey

[ForrestHump]

[stag3]

hehe take the homer glasses off, he can sign here sure but how much longer can kobe compete at this level? his mileage is showing now. the other stuff about LA, big market etc yes.

[ForrestHump]

[Runway8]

[l4kerz]