A very cool tidbit about Kobe not opting out.
L.A. Times: Today was the last possible day for Bryant to become a free agent, but the 13-year veteran did not do so because he wanted to “let Lamar [Odom] and Trevor [Ariza] have their day,” according to the source, who wasn’t authorized by Bryant to speak publicly about the decision.
Mitch talks about the task at hand.
Daily News: One by one, they said they hoped to come back to play for another NBA championship next season.
Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown said they were happy and at home with the Lakers and wanted to re-sign with the team.
The Lakers want them back, too. General manager Mitch Kupchak and coach Phil Jackson each said the journey to a second consecutive league title begins by re-signing the three unrestricted free agents.
important step begins at 9 p.m. today.
That’s when Kupchak can begin negotiations with agents for the players. It’s also when general managers for 29 other teams can begin pursuing Ariza, Odom and Brown in hopes ofluring away three valuable members of the Lakers’ 2008-09 championship team.
Money, as always, will play an all-important role in where they land.
Kupchak made it clear he doesn’t have blank checks to hand out, and issues such as the salary cap and luxury tax could mean he won’t be able to afford to re-sign them. He also doesn’t know how high other teams might go in order to sign them.
Because they are unrestricted free agents, the Lakers do not have the right to match outside offers for Ariza,
Odom and Brown. It means the talks might go quickly, with the players agreeing to new deals within a matter of minutes or hours.
Negotiations between teams and restricted free agents tend to take longer.
ESPN: Mike Krzyzewski made it clear: He’s not ever going to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.
During his annual summer meeting with reporters Tuesday, one of the first topics covered by the Duke coach was the simmering buzz that had him leaving the Blue Devils for the Lakers if Phil Jackson retires.
“I’m not going to the Lakers. They have one of the great coaches in the game,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t know where that rumor started, but there has been nothing done like that, and I’m not leaving Duke. Whatever you hear about anything like that, I will never leave Duke until I leave coaching.”
Recent reports fueled the latest round of Krzyzewski-to-the-Lakers chatter. Jackson had raised the possibility of coaching just home games next season and when that proposal was shot down it raised questions about Jackson’s future with the club. Five years ago, Krzyzewski was courted by the storied franchise before he ultimately turned down a reported $40 million offer and stayed at Duke.
After three decades in Durham, Krzyzewski sounds like he is planning to stick around for quite a while longer.
“Since the Laker thing [in 2004], to hear another rumor like that, not that it’s so bad, but I’d rather not go there at all,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t want my Duke team — not necessarily my basketball team, but my Duke team, the community — to feel like you’re looking at other things. I’m getting ready to start my 30th year at Duke, and I don’t see the finish line yet. I know the finish line will be there sometime, but it’s not in my vision right now.”
Continue reading ‘Coach K will remain Duke’s coach, not a Laker free agent’
ESPN: It wasn’t long ago that Kobe Bryant reportedly wanted out of Los Angeles. He’s not going anywhere now.
Fresh off winning the championship, the Lakers guard decided not to exercise an early termination option in his contract and will return for the 2009-10 season, a league source told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford.
Bryant is scheduled to make $23 million next season by not opting out. He also has a player option to opt out of his contract in the 2010-11 season. The Lakers will work with Bryant over the summer and fall to hammer out a new, long-term extension, according to the source.
After two straight first-round exits from the playoffs, Bryant requested a trade in the spring of 2007, saying that he didn’t like the direction the team’s rebuilding was going.
The Lakers then went out and traded for big man Pau Gasol. Los Angeles increased its win total from 42 games to 57 and went to the NBA Finals, eventually losing to the Boston Celtics. The Lakers bounced back with a 65-win season in 2008-09, made it back to the Finals and beat the Orlando Magic for the title. Bryant distinguished himself by winning his first championship without Shaquille O’Neal. The duo won three from 2000 to 2002.
As expected, Kobe won’t opt out; the official report is he hasn’t notified the Lakers that he will.
L.A. Times: Kobe Bryant must officially notify the Lakers via fax by the end of Tuesday should he decide to terminate his contract.
The Lakers declined to comment. Bryant’s agent, Rob Pelinka, did not return a phone call.
Detroit, Memphis and Oklahoma City are the only teams far enough under the salary cap to even contemplate signing Bryant to a five-year deal this summer, but they wouldn’t be close enough to match Bryant’s $23-million salary next season without shedding additional salaries.
CBA guru and TLN friend, Larry Coon, writes on the Lakers decisions due on Mbenga and Powell.
RealGM: The Los Angeles Lakers have center D.J. Mbenga and forward Josh Powell under contract for 2009-10, both for $959,111. Both players’ salaries are currently non-guaranteed – the Lakers could waive either player without owing any money. A decision on whether to waive either player must come soon, with Mbenga’s salary becoming fully guaranteed if not placed on waivers today, and Powell’s becoming fully guaranteed if not waived by Wednesday.
The Lakers have been financially conservative this offseason, in order to afford re-signing both Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. The escape clauses on Mbenga’s and Powell’s contracts provide the opportunity to save additional money, even if they intend to keep both players.
The minimum salary is a sliding scale based on years of service. For example, the 2009-10 minimum for a rookie is $457,588, while for a 10+ year veteran it is $1,306,455. However, in order to keep teams from shying away from older (and more expensive) veterans, teams are only responsible for paying the minimum salary of a two-year veteran ($825,497), with any salary above that amount paid from a league-wide pool. The luxury tax for these players is also based on the salary of a two-year veteran.
Here’s the catch — this only applies to minimum salary players on one-year contracts. Since both Mbenga and Powell are on two-year contracts, the Lakers will be responsible for each player’s entire $959,111, along with the full luxury tax.
Well Amare loves playing with the world saying he is coming to the Lakers. After last Friday’s “hoax,” he put this up today. Feel free to discuss.
Breaking News! Amar’e Stoudemire to the Lakers!! He might take less money to win a championship. (via twitter)
Hoopsworld informs us Ariza is looking in the 8 million dollar range… how does this affect us and possibly resigning both Ariza and Odom?
Hoopsworld: Trevor’s’ camp is said to be looking for a deal in the $8 to $9 million per season range, which in and of itself may price Lamar Odom out of the Lakers’ budget, as Ariza is considered the most important player to retain this summer.
Good luck, buddy, you’re going to need it…
My San Antonio: An elated Chinemelu Elonu watched the sun rise Friday morning, hours after his selection by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA draft.
Had Elonu been up all night, celebrating his move from Texas A&M to Tinseltown? Hardly, prompting Aggies assistant coach Byron Smith to marvel at the resolve of the 6-foot-10 A&M forward who’s on a mission to make the NBA.
“Some guys, when they learn they’ll be taking it to another level, take it to another level all right — that night in the clubs,” Smith said. “But he was up early in the morning, running sprints and running hills.
“He understands what’s ahead of him.”
What’s ahead of Elonu, who spent Friday in College Station saying goodbye to his teammates and coaches, is a fight to make the roster of the NBA champions, after the Lakers selected him 59th, next to last, in the draft.
“Whenever you go from college to the NBA, you have to start all over again,” said Elonu, who had a year of eligibility remaining at A&M but has already graduated. “To show how hard I work, the hustle, rebounding, shot-blocking that I’m capable of — it’s a process that starts all over again.”
The Wall Street Journal: One of the great curiosities in modern sports is the Chinese people’s lavish affection for Kobe Bryant. During last year’s Beijing Olympics, he was greeted with a rapturous reception and mobbed everywhere he went. He appears in commercials and on billboards, has a popular Web site and had a reality show on Chinese television. He sells more NBA jerseys there than Yao Ming.
On Tuesday in Los Angeles, the love affair will reach a new level. Not only is Mr. Bryant accepting an award from the Asia Society for his work as a “cultural ambassador,” the ceremony will be attended by Liu Peng, China’s Secretary of Sport and a member of China’s Communist Party Central Committee.
China’s embrace is largely an appreciation of Mr. Bryant’s basketball talent—he won his fourth NBA title earlier this month with the Los Angeles Lakers. “He reminds everyone of Michael Jordan,” says Shen Zhiyu, a senior basketball writer for Titan Sports, China’s largest sports daily.
But it is also a reflection of a deliberate campaign by Mr. Bryant to make inroads in the world’s most-populous country. In addition to his frequent visits to China (a planned trip in late July will be his fourth in as many years) and his considerable work on behalf of sponsor Nike, he’s assuming another identity: philanthropist.
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