Around The Horn 2021-2022 Season

https://www.sportscasting.com/nets-news-ben-simmons-andre-drummond-seth-curry/



Brooklyn Nets: Ben Simmons is Not ‘Cordial’ With Some Current Teammates


by Josh Wilson  
Published onFebruary 23, 2022



Ben Simmons got his wish at the NBA trade deadline. He’s no longer a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and is now a Brooklyn Net.

Change of scenery? In some ways, yes, but in other ways, not so much.

Simmons gets a new city, uniform, and coach, as well as a mostly-fresh set of teammates. But the deal that sent him to Brooklyn also included Seth Curry and Andre Drummond from Philadelphia.

He never played with Drummond, who was signed in the offseason, but he did play with Curry in 2020-21.

Recent comments from Danny Green reveal that Simmons might need to have some uncomfortable conversations with his carry-over teammates to keep things moving in Brooklyn.


Ben Simmons and Sixers teammates were not cordial


Ben Simmons, Seth Curry | Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images


Danny Green, host of the Inside the Green Room podcast, spoke on Simmons and whether he expects to shake his hand if and when he comes to Philadelphia in the most recent episode.

Along the way, Green revealed that it’ll be an interesting dynamic for Simmons to work through in Brooklyn with some of his carry-over teammates.

“I haven’t got a chance to talk to those guys yet, but I know they weren’t on the most of cordial terms when he was in Philly with Drum’ and Seth. So I wonder how that relationship is now.”
Danny Green


As for his own relationship with Simmons, Green said he has no ill will toward him but made it clear that it’s not sunshine and rainbows.

“Will we shake hands to start? Probably not,” he said.

Green went on to mention he’d be surprised if Simmons plays in that game at all — which is coming up on March 10 — due to the quick turnaround and hostility of Philadelphia fans. Simmons, however, is eyeing a revenge opportunity and has said he “hopes” to play in that specific matchup despite not giving a particular timeline for returning to play.

“It all depends on how that game goes. How he interacts in that game. How well he plays, or how cleanly or non-cleanly he or us plays against each other, is going to determine how we shake hands,” Green concluded.


Ben Simmons had a spat with new teammate Goran Dragic, too




In the 2018 playoffs, Goran Dragic and Ben Simmons got into a spat in which Dragic swung his arm and connected with Simmons upside his head. This was a dicey, competitive, and physical playoff series between the two teams, the same one in which Justise Winslow stepped on Joel Embiid’s custom facemask designed to protect his orbital bone.


Dragic is also a new teammate for Simmons. After his contract was bought out and a few teams expressed interest in him as a free agent, he ended up signing with the Nets for the remainder of the season, first reported by Shams Charania.

Dragic isn’t the only member of that 2018 Heat team who is a new teammate for Simmons. James Johnson was also on that Heat team.

It’s another interesting dynamic to work through for the Nets, who have had a remarkably windy road this season, including a star player in Kyrie Irving who has yet to be able to play in a single home game.


Normal issues for professional athletes to go through


Ben Simmons | Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images


The Ben Simmons situation is anything but typical. He refused to play for the Sixers this season, citing personal mental wellness issues he was working through. After months of speculation and little movement on the trade front, a sudden trade involving Harden finally went down.


Now, Simmons, who is committed to returning to play for the Nets in a new environment, does have a few awkward “hellos” to go through.

But is this really all that different from a typical trade? Games get heated sometimes, and professional sports are rarely so simple that everyone is always cordial with each other. Sure, Simmons and his relationship with Curry and Drummond is certainly unique, but is it really much different than, say, Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns going from headlock to this?

No, probably not.

Cordiality is not a prerequisite for any teammate re-alignments after a trade. And it should be noted, lacking cordiality is much different than actively disliking. You wouldn’t necessarily expect Curry and Drummond to be super close friends with Simmons given the situation in Philadelphia this season. No real news here, right?

Adults, and especially professional athletes, sometimes have to face awkward situations and agree to work alongside teammates they might not necessarily be the best of friends with. That’s life.

And it’s the reality for Simmons in Brooklyn right now.


Bob


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As if the Lakers needed any more bad news, the team recently received a discouraging injury update for Anthony Davis.


According to reports from ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday, the superstar forward is expected to miss 4-5 more weeks with a mid-foot sprain on his right foot.

This new timeframe adds a significant chunk of time onto Davis’ original expected recovery.

After the eight-time All Star suffered this injury during a matchup against the Utah Jazz on Feb. 16, the Lakers initially announced he would be out for two weeks. Later MRI’s extended that time period to a re-evaluation in four weeks.



In their first game without Davis since this injury, the Lakers fell 105-102 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. With this loss, a team that was once considered a title contender now sits at 27-32 and ninth in the Western Conference.


Through 37 appearances this year, Davis has averaged 23.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. LeBron James and the rest of the struggling Lakers squad will have to hold it down while AD is out in order to keep the team in postseason contention.


Bob
MY NOTE:  As of this morning the Lakers have a 4 game lead in the loss column over #11 NOP.  They have a 3 game lead over  #10 Portland.   The chances of them falling all the way out of the playoffs is unlikely, but we can always hope.    




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https://www.yahoo.com/news/28-point-loss-pelicans-lakers-053857288.html



A 28-point loss to the Pelicans!? Lakers' issues grow uglier in boo-filled flop


Broderick Turner
Sun, February 27, 2022, 9:38 PM


The Lakers were booed off the Crypto.com Arena court Sunday night, their 123-95 beatdown by the New Orleans Pelicans leaving their fans displeased and leaving the players from Los Angeles searching for answers for a season that has gone off the rails.

The Lakers have lost their first two games after the All-Star break, showing no sense of urgency against the Pelicans, falling six games below .500 (27-33).

Obviously, this wasn’t expected for a Lakers team many viewed as a championship contender when the season started.

They are far from that now.

“I think each play we get down on ourselves too much and just not playing as hard as we can,” said Russell Westbrook, who had 16 points, one assist and seven turnovers. “Teams are coming in and playing harder. And I believe that’s kind of the scouting report, just play harder than them and see what happens and it’s working. Until we determine and have a determination that we’re not going to allow it, especially on our home floor, it will continue to happen to us.”

As the ninth seed in the West, the Lakers now hold just a 2½-game lead over the 10th-seeded Pelicans.

The Lakers have 22 regular-season games remaining, two of them against this same New Orleans team that just steamrolled Los Angeles.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 32 points on 13-for-23 shooting, but his effort was meaningless in a game the Lakers trailed by as many as 32 points. James also had seven turnovers.

“Well, I don’t have an answer for tonight,” James said. “Obviously, you talk about the future, that’s for us to figure out. Who can know what can happen the next few weeks? But tonight, from the six-minute point of the second quarter through the third, no answers. That team has been playing well: They went into Phoenix, beat them, and obviously beat the doors off us today, mostly in that third quarter. So, don’t have too many answers.”

The Lakers shot just 20.6% (seven for 34) from three-point range.

When James threw a cross-court pass that went under Talen Horton-Tucker’s hands and out of bounds with five minutes left in the third quarter, the boos started.

When the Lakers called a timeout with 5:39 left, now down 75-53, the boos came yet again. When the Lakers went down 95-65 at the end of the third quarter, the fans booed them again. By game’s end, the Lakers had 23 turnovers.

“It’s real easy to give up, throw in the towel and say negative things,” Dwight Howard said. “So, I’m really at a loss for words. But we got to stay positive. We can’t sulk in defeat, and we can’t quit on each other. I know it’s been a very rough season.”


The Lakers were outscored 44-25 in the third. Their defense was ripped apart, allowing the Pelicans to shoot 64% in the third. Their offense was horrible, the Lakers making just 33.3% of their shots in the third, missing all nine of their three-point attempts.

The Lakers were unable to slow New Orleans’ trio of Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valanciunas and CJ McCollum.

Ingram produced 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds, Valanciunas had another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and McCollum had 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

“I feel like we get deflated when we don’t play well and the other team’s on a run, which I think is pretty much all 30 teams would have the same response,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “But I don’t think it’s about not caring. This group wants to get some traction, it wants to get some wins, put some wins on the board, play better than we’re playing. But if it doesn’t go well, it’s natural to get deflated sometimes. Our guys had moments like that but then they pushed through it, tried to keep fighting.”


Bob
MY NOTE:  Six Pelicans in double digits and one with 9.  Three Lakers.  The Lakers had 15 assists on 35 fgm.  That's pretty bad.  What's worse, and I've never seen this before, the Lakers had 23 turnovers.  23 turnovers by themselves is a rarity but to have 50% more turnovers than assists?!  Have any of you ever heard of a game in which one of the teams had more turnovers than assists?

The Lakers are probably going to make the play-in tournament.  They're in 9th with a 3 game in the loss column edge over #10 NOP and #11 Portland.  BOTH of those teams would have to beat the Lakers, and I don't know what their tiebreaker situations are, for the Lakers to completely miss the post-season.  Not impossible, just damn unlikely with the relatively few games left.

Not only are the Lakers looking very old they are locked into three monster contracts for at least one more year each.  LeBron will be 38 next year and will be paid $44.5M.  Westbrook will be 34 next year and will be paid $47M next year.  Davis is still on the right side of 30 but is starting to look a little fragile.  Two of those contracts are all but untradeable.  Furthermore, a lot of LeBron's success has been his mystique.  Once he left Cleveland the first time he has had an amazing winning streak, in part, because other great players want to join him for a ring.  If the Lakers lose in the first round of the playoffs (much less lose in the play-in round or miss the playoffs altogether) that mystique will take a hit.  This means that the chances of them turning this around next year aren't so good either. Which needle-moving player would want to climb into that clown car knowing that LeBron's done in LA after next year (he's said he's going wherever Bronny is)?


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NBA Buzz
@OfficialNBABuzz
LeBron & Trevor Ariza confronted LAKER FAN hecklers during their blowout loss to NOLA:

LeBron: “What do you know about basketball other than the ball going in or not? Shut yo a** up.”

Ariza: “I don’t give a fu** what you are! You a b*tch! How about that?”

Thoughts?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1498199087690268672


Bob
MY NOTE:  Jeannie Buss, who was at the game, left in the 3rd quarter as the boos began.  Left quite quickly too, I might add.  When this story about LeBron mouthing off to a fan hits the LA papers she'll lose it, and I can confirm the story is being run by TMZ and LA is "Movie Land".  Everybody, not just people in the movie biz, pay attention to stuff like that in Tinsel Town.  I've got a lot of respect for that lady.  She's trying her best to run a big operation in a classy way and this sure isn't it.  I would bet money that when she hears about this Rob Pelinka's ears will be burned clean off.  If Russell Westbrook's welcome is gone LeBron's can't be too far behind.  When fans, who have a talent-laden team, watch that team lose 9 out of their last 12 they have a right to let the team know they are unhappy.  If LeQueen doesn't like it maybe he should walk away from the rest of his contract and sit out a year until Bronny can get drafted in the 2nd round and then he can go to Europe with him.


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https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-lakers-russell-westbrook-mutual-182000043.html



Report: Lakers, Russell Westbrook have ‘mutual interest’ in parting ways


Bijan Todd
Wed, March 2, 2022, 10:20 AM



The Los Angeles Lakers-Russell Westbrook experiment might be nearing an end.


According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the star point guard and the Lakers’ front office have ‘mutual interest’ in finding Westbrook a new home in the trade market over the summer, as he is still under contract through next season.

Westbrook was traded from Washington to L.A. this past offseason in the multi-team deal that saw Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and Spencer Dinwiddie arrive in the nation’s capital. The former two of that bunch still play a vital role in Wes Unseld Jr.’s nightly rotation.

Los Angeles’ season has fallen well short of expectations, as the Lakers have lost six of their last seven games and sit at ninth place in the Western Conference. With championship expectations surrounding the team heading into the season, the Lakers’ current losing streak has seen fans lose patience with the players, leading to altercations like this:


Many fans have pointed their criticism directly at Westbrook, to the point where the home crowd boos him after missed shots and has even groaned at him not to take big shots in clutch time.

Despite all the flak Westbrook has gotten from the Lakers faithful, he really hasn’t had a terrible individual season. He’s scoring 18.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 7.3 rpg while shooting 43.2% from the field. His bricked jumpers will go viral, but his field-goal percentage is higher than Steph Curry, Kyle Lowry, James Harden, Lamelo Ball, and Fred VanVleet.


Before the All-Star break, Westbrook reportedly delivered a passionate speech in the Los Angeles locker room and drove home the notion that the team needs to ‘take a unified direction to their fight for a postseason berth,’ according to Fischer. He gave a similar speech in Washington last season.

The Wizards were in the midst of an uphill battle to qualify for the NBA’s play-in tournament and then the playoffs, not unlike the situation they currently find themselves in.

According to former head coach Scott Brooks, Westbrook stormed into the locker room after a loss and “gave a very passionate, very direct talk to the group. He was like ‘I am not going through this season and not making the playoffs.’” Washington would go on to win 17 of its last 23 games, make the play-in, then advance to the playoffs.


Bob
MY NOTE:  Wanting to trade him is not synonymous with being able to trade him, not with that contract.  That means that either Westbrook retires with money left on his contract (don't hold your breath on that!), or he chooses to not exercise his $47M Player Option next year and becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent (which would be dumb.  NO team could, much less would, give him anywhere near that much on a new contract) or the Lakers stretch his contract like they did with Luol Deng (whose contract, btw, is finally coming off their books next year).  The way the Stretch Provision works is that the dollars left on a player's contract can be spread over 2X the remaining years left on that contract + 1.   Under that scenario Westbrook's remaining $47.2M would be spread over 3 years ()1 year left X 2) +1 = 3).  That means that $15.73M would hit the Lakers' salary cap every year until 2024-2025.  With LeBron aging, and probably leaving after next year to follow Bronny anyway, that makes it harder to find and adequate replacement.

One possibility is that Brad uses one of his TPEs ($6.9M for Juancho Hernangomez, $17M for Evan Fournier) to facilitate a trade and gets something(s)/someone(s) in return.  He also has a $5M TPE for Kemba, but that one expires on 5/17/22.  That's before any trade window opens up this season, so it'll probably expire unused.


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Die hard Knicks fan Stephen A(sshole) Smith  goes off on Julius Randle while he's on the show.




Bob


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Woj reporting that Russell Westbrook MAY be demoted to the bench.   Wow.  

I doubt that will change much, you could still start him but cut his minutes and that's close,  but to even consider that?!  The Lakers are a mess, I have enough friends weeks are Laker fans that say that but demoting him turns the Lakers into a NY Knicks sized dumpster fire.  .




Bob


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Kevin Tired
@TheiKevin
Some military experts have been surprised that despite having superior firepower, the Russian army has been slowed by aging equipment, poor motivation and inept leadership.

So basically, they are the Lakers.


Bob


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Bob


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