The Lakers rumors are in full effect now the buyout deadline is upon the Los Angeles Lakers. Will it be Dion Waiters or J.R. Smith? Lake Show Life reports that the team will talk to Dion Waiters on Monday. Lake Show Life breaks down why it should go no further than that.
It’s here Los Angeles Lakers fans, it’s here. Lakers rumors will culminate today, Sunday March 1st, as it is the deadline for NBA players to be waived/released and still be eligible to be on a playoff roster at the end of April.
With the statements of Yahoo! Sports, Chris Haynes on a TNT broadcast, Lakers rumors will be filled with misinformation of the rules, Lakers options of what they can do, their timeline and the players that will be connected with the team.
Lake Show Life already has a favorite of which player the Los Angeles Lakers should sign in J.R. Smith. But there is another player that is sitting at the top of the Lakers rumors chain leading into the unofficial NBA deadline.
Before we get into the player that the Lakers may get, let’s take Moe Harkless off the wish list. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he will be staying in New York for the rest of the season. He was linked in the big trade that helped the Clippers land Marcus Morris, a player the Lakers tried to get at the trade deadline.
No deadline buyout discussions with Knicks and F Mo Harkless, league sources tell ESPN. He will finish season with New York, despite some options with contenders. Sunday is deadline for players to be waived and become eligible for a playoff roster elsewhere.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 29, 2020
Now that Harkless is gone, let’s discuss a player that just got waived under the deadline. According to Woj, the Minnesota Timberwolves just bought out Allen Crabbe.
Social media already is attaching him to the Lakers rumors list. Lake Show Life will be monitoring this closely and will be breaking down his game if this picks up any steam.
Timberwolves and Allen Crabbe agree to buyout, per @wojespn
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) February 29, 2020
Crabbe will now be eligible to sign with a playoff contending team. pic.twitter.com/PMzrikgrvk
Allen Crabbe is a solid player that obviously didn’t want to be on the sinking ship that is the Minnesota Timberwolves and their rebuilding effort. Since January 9th, the franchise has won three games (Hey one was against the Clippers, so a clock can be right once a day!) as of this writing, so you can see Allen Crabbe’s motivation.
Crabbe will fall under the category of the 3-and-D players that will raise the eyes and the sounds of conspiracy theories of Lakers’ casuals everywhere. Lake Show Life will be around to diligently discern what’s real and what’s not. Stay tuned.
Finally on the “Man if you think about signing this dude!” list is Anthony Tolliver. The perfect definition of the term journeyman NBA player just finalized a contract buyout with the Sacramento Kings. This report also came out on Saturday courtesy of Shams Charania.
Sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium: Kings and forward Anthony Tolliver are finalizing a contract buyout that allows Tolliver to pursue opportunities with playoff contenders. March 1 is deadline for players to be released and playoff-eligible.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 29, 2020
Let’s get Anthony Tolliver’s possible contribution to the Lakers cause. Ready? Close your eyes. What do you see? Nothing? There’s the contribution he brings to the team. None.
There will be reports that his shooting ability with a stat of his 3-point percentage being in the high 30’s. Who cares? Now that the latest of the NBA rumors are out-of-the-way, let’s deal with Lakers rumors that start on Monday.
The next immediate connection will be Dion Waiters, who will reportedly meet for the second time with the Lakers on Monday. The report was released by TNT sideline reporter and Yahoo! Sports Senior NBA Insider, Chris Haynes, during the broadcast of the Lakers-Pelicans game Tuesday night on TNT.
"“League sources have told me that free agent guard Dion Waiters will meet with the Lakers on March the 2nd. There is some familiarity with the Lakers and Dion. Dion used to be repped by Rob Pelinka, the General Manager and President of the Lakers, so, there’s that, and LeBron James also played with Dion in Cleveland”"
Well, let the Lakers rumors begin. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst weighed in on his podcast weeks prior to his first meeting with the team.
"“I don’t know if Dion Waiters is an answer,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast. “They’re going to give Dion a look. They had a meeting with him last week. I expect they will have a workout with him in the short-term and see what kind of condition he’s in. “They’re mulling it over and it’s because they need some sort of perimeter player who can score a little bit.” “Dion doesn’t just have to convince the Lakers,” Windhorst said. “He has to convince LeBron.”"
A heartfelt message from Lake Show Life to Dion Waiters, good luck with that. Based on this fiasco of a season, you are definitely going to need it.
Dion Waiters has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers the second his waive request from the Memphis Grizzlies was issued after the trade deadline. Somehow the Miami Heat used him as a part of the Andre Iguodala trade.
Before we discuss Dion Waiters in full, notice that Haynes’ comment mentioning the meeting falls on March 2nd, when most media outlets say the buyout deadline is March 1st. That may have caused some confusion. Let’s clear that up.