We’ve still got a handful of games that really matter in the NBA regular season, and maybe the biggest is tonight, with the Spurs heading into Staples Center to face the Lakers. The Lakers can deal the Jazz a big blow with a win, but a loss will take their playoff hopes out of their hands. And they’ll be going into this crucial game without Kobe Bryant.
For their part, the Spurs are just half a game behind the Thunder for the #1 seed in the West, so Gregg Popovich and Co. may go all out to bring this one home, even this close to the playoffs- when Pop values rest over victories It all starts at 9:30 ET.
For lots of the teams, though, it’s time to look forward to the offseason. In today’s blog, there’s lots of teams looking ahead, and one way to start doing that is looking at the top draft prospects. Adam Zagoria has an early look at the 2014 class and the NBA superstars who were on hand to watch some of the biggest stars of the next college class.
It’s also the time of year when awards ballots go in, so check out Chris Sheridan’s latest MVP rankings, our Sunday fixture here at Sheridan Hoops.
Now on to the latest news from around the NBA:
- Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times has some news on the Lakers’ plans for dealing with Kobe Bryant’s injury: “In the long run, Kupchak downplayed the prospects of the Lakers using their one-time “amnesty” provision to waive Bryant during a one-week window in July. “That’s not even something that we’ve discussed,” he said. “That’s the furthest thing from our mind right now.” The Lakers are allowed to cut one of four players on their roster without paying luxury taxes on his salary. Bryant will make $30.5 million next season. The other eligible players are Pau Gasol ($19.3 million next season), Metta World Peace ($7.7 million) and Steve Blake ($4 million). Players can be amnestied only if they were on the roster dating back to July 2011. If the Lakers waived Bryant, they would save up to $80 million in luxury taxes but would still have to pay his salary. It’s unlikely they would amnesty him because of the relatively short timetable for his return. If they did, teams under the salary cap this summer would submit undisclosed bids to the NBA office to claim Bryant. He would then belong to the team that bid the highest. The Lakers could then re-sign Bryant in July 2014, after his current contract expired.”
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