Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has joined the chorus of voices in support of Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, who has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for 108 days.

We need to come together and help do whatever we possibly can to bring BG home quickly and safely!! 🙏🏾 Our voice as athletes is stronger together. @uninterrupted 👑 #WeAreBG pic.twitter.com/2GWV3Ff81p

— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 6, 2022

Russian officials claimed in February that they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in Griner's luggage at a Moscow airport.

Griner's detention was extended by one month in mid-May in advance of a trial on drug possession charges in mid-June.

She was in Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League, which she has done since 2014.

James tweeted his support a day after the Boston Celtics wore "We are BG" shirts during their NBA Finals practice and media availability in solidarity with Griner.

The Phoenix Suns also showed support for Griner during their playoff run, including point guard Chris Paul and head coach Monty Williams.

“We think about Brittney Griner a ton”.

Before @Suns Head Coach Monty Williams finished his final media availability of the season, he shared some thoughts about BG. #WeAreBG 🧡💜 pic.twitter.com/Logy5GQGoW

— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) May 16, 2022

WNBA players and teams have already shown public support for Griner, including the Seattle Storm holding BG's Heart and Sole Shoe Drive, the WNBA placing floor decals on all home courts, the Washington Mystics making pleas to bring Griner home and the WNBPA creating a petition.

Brooklyn Nets center Andre Drummond, who briefly played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2020-21 season, said on Jefe Island that people need to be "built differently to play for that organization."

Tyler Greenawalt of Yahoo Sports relayed the quotes from Drummond, who also noted that he enjoyed his time in Los Angeles:

“Yeah the Lakers is exactly what you think it is, man. You gotta be built differently to play for that organization. You gotta be mentally strong not even just on the court, but off the court too because there's so much expectations to being a Laker and putting that purple and gold on. Because if you don't meet that expectation they will let you know you're not worthy enough to put on that jersey. So you got to play to the best of your ability and play hard each and every night regardless of win, lose or draw. You gotta just play hard. That's what they respect.

I had a lot of fun out there. I came off a weird situation in Cleveland where they sat me out for four months. I kind of came back, just trying to figure out how to fit in with a team that I haven't played before. It was kind of a weird situation getting back into the groove of basketball. I wish I had a chance to really connect with those guys and really do something. But everything happens for a reason. The Lakers situation was fun, though, I enjoyed being there.

Drummond signed with the Lakers as a free agent on March 28, 2021. At the time, the Lakers had lost four of their last five games and were playing without superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis because of injuries.

Los Angeles was sitting in a respectable fourth place in the Western Conference as it looked to mount a title defense, but prospects looked bleak for the Lakers without their top two stars. In other words, Drummond was joining the Lakers as they were scuffling through a rough patch.

He was brought in as a reinforcement for a short-handed frontcourt and ultimately averaged 11.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in 21 starts.

The Lakers' season ended in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs after the team fell to the Phoenix Suns in six games.

After the season, Drummond signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers, who traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in February as part of the James Harden-Ben Simmons deal. Drummond is set to become a free agent.

The 28-year-old has averaged 13.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in 10 NBA seasons. He's a four-time rebounding champion and two-time All-Star.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers officially announced the hiring of new head coach Darvin Ham.

After an extensive and lengthy coaching search—Frank Vogel was fired at the end of the regular season—L.A. settled on the 48-year-old Milwaukee Bucks assistant as the man to lead the Lakers into the future.

However, Ham may not have actually been Los Angeles' top choice. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Michigan head coach Juwan Howard could have had the job if he wanted it:

"The Lakers, I'm told, made such strong overtures to Howard that the implication was clear: The job was his if he wanted it. As covered here on May 2, Howard made it clear in turn throughout the Lakers' 47-day search that—despite his long associations with both [LeBron] James and Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka—he had no interest in leaving behind the college game at Michigan and the opportunity to coach sons Jace and Jett next season."

At first blush, Howard would appear to be the perfect candidate for this Lakers team. He has head coaching experience, an established relationship with both Pelinka and James and is a former NBA All-Star player.

The Lakers appeared intrigued by the idea of hiring a former player during the interview process—possibly because of their ability to relate to and work with the team's current players.

"Several of the first-year candidates they've been linked to are former players that are known to command respect," Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote.

While it was Howard who turned down the Lakers, and not the other way around, fans shouldn't view Ham as some sort of consolation prize. He checks all the boxes for what the Lakers were looking for, which became evident during interviews—as Sam Amick and Shams Charania detailed for The Athletic:

"Sources say team officials have prioritized a coach who can command respect and authority from the locker room and who has a strong enough presence and voice to manage the varying roles and relationships across the roster. ...Ham has been known for his no-nonsense style and ability to resonate with his players—attributes that have stood out in his communication with the Lakers thus far as well, sources said."

Like Howard, Ham is a former NBA player. He went unclaimed in the 1996 draft but managed to forge an eight-year playing career. He understands the day-to-day grind of playing basketball at the highest level, and he knows what it takes to win a championship—he won a ring as a player with the Detroit Pistons.

Ham also seems to be a favorite of Lakers star LeBron James, who appeared thrilled when the hiring was first announced.

So damn EXCITED!!!!!!!! Congrats and welcome Coach DHam!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #LakeShow💜💛

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 28, 2022

"He's the guy LeBron wants," a competing source said in May, per Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus.

While Ham has never been a head coach at the college or NBA level, he has coached in the G League and earned a second ring in 2021 as an assistant with the Bucks. This is a fact Pelinka alluded to in the official hiring announcement:

"When someone begins his NBA coaching career at the G League level and goes all the way through playing an integral role on the front bench of an NBA Championship team, it really speaks to a certain strength of character. Our players and fans will immediately identify with Darvin’s no-nonsense and hard-working approach, which we feel will bring toughness and a competitive edge to all we do."

Ham is expected to add someone with head-coaching experience to his staff as well, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski:

Ham made a strong impression on Lakers in several areas, including his championship pedigree, his commanding presence, history of coaching stars and toughness. Ham will start assembling a staff expected to include head coaching experience. https://t.co/8hCVatbraw

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 28, 2022

Ham's lack of head-coaching experience shouldn't be an issue and, in many ways, could be an asset. Los Angeles is expected to move forward with the core trio of James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. Getting the most out of the three could require a fresh approach—anything and everything Vogel seemed to try fell flat—and a rookie coach like Ham should come in with an open mind.

However, Ham won't simply serve as a yes man for James and Co. As Pelinka pointed out, the Lakers were drawn to his no-nonsense approach. Ham will work with his players but will demand a business-first approach.

And, as we're seeing with Ime Udoka and the Boston Celtics, a first-time coach can find immediate success.

Will Ham have the Lakers in the NBA Finals a year from now? Perhaps not, but he has all the tools needed to get them headed in the right direction. He's played the game, coached the game, won at the highest level and will command respect from the Lakers' seasoned veterans.

Without an established system in place, Ham has an opportunity to build an entirely novel one around those veterans.

Even if Ham wasn't L.A.'s first choice, the Lakers learned through the interview process that he is the right choice for this team. Fans will learn that soon enough, too. The roster may look similar next season, but by hiring Ham, the Lakers are heading in a new direction.

For the second straight time in their search for a new head coach, the Los Angeles Lakers did not get their top choice.

Per NBA insider Marc Stein, Michigan's Juwan Howard was the Lakers' preferred option to replace Frank Vogel.

The Lakers announced on Friday the hiring of Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as their new head coach.

As Los Angeles was in the midst of its coaching search, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the team did reach out to Howard in an attempt to gauge his interest in the job, but he declined in order to stay at Michigan.

According to Wojnarowski, the Lakers never presented Howard with a formal offer, but it likely "would've moved quickly to that stage" if he showed interest.

When the Lakers hired Vogel in May 2019, it came after a lengthy coaching search in which they also spoke with Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams.

Wojnarowski said on an episode of his podcast (h/t Kevin Zimmerman of ArizonaSports.com) that the Lakers were "surprised" when Williams took the Phoenix Suns job because they "never really" took it seriously as a possibility.

Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin reported Lue turned down the Lakers offer that May in the range of $18 million over three years because he wanted a five-year deal with a "salary commensurate with a championship resume."

Lue wound up agreeing to a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers in October 2020.

Howard recently finished his third season as Michigan head coach. The 49-year-old played for the Wolverines from 1991-94 as a member of the Fab Five recruiting class. He spent three seasons as LeBron James' teammate with the Miami Heat from 2010-13.

After retiring as a player, Howard joined the Heat as an assistant coach from 2013-19.

The Lakers are hoping Ham can provide them with a quick turnaround. They missed the playoffs last season with a 33-49 record. Ham won an NBA title during the 2020-21 season as an assistant on Mike Budenholzer's staff with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Los Angeles Lakers formally announced the hiring of new head coach Darvin Ham on Friday after the sides agreed to a multiyear contract.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka praised Ham, a former NBA forward who spent the past four seasons as an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks:

When someone begins his NBA coaching career at the G League level and goes all the way through playing an integral role on the front bench of an NBA championship team, it really speaks to a certain strength of character. Our players and fans will immediately identify with Darvin's no-nonsense and hard-working approach, which we feel will bring toughness and a competitive edge to all we do. When you add that to Darvin's sophisticated grasp of in-game strategy and deep knowledge of the game of basketball, we have the ideal coach for this next chapter in Lakers history. We could not be more honored and proud to name Darvin Ham as our new head coach.

Lakers superstar LeBron James previously expressed excitement about the hire when it was first reported last week:

So damn EXCITED!!!!!!!! Congrats and welcome Coach DHam!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #LakeShow💜💛

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 28, 2022

Ham played 12 professional seasons after going undrafted in 1996. Along with eight years in the NBA, he spent time in Spain, the Philippines and the G League.

While the Lakers' job will be his first head coaching opportunity in the NBA, he did lead the G League's New Mexico Thunderbirds for the 2010-11 season.

The 48-year-old Michigan native then joined the Lakers' staff as an assistant in 2011 before stints with the Bucks and Atlanta Hawks.

Now he returns to L.A. looking to help the organization turn the page after a forgettable 2021-22 campaign.

Extended injury absences by James and Anthony Davis combined with underwhelming play from Russell Westbrook, the prized acquisition of last offseason's roster reconstruction, led the Lakers to miss the playoffs with a 33-49 record.

Another flurry of moves are probably on the horizon over the next few months, but regardless of whether the changes are major or minor, the expectation will be the same: a return to title contention for the 2020 NBA champions.

Ham, who won an NBA title as a player with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and another as a member of the Bucks' staff in 2021, is likely aware of that never-ending pressure given his prior time with the storied franchise.

He's the 28th head coach in Lakers history and the team will hold an introductory press conference Monday.

The Los Angeles Lakers do not have a pick in the 2022 NBA draft, but they are still looking at players they could add via other methods such as undrafted free agency.

Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reported the Purple and Gold will host Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. and Notre Dame's Paul Atkinson Jr. among a group of six players for draft workouts on Friday.

Pippen and Atkinson could both be available after the draft for the Lakers. After all, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman did not include either prospect in his most recent mock draft.

While Pippen may have his work cut out for him to be drafted, he is certainly familiar with what it takes to succeed at the NBA level. He is the son of Chicago Bulls legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, who won six NBA championships as part of one of the most famous teams in sports history.

That is plenty to live up to, but the younger Pippen was an All-SEC first-team selection two times and averaged 20.4 points, 4.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three-point range in his final season with the Commodores.

Atkinson started his collegiate career with Yale and caught the attention of major programs when he was the Ivy Player of the Year in 2019-20.

He joined Notre Dame as a graduate transfer and averaged 12.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 58.7 percent from the field. While he doesn't generate the offense as a ball-handler like Pippen does, he can score on the low blocks and provide a steady rebounding presence.

Los Angeles could certainly use the help after it floundered on the way to a 33-49 record during the 2021-22 campaign.

Russell Westbrook struggled to adapt to his new team, LeBron James and Anthony Davis struggled to stay healthy for stretches, and the team that entered the campaign with championship aspirations didn't even make the play-in tournament.

Pippen or Atkinson likely wouldn't be enough to drastically turn things around, but they could be part of a larger offseason revamp as the team looks to return to championship contention.

The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James is reportedly the first NBA player to become a billionaire while still actively playing.

Forbes' Chase Peterson-Withorn reported Thursday that James' net worth surpassed the $1 billion mark after he earned $121.2 million in 2021.

The 37-year-old Ohio native is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. He lived up to the hype as a generational prospect in 2003 to become one of the greatest basketball players in history, highlighted by four NBA championships and four MVP awards.

Based on Forbes' valuation, James has tallied $385 million in on-court earnings as part of a 19-year career with the Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. He's set to make another $44.5 million next season in L.A. as part of his two-year contract.

He's added another $900 million from off-court ventures, including endorsements contracts, per Forbes.

That revenue stream was bolstered last year by the release of Space Jam: A New Legacy, which featured the NBA's longtime gold standard in a starring role and also included his SpringHill Company as one of the movie's production groups. It's generated $162.9 million in worldwide sales.

James is the largest stakeholder in the SpringHill Company, which itself carries a $725 million valuation, according to Forbes.

Other aspects of his estimated net worth include $90 million from the Fenway Sports Group, which includes MLB's Boston Red Sox, the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and the EPL's Liverpool, $80 million in real estate and $30 million from Blaze Pizza.

In 2021, James confirmed his desire to become the owner of an NBA franchise.

"I got so much to give to the game. I know what it takes to win at this level. I know talent," he told reporters. "I also know how to run a business as well. And so, that is my goal. My goal is to own an NBA franchise, and it will be sooner than later."

If that comes to fruition, he'd be following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, who became the first NBA player to hit $1 billion in net worth after his on-court retirement.

James continues to play at a high level, although injuries have become a bigger factor in recent years, and he's stated his desire to finish his playing career alongside his oldest son, 2024 draft prospect Bronny James.

"My last year will be played with my son," James told Jason Lloyd of The Athletic in February. "Wherever Bronny is at, that's where I'll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It's not about the money at that point."

As a new member of the billionaire club, James can afford to push contract value to the back burner for one year to close out his Hall of Fame career. There's no indication he's getting close to walking away from the NBA, though.

After a dismal 2021-22 season, the Los Angeles Lakers needed a win. Choosing Darvin Ham to coach the franchise was just that. The Lakers hired the most promising candidate on the market.

But any move comes with risk, and the rookie head coach will have to prove himself on the job with one of the most influential players in the league in LeBron James and one of the more headstrong ones in Russell Westbrook. The roster still has the same issues that former coach Frank Vogel couldn't solve—but fixing those will fall more heavily on the front office.

Ham may not have the roster to compete at the top of the Western Conference, with the Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks—plus the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets when they're at full strength.

For Ham's sake, the Lakers must build a winning streak this offseason with a series of moves to give him a chance.

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The Known

Ham is well-liked. He has fans across the league in competing front offices. He has an infectious, energetic personality that the Lakers experienced firsthand when he was an assistant for two seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13).

And while he's extremely likable, he's not frivolous. Players respect him as a mentor because of his 19 seasons in the league (eight as a player, 11 as an assistant), one championship as a physical wing with the Detroit Pistons and another as part of Mike Budenholzer's staff with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Budenholzer's assistants have gone on to have success around the league—most notably the group he had with the Atlanta Hawks: Quin Snyder, Taylor Jenkins and Kenny Atkinson.

For far too long, NBA teams have relied heavily on those with head coaching experience. Experience is essential, but that rigidness hasn't helped diversify the coaching ranks—how do you get experience as a head coach if teams constantly dip into the same pool of retreads?

That's not to suggest that finalists Atkinson and Terry Stotts weren't great candidates. Both are excellent coaches who deserve shots at lead jobs. But teams seemed to make necessary corrections last summer, hiring a slew of first-timers such as Ime Udoka and Willie Green. Both were standouts in their first opportunities to run a team.

The Lakers took a similar and necessary leap of faith with Ham. Waiting for a more experienced candidate such as Snyder or Doc Rivers to become available was a fool's errand. Both are under contract. The Utah Jazz or Philadelphia 76ers would have likely demanded draft compensation to allow the Lakers to poach their head coach.

Why give up assets when Ham earned his opportunity and was willing to sign a four-year deal?

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The Unknown

From their initial meetings, the Lakers front office should have a strong sense of Ham's coaching philosophy, specifically in terms of the roster. Will Ham have the necessary pieces around James, Westbrook and, in theory, a healthy Anthony Davis?

Can he get Westbrook to focus defensively? Can he offset the team's lack of outside shooting (specifically with Westbrook and Davis), or can top basketball executive Rob Pelinka rebalance the roster with offseason trades and signings?

If the answers are yes, and the Lakers are healthy enough to earn a playoff berth, will Ham be ready?

It's one thing to sell a front office on your vision. It's another to build a team identity for the regular season. But for a squad that intends to contend, it's an entirely different skill set to out-adjust an opposing coach in a heated playoff series. And then another and another and, if the Lakers believe they can quickly rebound into a genuine title contender, another.

On paper, Ham doesn't have the roster to win. But neither did the Boston Celtics until they made a series of offseason and in-season moves. The Lakers have only three players on fully guaranteed contracts (James, Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker), two with team options (Stanley Johnson and Wenyen Gabriel) and one non-guaranteed salary (Austin Reaves). Two with player options (Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn) are all but locks to be back barring a trade or trades.

The Lakers have zero draft picks and a long list of free agents with non-Bird rights who are limited to re-signing at 120 percent of their previous salaries (which probably isn't nearly enough to keep Malik Monk). Los Angeles should have about $6.4 million in the taxpayer mid-level exception. That might be enough for Monk, but then it would return nearly the same roster with minimum players to round it out.

Ham may need Pelinka to find a new level of creativity to build a contender. Coaching in L.A. comes with a lot of pressure. And in a competitive conference, the roster needs a lot of work to give Ham a legitimate chance to prove himself.

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What's Next?

Ham will fill out his staff after he was promised the autonomy to do just that (a luxury Vogel did not have).

Like the rest of the league, the Lakers will work out players and attend scouting sessions to try to find talent (like the next Reaves or Alex Caruso). If the opportunity comes to buy a pick in the June 23 draft, the Lakers can offer up to $4.4 million in a trade before July.

Teams can also agree to buy a pick in June but wait until July to execute the deal with a larger cash pool of $6.3 million. L.A. may not have the appetite to spend $10.7 million to buy two or more picks, but it has the means.

The options for Westbrook, Nunn, Johnson and Gabriel need to be decided on before July. The first three deals will be fully guaranteed if the options are exercised, while Gabriel's $1.9 million wouldn't lock in until early January. The Lakers' decision on Reaves' $1.6 million won't come until January as well, but he should be a lock to return.

Only Mason Jones can be made restricted, coming off a two-way contract. The rest of the team's free agents will be unrestricted, including Monk, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, Avery Bradley, D.J. Augustin and Mac McClung.

The NBA will announce the salary-cap figure June 30. Teams can negotiate and agree to terms with free agents, but most signings and all trades will need to wait until July 6, after the moratorium ends. Any swaps the Lakers execute before July will be based on 2021-22 salaries. That could make the Oklahoma City Thunder a viable trade partner for Westbrook in June, with up to $31.8 million in cap space that will all but disappear July 1.

The Lakers don't appear willing to dump Westbrook in a trade if the cost is too high in outgoing draft considerations. They may be open to taking on multiyear contracts, assuming that James will stay with the franchise beyond the coming final season of his deal. But in the absence of a deal that makes them demonstrably better, the Lakers may keep Westbrook.

Another option is waiving and stretching his remaining salary over three years, which would drop the franchise under the luxury tax. It may be the least costly move to institute change—adding the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of roughly $10.3 million, the bi-annual exception of about $4.1 million and/or greater flexibility for trades.

Two additional years of dead money for Westbrook in the $12-15 million range shouldn't hurt the Lakers' future flexibility. They would just defer tax from 2022-23 to the following two seasons since the team isn't likely to get far enough under the salary cap if James intends to stay with the franchise through 2025.

Whether the Lakers can improve by stretching Westbrook, it doesn't seem to be an idea they're seriously considering—at least that's what several competing executives believe.

Perhaps last year was an outlier marred by injury and poor strategy. Ham may unlock something in Los Angeles, but he's facing an uphill battle.

Ham's reputation as a head coach is tied to the front office. He needs the pieces to win. The Lakers were bold enough to hire a first-time head coach, bringing in the best candidate on the market. Now they need to find a way to give him a competitive roster.

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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @EricPincus.

When the Los Angeles Lakers hired Darvin Ham as their head coach, they arguably tasked him with the toughest gig in the Association.

The roster reads like a collection of pieces from different puzzles, and Ham is already working against the clock to form it into a complete, cohesive picture. LeBron James' 37th birthday is behind him. His NBA championship window could close at any moment.

Some—including the stat sheet—would argue the presence of Russell Westbrook is a hindrance to those hopes. That's why the working assumption entering this offseason was that L.A. would put its high-priced point guard on the first flight out of town.

Apparently, the Lakers had other ideas.

While a Westbrook trade shouldn't be ruled out, L.A. doesn't seem desperate to deal him. The Lakers "have no intention of using a first-round pick to facilitate a Westbrook trade," The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported Friday. It's virtually impossible to picture a Westbrook trade happening without a first-rounder to sweeten the pot.

Now, could this be posturing on the part of the Purple and Gold? No question. However, Buha addressed that issue in the report, too, calling the early refusal "not merely a bluff or tactic to try to regain leverage in trade talks." Buha then added, "there is a sentiment among some within the franchise that the right coach and a better supporting cast could smooth over Westbrook's awkward fit with James and [Anthony] Davis."

Could Ham be that coach?

The simple answer is: It's complicated.

On one hand, there are reasons to believe the Lakers are in great hands with their new skipper. The 48-year-old played nearly a decade in the league (suiting up for the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons that knocked off the superteam Lakers in the Finals) and has since coached in it for a decade. He has coached stars like Kobe Bryant and Giannis Antetokounmpo and emerged from the fruitful Gregg Popovich-Mike Budenholzer coaching tree.

Ham's experience and ability to relate to players could help him form relationships that his predecessor, Frank Vogel, never could.

"If you look around the league now, the coaches who are having successes ... [not only have] excellent knowledge but an ability to connect and hold [players] accountable," a league executive told Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill. "He has a personable blend of that. A strong individual. He can garner respect from his players."

Vogel and Westbrook never got on the same page. That fact reportedly contributed to Vogel's ouster, per The Athletic's Sam Amick.

If Ham connects with Westbrook, maybe that's the key to turning things around. There's a universe in which Westbrook gets repurposed as a screen-setter and slasher who spends most of his time off the ball. That role could maximize his efficiency by giving him point-blank chances and opportunities to create offense for his teammates out of short rolls.

Then again, if the idea of putting a player in the right spot means having a 33-year-old, former MVP play a brand new style, that might suggest fit issues that no coach can solve.

Westbrook does his best work with the ball in his hands. So does James. If Davis ever stays healthy, he'll need plenty of chances, too, since L.A.'s hopes are almost entirely in the hands of its stars.

James is the only serviceable shooter of the three. Spacing will be at a premium regardless how the front office constructs the rest of this roster. Defense could be tricky, too, since Westbrook has never played it at a high level, and James' mileage sometimes forces him to conserve energy at that end, particularly if he continues being tasked with a heavy workload.

Ham, of course, knows all of this going into the gig, and the fact he still sought out the gig is a good sign. Surely, he has a vision of how this can work with Westbrook. It sounds like Ham might command the kind of locker room pull to sell that vision to his team.

Still, this only works under the assumption that any coach could navigate their team around the logistical issues that Westbrook's arrival created in L.A. Based on how this past season played out, it's fair to remain skeptical that this puzzle can ever be solved.