NBA Today | Jokic to L.A. Rumors + LeBron Trade Watch + Kings Target Kuminga

SportsLand

03/07/2025

🔥 On NBA Today, the panel dives into a whirlwind of NBA offseason rumors and potential blockbuster moves, including:

✅ Speculation that Nikola Jokic could be a surprise Lakers target — is it even possible?
✅ The future of LeBron James after the Lakers’ Deandre Ayton signing — is this his last season in L.A.?
✅ And reports that the Sacramento Kings are seriously pursuing Jonathan Kuminga, with trade talks reportedly heating up.

This episode covers the biggest names and the boldest predictions surrounding the NBA 2025 free agency and trade market. Can the Lakers really pull off a Jokic deal? Where does LeBron stand with the franchise? And is Kuminga ready for a fresh start in Sacramento?

Hashtags:
#NBAToday #Lakers #LeBronJames #NikolaJokic #JonathanKuminga #NBAFreeAgency #NBARumors #Kings #ESPNNBA #NBA2025

Keyword Tags:
Jokic to Lakers rumors, LeBron future Lakers, Deandre Ayton Lakers signing, Kuminga Kings trade, NBA Today ESPN segment, Lakers trade targets, LeBron James offseason 2025, Nikola Jokic trade buzz, Kuminga on the move, NBA offseason rumors, ESPN NBA 2025

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Transcription

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00:00De'Andre Ayton is now a Laker. Yesterday, L.A. filled that donut hole in their lineup by agreeing to a two-year deal with Center, the former number one overall pick.

00:09Ayton had worked out a buyout with the Blazers because he wanted to play for a winner.

00:14He's one of only four players to average 10 points and 10 boards over the last four seasons.

00:19With that, we bring in NBA reporter Dave McMenamin.

00:22All right, Dave, what more can you tell us about the opportunity for De'Andre Ayton now that he's a Laker?

00:26Christina, this was a mutual need for both Ayton at the stage of his career he's in and obviously the Lakers needing to find a center because we saw the way they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves with Rudy Gobert completely dominating in the closeout Game 5 with the Lakers not having a center on the court.

00:45Ayton's about to turn 27. Think back just a few years ago, he was leading a big part of the Phoenix Suns team getting to the NBA Finals, but then the Suns gave up on him two years ago.

00:55There were certainly some questions about his dedication and his overall serious or lack thereof approach to the game, but Scott Brooks, who's an assistant coach for the Lakers, he was an assistant coach in Portland.

01:09He vouched for Ayton, believing that he can help get the most out of him in L.A., and he shares an agent in Bill Duffy with Luka Doncic.

01:18Doncic has a relationship with Ayton going back to the 2018 draft when Ayton was number one and Doncic was number three.

01:24And certainly that agent, Bill Duffy, helped facilitate the move to get the Lakers their center.

01:29And now we'll see what they do with a couple more roster spots to figure out.

01:34Yeah, didn't get the most of him last season, either only playing in 40 games.

01:38Now, the Lakers will be hoping he can be a consistent presence here for them.

01:42Meanwhile, LeBron James opted into the final year of his contract on Sunday.

01:45There's been a lot of speculation in the last few years about his future.

01:49Dave, what have you been hearing?

01:50Well, first of all, LeBron's enjoying his summer.

01:55He's still paying attention, I'm told, to the moves that the Lakers have been making in free agency.

02:01It's not just Ayton.

02:02They signed Jake LaRavia to a two-year deal, a wing forward with some defensive tenacity and playmaking skills on the offensive end.

02:11He's back in Northeast Ohio.

02:12He spent some time with his high school teammates, and obviously his charitable efforts are still very much part of his life.

02:20And it's centered in Northeast Ohio and Akron.

02:23But listen, I talked to Bronny James on Sunday yesterday at the Lakers facility where he had just finished a practice with the Lakers summer league team.

02:31Bronny said he hasn't been paying any attention to the speculation that's out there.

02:35And he said he thinks the Lakers are going to be a lot better and improve next year compared to this past season.

02:41Well, how does that happen?

02:42I don't think that's Bronny talking about a team that would not involve his father playing in year 23 for the Lakers.

02:49So, again, if you read the statement from Rich Paul, it was about, in the moment, LeBron James wanting the Lakers to improve so he has a good chance to play winning basketball every night next season.

03:01That DeAndre Aiden move certainly was a step in the right direction, but the Lakers are still looking to possibly trade for another center, look for some shooting and point guard depth as well.

03:11Like father, like son, keeping their priorities straight.

03:13Dave McMenamin on SportsCenter, thank you.

03:16You got it, Christina.

03:18All right, let's continue on the LeBron talk, and we bring in Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr., Double D.

03:25You heard Dave McMenamin talk about Rich Paul, talking about LeBron.

03:29You know, Rich Paul also said that four teams had reached out to him about LeBron.

03:34Do you think LeBron James finishes his career as a Laker?

03:38So, if LeBron James, if this is LeBron James' last year of his career, then yes, he will finish his career as a Laker.

03:45After that, it is anybody's game.

03:47No, he's not getting traded this offseason, not getting traded this year.

03:50Let's throw that noise out there.

03:51But after that, who knows?

03:53The Lakers are concerned about trying to make sure Luka Doncic sticks around, and they're ready to get into the Luka Doncic era.

03:59Who knows what the LeBron-Luka marriage will look like this year.

04:03Who knows what LeBron even wants for his last year in terms of that last shot to win a championship,

04:07and if the Lakers are even positioned to do that, and if other teams are positioned to do that.

04:11But I'm not leaving anything off the table for LeBron James, who is now entering a time when he is, on the last year of his contract,

04:19going to be a free agent for the first time, where he does not have a one-and-one, where it's not really up to him about what happens this year.

04:27I think that we're in a situation that's uncharted territory for LeBron James,

04:31and for him to pick out this last year for what he wants to do, who knows?

04:35Okay, so let's continue on to talk about the future.

04:38They've been iconic Laker duels in the past.

04:41I mean, Magic and Kareem, Shaq and Kobe, you know, look, Luka, LeBron now.

04:48Once LeBron eventually moves on, who would be the, let's say, the dream co-star to pair with Luka Doncic in L.A., and why, in your opinion?

04:58So we're talking dream co-star.

04:59Anybody you could pluck out from the league or from anything.

05:02We're not talking about salary caps or anything, logistics.

05:05It's got to be Jokic.

05:06These guys are like a buddy cop movie that's waiting to happen.

05:09They go out, they hang out together.

05:11They're always doing little pranks on each other.

05:14They're like best buds.

05:15And what's better than a dude who just wants to ride his horses and another guy who wants to just hang out and then go out and win championships because that's just how good they are.

05:23Luka and Jokic is primetime TV, whether it's Lakers or anybody, just seeing them together, being great, hanging out, being sort of nonchalant about how they do things as they do it.

05:33Who would not want to see that?

05:35Yeah, it's a stepbrother's NBA version.

05:37I love it.

05:37There you go.

05:39David Dennis Jr., appreciate you.

05:41We're in the height of NBA free agency four days in.

05:47You know what that means.

05:49Our senior NBA insider, Shams Sharania, is here alongside Christina Alexander.

05:54I'm Brian Custer.

05:55Listen, we're four days in.

05:57Shams has got the sale because news is always breaking.

06:00We know that the Lakers have finally got the center.

06:02They went and got DeAndre Ayton.

06:04What can you tell us?

06:05What does that mean for them going forward, considering Rich Paul has already come out and says LeBron wants to play for a championship caliber team this season?

06:13It means it's a step in the direction of trying to build that championship quality team again.

06:18Rob Palenka, the team's president and general manager, he's been saying since the end of last season that we need a center, we need a lob threat, we need an anchor for Luka Doncic.

06:27And now they get the number one pick from the 2018 draft, the same draft Luka Doncic was in.

06:32So now they have the number one and the number three pick in that draft.

06:35So you get DeAndre Ayton.

06:36It's just the start, though.

06:38They get Jake LaRavia as a wing free agent.

06:41They're still working to shore up their front court depth.

06:43I'm told they're in talks with multiple free agents on bringing a center to Los Angeles as well to back up DeAndre Ayton.

06:50So we'll see between now and the next several days.

06:53Look for them to potentially lock in another center.

06:55All right.

06:55Speaking of different talks, let's bring in Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. to this conversation.

07:00And David, how much does DeAndre Ayton move the needle here for L.A. in your eyes?

07:05OK, let's start with the positive here.

07:07Yes, he is a center.

07:09Yes, he's better than Jackson Hayes.

07:10Yes, he may get you 10 and 10 a game.

07:13And he's a lob threat for Luka.

07:14If you're a Lakers fan, stop listening to me after that, because I don't have much more good to say about what DeAndre Ayton is going to do in terms of raising the level of this Lakers team.

07:24This does not make them a contender.

07:25Of course, this does not make them really that much better because we have so many questions about DeAndre Ayton, especially when it comes to looking at what he left behind in these two teams.

07:35There's been a lot of questions with Portland and Phoenix about his desire, about his maturity, about how he is in the locker rooms.

07:42And you're coming to a Lakers team where they're trying to win now.

07:45LeBron wants a championship right now.

07:48Luka is trying to figure out if he's going to stay with this team.

07:50This team is in flux a little bit and add in the fact that J.J. Redick has a short leash on players if they don't show that toughness and tenacity that he's looking for.

07:59I'm not sure if this moves the needle in the right way.

08:01And we may be looking at towards the end of the season, this moves the needle in the wrong way for the Lakers.

08:05All right, we'll have to see how that pans out.

08:08Sean, back to you because there are a number of free agents still looking for homes.

08:11I mean, Chris Paul, Al Horford.

08:12Let's start with Chris Paul.

08:13What are you hearing?

08:14Chris Paul has levels of interest from the Clippers, Suns, and the Bucs.

08:19I'm told he had a conversation with Bucs officials on Wednesday.

08:24He told the Pat show several weeks ago that his preference is to stay on the West Coast.

08:28He is sorting through options, though, right now, whether it's on the West Coast, a team like Milwaukee.

08:33We'll see where his future could go.

08:35Al Horford is another major free agent right now.

08:38I'm told he is reviewing multiple options, including the Warriors, the Lakers, but also retirement.

08:45He's 39 years old.

08:46He just finished season 18.

08:49I'm told it would be a surprise if he makes a final decision by this weekend.

08:53He certainly earned the right to make a decision at his own time.

08:57I will say, though, that the Warriors are hopeful about where they stand in all this if Al Horford decides to play again.

09:03Yeah, two players with a lot of experience here.

09:05That's no secret.

09:05David, let's bring you back into this conversation.

09:07When we talk about Chris Paul, Al Horford, which of these players will be more impactful on their new teams this following season?

09:15I think it's Chris Paul.

09:16And all you have to do is look at OKC and the fact that they were welcoming this dude like he'd been with that team for years.

09:22He played one year at OKC and raised their level and sort of became a mentor for those players.

09:27And that's how SGA is treating him like a returning star during this playoff run.

09:33I think that Chris Paul, what he does is he elevates every team that he is a part of.

09:37And he is a good example for a lot of those young players that they carry on, even in the years after he has gone from that team.

09:46I think there's nothing like having Chris Paul on a young squad for what he can do this season and what he can teach them going forward for the rest of their careers.

09:52Yeah, still an interesting future there for both of them, especially Chris Paul, as you mentioned.

09:56David, Shams, thank you so much.

09:58SportsCenter, what can Brown do for you?

10:01Apparently, for most Knicks fans, not much.

10:04His hiring has left the orange and blue fan base ambivalent.

10:09NBA reporter Tim Bontips is with us.

10:11OK, Tim, so now that Mike Brown is in the fold, what might the Knicks be doing next, do you think?

10:19Well, look, the first thing they had to do, as you said, Brian, was get Mike Brown hired as their coach or get a coach hired to replace Tom Thibodeau, which they've done that.

10:28They signed Gershon Yabasele the other day to the non-taxpayer mid-level, the one signing they had above the minimum.

10:33They also signed Jordan Clarkson, two guys that will give them bench scoring and production that they didn't have outside their top seven guys last year.

10:40We'll see if the Knicks can add to their bench now over the coming days.

10:44They should have some playing time and obviously the New York spotlight to offer.

10:48And then more than anything, they've just got to get settled in with this new reality that they're in.

10:52And as you mentioned, the Mike Brown hiring here has left kind of a flat feeling around the Knicks.

10:58This is not the kind of splashy hire you would expect from a team that dismissed their head coach after making it to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century.

11:05However, I would point fans back to 30 years ago when the Yankees, after firing Buck Showalter in a similar situation,

11:12went out and hired Joe Torre, guy who's the same age as Mike Brown, 55, had had three prior stops like Mike Brown and was not lauded certainly as a winning hire.

11:21He was called Clueless Joe on the back page of the New York Daily News at the time.

11:24And he went on to win four championships and make the playoffs 12 years in a row.

11:27I'm not saying the Knicks are about to have a dynasty with Mike Brown, but he is a guy who's been to the finals, has won a ton of games as a coach.

11:34You see there his record, well over .500.

11:36He did a great job getting Sacramento back to the playoffs for the first time in a long time.

11:40And of the available candidates, I think he was clearly the best fit and should be able to give them an opportunity to make the deep playoff run everybody in New York is expecting.

11:47Yeah, also former two-time coach of the year as well.

11:51Let's pivot to the West because the team Mike Brown was coaching for at one point the Warriors.

11:57Jonathan Kaminga, restricted free agent.

11:59What are you hearing about his future?

12:00Yeah, this is going to be one of the really interesting stories, Brian, coming up over the rest of free agency.

12:06We've seen a flurry of moves, obviously, over the past couple of weeks, both leading up to and after the start of it at 6 p.m. on Monday.

12:12But Kaminga is sitting out there now as the best player available, a restricted free agent with a lot of talent.

12:18You see there he averaged 15 points per game last year.

12:21And in flashes, Kaminga has looked like a guy who could be an all-star.

12:24He had 30 points in multiple games against Minnesota in the second round of the playoffs.

12:29However, he also has been a guy who has been inconsistent in his play and in his effort at different points.

12:34And that has led him to be in and out of Steve Kerr's rotation.

12:38It's led to a polarizing tenure in Golden State.

12:40And now he enters the restricted free agent market in a year, Brian, where there is no salary cap space for anybody to sign him with.

12:46So he's either going to be back in Golden State or the Warriors are going to have to come up with a sign-and-trade possibility with another team.

12:52Now, there are teams that are in a modern situation that could be interest in Kaminga elsewhere.

12:56But getting a sign-and-trade done is a difficult proposition for a bunch of salary cap rules I'm not going to bore people with.

13:02So it is a tough situation to be in in any year as a restricted free agent.

13:06But in a year like this where there's no salary cap space, it's even more difficult.

13:10And that's why this situation with Jonathan Kaminga really is going to come to the fore because we haven't seen the Warriors do anything yet in free agency.

13:16And a lot of that has hinged on what is going to happen with Kaminga and his salary slot.

13:21It will be very interesting to see what happens in the coming days and weeks there.

13:23Certainly has the talent.

13:24He's shown flashes, as you pointed out, to be a star.

13:27We'll see what happens with him in his future.

13:30Timmy B.