LA Lakers Rumors Roundup: Miami Heat listed as favorites to land Purple and Gold free agent, former Laker might take his talents to WWE, and more - September 27, 2022
Recent reports suggest that two former LA Lakers players, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony, could soon sign with new teams. However, Howard is reportedly considering a different career path as a member of the WWE if he receives the right offer.
Meanwhile, the Lakers were reportedly willing to give up Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick for Utah Jazz sharpshooting forward Bojan Bogdanovic. However, trade talks fell apart, leading the Jazz to deal Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons instead.
Here are the latest rumors involving the LA Lakers as of Sept. 27th, 2022.
Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns listed as favorites to sign former LA Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony
A few notable players remain unsigned as teams gear up for training camp. The biggest name still available is undoubtedly former LA Lakers forward and 10x All-Star Carmelo Anthony. Recent odds suggest that the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns are the favorites to sign Anthony. According to one betting site, the Suns’ odds are at 2-1 to land Anthony, while the Heat’s odds are at 3-1.
Signing Anthony makes sense for the Heat. Their roster lacks depth on the wings after losing starting forward P.J. Tucker and reserve forward Markieff Morris in free agency. Meanwhile, the Suns are set to move on from veteran forward Jae Crowder and are actively shopping him in a trade. Anthony could help the Suns strengthen their wing depth.
Anthony may be past his prime, but he’s settled into a role as a three-point specialist and third or fourth scoring option over the past few seasons. He averaged 13.3 points per game and shot 37.5% from three last season for LA.
Former LA Lakers center Dwight Howard considering signing with WWE if the offer is better than his NBA offers
Another former Lakers player who remains unsigned is 8x All-Star and NBA champion Dwight Howard. According to Bally Sports' Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson, the Brooklyn Nets are reportedly considering signing Howard.
The Nets lost veteran center Andre Drummond to the Chicago Bulls earlier this offseason. One of their other top bigs, LaMarcus Aldridge, remains unsigned. Howard could immediately step in and fill a void at center for the Nets.
Dwight Howard's name is still buzzing amongst Brooklyn Nets brass, I'm told.
Howard's an NBA Champ & an eight time All-Star. https://t.co/JKywMZ2x9C
However, Howard is also considering an alternate career path. According to "TMZ Sports," Howard could join the WWE over the NBA if the offer is better.
"Whatever opportunity is best," Howard said.
Howard was also a surprise participant at a WWE tryout in Nashville in July, so it appears he is serious about potentially joining the WWE.
Dwight Howard was a surprise participant at the WWE Tryout in Nashville today. He told me he legit wants to join the WWE one day. https://t.co/LiUnNqPsdv
WWE chief content officer “Triple H” even spoke about Howard’s potential wrestling career in a recent interview.
“The ball’s in his court," Triple H said. "It’s a funny thing, Dwight, in the conversations we had was like, ‘You know, I really want to do this. I’m serious, I really want to do this.’ We hear that a lot, and there’s a difference between saying, ‘I want to do this,’ and putting in the grind and doing the work to get there.
“[He] came by our tryouts in Nashville, was incredibly entertaining. Jumping in promos by himself and then with others, incredibly entertaining.
Really driven to want to do this, it’s just a matter for him, he’s got a lot of things going on, right? So when he says,’ Hey I want to give this a shot,’ he’s got my phone number. All he’s gotta do is call me, and we’ll see what can happen."
Howard is coming off one of the poorest seasons of his 18-year career. He had career-low averages of 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
LA Lakers were reportedly willing to trade Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick for Bojan Bogdanovic.
According to Dan Woike of the “Los Angeles Times,” the LA Lakers made some traction on a deal with the Utah Jazz. The deal involved them trading Russell Westbrook and one of their highly coveted first-round picks for sharpshooting Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic.
However, the trade talks fell apart as the Lakers weren’t interested in taking back additional long-term contracts in the deal. This led the Jazz to trade Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons for veteran Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee.
“One of those options — to Utah — vaporized last week when the Jazz dealt forward Bojan Bogdanovic to Detroit," Woike said.
The Lakers, said people with knowledge of the situation who weren’t authorized to speak publicly, were willing to include a first-round pick in a trade for the shooter, but the team continued to balk at taking on long-term contracts — a sign that maintaining salary-cap space next summer remains one of the top priorities."
Bogdanovic averaged 18.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game on 45.5% shooting from the field and 38.7% shooting from three last season. He would have given LA a much-needed boost in scoring and shooting.
However, they have prioritized cap space for next offseason over an immediate upgrade. LA currently only has LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Max Christie under contract for the 2023-24 season. So they could have as much as $30 million to $35 million in cap space next summer.