The world according to Jim:
• Welcome to the NBA’s silly season.
The Finals ended a few days early, and the draft is this coming next Tuesday and Wednesday. Hovering just beyond is the start of the league’s new business year, when talk of free agency, sign-and-trades and the like turns from idle speculation to reality. (In some cases, anyway.) …
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• The negotiation period between teams and free agents begins on June 30 at 3 p.m. PDT. After what the NBA calls the “contract signing moratorium” – we prefer the NFL’s term, “legal tampering” – signings can be officially announced beginning on July 5 at 9:01 p.m.
But we all know that by that point, news of all of the major transactions will have been out there for days. …
• Meanwhile, the speculation is already in overdrive on that bastion of learned discourse known as social media.
LeBron James has signaled that he might not have a decision on his future until later in the summer, but the rumor mill is already churning. LeBron to the Golden State Warriors to join forces with Steph Curry? LeBron to Cleveland for a third time? LeBron back to Miami, where he won two titles? Or LeBron staying with the Lakers, and Kevin Love rejoining him here? …
• Where will Giannis Antetokounmpo go? Boston? Miami? San Antonio? How about Giannis and LeBron both going to Miami, partially facilitated by a sign-and-trade that would bring Andrew Wiggins to L.A. for LeBron? …
• Or Giannis to the Clippers, maybe? Would Kawhi Leonard be available for the right price to start a change of the franchise’s course? (And where does the disposition of the interminable investigation into Kawhi’s contract and alleged salary cap evasion tactics fall in the timetable?)
• What about Austin Reaves? Would he go to Brooklyn as rumored for a max contract? (If so, will the $180 million or so reasons be enough justification to go join that franchise?) Detroit and Atlanta will take a shot at him as well, and it’s pretty well assumed that he’ll stay put if he gets max money from the Lakers. (As for a hometown discount? Not likely, says the rumor mill.) …
• As we know, the current ownership of the Lakers has shown no hesitation to open the vault for the Dodgers. But the NBA is a salary cap league, and what will they have to do to create space and stay out of that dreaded second apron? This could be part of the reason why LeBron seems willing to take his time. …
• Meanwhile, the Lakers are said to have interest in a trade for 7-foot-2 Utah center Walker Kessler – who played five games last season and not at all after Halloween because of shoulder surgery. Memo to Rob Pelinka: Buy low. …
• But stay tuned. There are a couple of weeks more of such silliness ahead. And Luka Doncic is watching closely – and, I would presume, offering his input to the front office. Him, Pelinka will listen to. …
• A reminder: This column was composed with two hydration breaks added to the workday, as well as a lunch hour. After considering all of those scenarios, I could use a drink. …
• Has anyone outside of the southeastern quadrant of the United States actually been following the College World Series? I suspect not many, and this would be the consequence of one region of the country dominating the tournament field. A trouble sign, perhaps? …
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• But there are 2025-26 champions from our backyard to salute. So here’s a shoutout to the University of Redlands softball and Claremont Mudd-Scripps men’s golf teams, both Division III champions this spring, as well as UCLA beach volleyball, women’s basketball and men’s water polo and USC women’s water polo, all of which brought home NCAA Division I championship plaques this academic year. …
• We could, I guess, have a champion in another sport. The California Legion, mashup of the former L.A. and San Diego franchises in Major League Rugby, face the Chicago Hounds for that league’s championship on Sunday in Chicago.
But when a team plays its home schedule in five different places throughout the season, can it really be considered anybody’s hometown team? I’d say no. …
• The Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2026 inductees will be revealed Monday. They include longtime Ducks captain and Stanley Cup (and Olympic gold-medal) winner Ryan Getzlaf, left wing Justin Williams, who won three Stanley Cups and helped the Kings win in 2012 and ’14, and Bernie Nicholls, who spent his first nine seasons with the Kings (1981-90), was one of four NHL players all time with 70 goals and 150 points in the same season and has the most points (1,209) of anyone not yet enshrined. …
• Today’s quiz: Williams’ nickname was “Mr. Game 7,” because his teams were 8-1 all time in playoff seventh games over his 12 seasons. What was the loss? Answer below. …
• Also on that Hockey Hall of Fame list is Rod Brind’Amour, the captain of those 2006 Hurricanes and coach of Carolina’s current champs. As Hall of Fame baseball writer John Lowe pointed out, Brind’Amour followed the pattern of a couple of other notable Carolina coaches. He won a Cup in his fourth trip to the NHL’s Final Four, while North Carolina’s Dean Smith didn’t win his first title until his seventh trip to the NCAA’s Final Four and Mike Krzyzewski won his first in his fifth Final Four visit.
(Then again, N.C. State’s Jim Valvano struck gold in his only Final Four visit, in 1982-83.) …
• Quiz answer: Justin Williams’ only Game 7 loss was in the 2016-17 second round with Washington, a 2-0 defeat to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Footnote: Also on that Capitals team was defenseman John Carlson, who finished his 17th NHL season with the Ducks last month and has indicated his intention to relocate back East for his 18th season. …
• In Williams’ five seasons with the Kings, L.A. was 4-0 in seventh games and he had a tangible contribution in each one. In 2013, he had two goals in a 2-1 victory over San Jose to close out the conference semifinals.
And in 2014, the Kings won three Game 7s, all on the road. They defeated San Jose, 5-1, in the first round to complete a comeback from an 0-3 series deficit, with Williams contributing an assist. They beat the Ducks in Anaheim, 6-2, to close out the second round, with Williams adding a goal and an assist in Teemu Selanne’s final game. And they won an overtime thriller in Chicago in the conference final, 4-3, with Williams scoring a goal early and then assisting on Alec Martinez’s knuckle-puck game-winner. …
• Finally, it’s sad that we’ll no longer hear Lawrence Tanter’s distinctive voice at Lakers home games. But it’s heartening that he will remain a part of the organization as “Special Advisor of Game Presentation.” Here’s hoping he’ll still drop by the media dining room once in a while.
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