The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>B/R There was a time, not all that long ago, when every team in the NBA would have done anything to acquire LeBron James. Not now. Nothing captures just how much damage this season has done to a player some still consider the league's best than the reaction to the idea of trading for him—unless it's the reaction to the idea of his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, swapping him. No spit takes. No foreheads smacked. No questions about anyone's soundness of mind. Maybe the parade of shocking moves across the league in recent years has made "never say never" a wise mantra. Maybe the Lakers' downward spiral in the season's second half has made the unthinkable thinkable. Rest assured, no matter the reason, the idea of trading James has been contemplated in NBA front offices as well as on talk shows. "Hmmm," pondered one Eastern Conference owner when asked if his team would trade for James if given the chance. "At this point, probably not, given where we are. I wouldn't want to gut the team for a player that isn't committed and is toward the end of his career." A Western Conference owner said he would consider dealing for James but with conditions. "Depends on what I'd have to give up," he said. "I wouldn't roll up the truck and give more than one protected first[-round pick]." To be clear, the Lakers have given no indication that they are considering what former NBA coach and current ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy is credited with first publicly suggesting: that to rebound from what looks to be a sixth consecutive losing season and sixth straight trip to the lottery despite James' addition last summer, the Lakers should "explore" trading the four-time MVP. While the Lakers advertised his arrival as only the first step toward building another title contender, oddsmakers had them comfortably making the playoffs with a 13- or 14-win jump from last season's 35. Instead, they are 31-36 and 6.5 games out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference with 15 contests left. At their current pace, James' addition will result in a three-win improvement. Video Play Button Videos you might like The subject of moving James, however, was contemplated by the Lakers, a team source said, weeks before Van Gundy aired it. When rumors engulfed the team at the February trade deadline that it was willing to trade anyone other than James to acquire All-Star forward Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, James' agent, Rich Paul, was widely accused of spreading those rumors because Davis is also one of his clients. Paul denied to B/R that he leaked the Lakers' interest in Davis, but Buss suspected otherwise and was furious. The idea of terminating the franchise's relationship with Paul by moving James at least crossed Buss' mind, the team source said, and Paul was made aware of that. That prompted Paul to reach out to Buss to clear the air, and whatever ill will existed supposedly dissipated. At the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference a few weeks later, Buss blamed the media for making the rumors public. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press One Western Conference GM said he would be interested in trading for James to contend with the defending champion Golden State Warriors, but he wouldn't swap his best player for him because it would defeat the purpose. Translation: James can't single-handedly lead a team to title contention, especially in the Western Conference. He needs a fellow star next to him, along with the right coach and supporting cast. "He's not good enough anymore to take four cadavers and get to the Finals," the GM says. "Not in the West." James does not have a no-trade clause in the four-year, $153.3 million contract he signed last summer, league sources say, but he does have a 15 percent trade kicker—his contract's value increases 15 percent and the raise has to be accounted for in making the deal work under salary-cap rules—which complicates, but does not preclude, moving him. "I still think you could get a decent package for him from a bad team," one Western Conference assistant GM says. "A first-round pick and a good young player. But it would've been a lot more a year ago, for sure." One former GM questions if the Lakers could afford the fallout of trading James even if they received a superstar in return. "Even if it's the right thing to do as a franchise, I don't know how you'd do it," he says. "LeBron would eviscerate them. The question goes beyond what you could get for him to: How do you explain that away? How do you go to the next free agent and say, 'We really want you,' and have him believe you after you had the face of the league for six months and then traded him away?" Several league executives would not be surprised if the Lakers at least explored their options. One Eastern Conference vice president of basketball operations wondered if the Milwaukee Bucks, in their effort to keep superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, would consider pairing him with James. Another suggested the Boston Celtics could offer a combination of young talent and draft picks and still have the requisite talent to contend, but that would require Buss and her team president and Lakers legend, Magic Johnson, to put aside a decadeslong rivalry with the Boston franchise, which is hard to imagine. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press/Associated Press There's also the intracity rivalry with the Clippers to consider. The prospect of seeing them with the biggest star in town would be hard to stomach. "They can't sit in that market, egowise, and see either LeBron playing for the Clippers or see the Clippers get Kawhi with LeBron someplace else," the Western Conference GM says. "They sell 'star' like no one else." This, by the way, is not a place most teams expected the Lakers to be. The owner who wouldn't deal for James now would have a year ago. "If we could have traded for him and knew he would sign long term, it would be hard not to do it," he says. "He took his team to eight straight Finals!" The Western Conference GM speculates that more owners than executives see value in James at this point, largely because the latter have seen how their colleagues' jobs have entailed catering to James and dealing with Paul, who is not popular with more than a few front offices. "Even if you're solid in your job, you know that anywhere LeBron goes you're suddenly under the gun," he says. "Your only choice is to give him the keys and let him run it. And even if you didn't want that, your owner might. Because he doesn't have to deal with what comes with it." The element that has done the most to lower James' value this season is not another example of the turmoil and hyper-scrutiny he seems to bring to every team—along with, at least in the past, unprecedented success—but the groin injury that forced him to miss 17 games and some have suggested is still impacting his play. The suspicion is that, at 34 and already holding the record for most playoff minutes and ranking 15th all-time in regular-season minutes, James is finally succumbing to Father Time. "The injury changed things more than anything else," the Western Conference owner says. For now, the expectation is the Lakers will look for James to get healthy and during the offseason acquire the kind of high-IQ role players, veterans and outside shooting that have provided the template for James' success elsewhere. "I don't see him being able to raise a bunch of young pups," the Eastern Conference VP says. "It's going to be all about familiarity with LeBron. They'll ask him, 'What it's going to take?' He will say, 'This, this and this,' and they'll get the band back together. "The wild card is Jeanie Buss. She could...ask LeBron, 'If you're not with all this, tell us where you want us to send you and we'll make it happen.'" Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report.<doc-sep>Today’s podcasts focus on the Los Angeles Lakers losing Thursday night to the Toronto Raptors, Jeanie Buss and LeBron James and plenty more. The 30 In this episode, Jas is joined by former Iowa State player and pro basketball player, Charles Boozer (younger brother to Carlos). To kick things off, they break down the Lakers’ loss to the Raptors and how a lack of depth has been an issue for the team all season. Following that, they discuss Jeanie Buss reportedly contemplating trading LeBron James because she was upset with agent, Rich Paul. The guys then get into what the Lakers need to do next season and wrap up with Charles talking about what it’s like to play one-on-one against Kyrie Irving. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. Locked on Lakers Today’s episode picks up where Pete and I left off on Wednesday, when we weren’t able to get to all the iTunes questions. Still, a promise is a promise and I said we’d get to all of them. Once again, the focus for many remains on the front office and this upcoming offseason. It’s hard to blame fans for looking ahead, though, given the state of this season and the recent showing from Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka. Apparently, there’s still hope for those who would like to see Kawhi Leonard in a Lakers uniform. Listeners also wanted to know about what kind of impact Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram’s injuries might have on their trade value. We do discuss that, but also wanted to note — especially in Ingram’s case — that it’s important to still remember to think of athletes as people. Ingram is probably going through a lot right now, so here’s hoping he pulls through and comes out stronger after this recent scare. A ton more was discussed as a result of your questions, so, make sure to subscribe on iTunes, where you can also leave questions in the form of a five-star review to guarantee your topic makes the show.<doc-sep>
The premiere season of LeBron James, Los Angeles Laker, has been a total flop. Despite a decent start that had LA looking at a potential top-4 seed in a topsy-turvey Western Conference, some injuries and insouciance wrecked everything. Now, with six weeks left in the regular season, there is basically no path to the playoffs for the Lakers. James will have gone from eight straight trips to the NBA Finals (with three rings to show for it) to the NBA Draft lottery. Yikes. The good news for the Lakers is that James broke from tradition and signed a full four-year deal with LA last summer, something he didn’t do in his most recent stint in Cleveland. That means that the Lakers know they still have a superstar on deck next season. If James had signed a 1+1 deal, there would be rampant rumors that James were leaving this summer. But since the Lakers have James under contract for three more years, and since James is new to LA, and since the team is barely closer to the playoffs than it was before the four-time MVP arrived, you at least have to consider that the franchise could at least think about trading him ... right? He doesn’t have a no-trade clause. He’s a top-notch asset. It’s at least a consideration worth making, isn’t it? No. No, no, no. Here are three reasons the Lakers absolutely cannot trade James. 1. It would be career suicide for the front office If Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka trade James — whose free agent acquisition is the only actual success of their tenure running the team — they might as well hand in their resignations and find new fields to work in. (I mean, Johnson doesn’t actually need to work any more. Which is good, because he’d never work in basketball again.) Admitting failure is not something NBA figures are good at doing, and trading James would be a loud, explicit acknowledgement that these dudes failed totally in building a team around the greatest player of his generation. They had cap space and flexibility, they had young players to package or develop and ... they ended up in 10th place (or worse!) in the conference. This is compounded by the fact that no one really gives Johnson and Pelinka a ton of credit for landing James in the first place. Common consensus has become that James had decided to join LA, and met with Johnson only to vet the situation. Apparently, he should have vetted the situation a little more thoroughly. NBA executives, even those with supreme egos and immense safety nets, don’t make a habit of knowingly making moves that will directly lead to their demise. Even broaching this subject out loud would probably do the trick for Johnson and Pelinka. They are smart enough to know that. 2. No one is crazy enough to trade a lot for an angry James Imagine the trade value price for three years of James, even in his mid-30s. It’s super steep. Like every possible pick plus a blue chip prospect or two. It’s three future firsts, the rights to Zion Williamson, and Lauri Markannen (plus contracts to meet NBA match requirements). It’s Karl-Anthony Towns, two firsts, and a fresh water pipeline from Minnesota to SoCal. It’s a price so incredibly steep you can’t even come up with anything viable for most other NBA teams unless they land Zion in the 2019 NBA Draft. Now imagine giving up that sort of bounty for a superstar who is absolutely, positively livid that he has been traded. James will be remembered for so much, but high on that list is how he pushed the boundaries of superstar empowerment. His entire career has been a master class is doing what you want and protecting your individual interests. Getting traded is the biggest violation of that. It destroys a superstar’s control over their own career. Can you imagine how mad James would be if his perfectly coiffed career arc were run off the rails by a trade? Put these two realities together: the price is steeper than any, and the result is angering deeply the ultra-powerful star you are acquiring. It’s like buying yourself an ulcer at the corner store. 3.