Sparks coach, GM Fisher on changes: ‘It’s a new era’
In his first foray into WNBA free agency as the Sparks’ general manager, Derek Fisher picked Nneka Ogwumike.
He prioritized the 30-yearold, six-time All-Star and former WNBA MVP over all else, designating the WNBPA president and former Stanford star as the Sparks’ one “core” player with whom they’d be able to exercise exclusive negotiating rights.
He understood that meant Candace Parker, among the most transcendent figures in the sport’s history, would be free to go. Chelsea Gray, too.
And they went. After playing all 13 WNBA seasons in L.A., Parker headed home to play for the Chicago Sky. Gray opted to try her luck with the Las Vegas Aces.
“Us choosing to core Nneka and what she has meant to this organization and will continue to mean to it, going into conversations with Chelsea and Candace, we understood the risk,” Fisher said. “We knew that they were both unrestricted free agents and would have the opportunity to choose other teams if they so choose to.
“And we respect their decisions. Like, we really do.”
In his third year as Sparks coach, Fisher experienced a busy free agency in his first go-around as GM, signing or re-signing nine players, including Ogwumike and her sister, Chiney Ogwumike.
They also brought back Seimone Augustus, Brittney Sykes and Te’a Cooper, and brought in Amanda Zahui B., Erica Wheeler, Bria Holmes and Nia Coffey.
And, Fisher made sure to remind everyone during a Zoom video conference Thursday, the Sparks also add Kristi Toliver to the mix this season.
The decorated guard helped lead L.A. to a championship in 2016 before leaving to play for the Washington Mystics, with whom she won a title in 2019 before re-signing with the Sparks ahead of last season. Fisher’s priority in free agency a year ago, Toliver opted not to participate in the bubble last summer — when the Sparks were eliminated in the second round of the WNBA playoffs by the Connecticut Sun, but she’s expected to play a significant role this season.
For his part, Fisher’s new role began in December, when he took charge of front-office basketball decisions. Before that, the Sparks went without a GM for a year, handling those duties by committee after Penny Toler was fired from the position she’d held for 20 years in 2019.
The new title meant Fisher spent a lot more time than normal on the phone, he said, working to craft a team — versatile, with enduring speed — aligned with his vision.
“Over the last couple seasons, we’ve really worked hard to play the game with a higher intensity level and with much more pace,” Fisher said. “And so we’ve tried to build a team that we feel like will physically be able to sustain the pace we want to play at, the things that we want to do offensively in attacking teams and having the dynamic players at multiple positions to be able to do so.
“We’ve had a top-three defense in the league the last two seasons, and in the postseason we’ve stalled offensively, honestly,” he added. “So we really feel like we’ve added the type of pieces that will allow us to break teams down offensively and make us a more complete team.”
Nneka Ogwumike said this week she can see how the Sparks’ additions seem, on paper, as though they’ll fit Fisher’s philosophy, while allowing life will be vastly different without Parker.
“It’s obvious that there’s huge shoes to be filled,” Ogwumike said. “I think that Fish certainly, he hasn’t wavered from what he’s brought to the team two years ago, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that will continue to evolve with us obviously having this restructure.
“It’s not as though we have better players for a new system. I can just see what he’s trying to do with the situation we’ve been presented with, and that also comes with focusing on what we have, and being respectful and celebratory of people making decisions on their own to go to where they want to go ... It’s certainly not about certain people not being around, and much more of a focus on what the Sparks got, the moves we’re making.
“The style will obviously be different when you know CP isn’t there, but I think that there’s also a lot to look forward to.”
With 15 players on the roster and four picks in the April 17 WNBA draft, Fisher has given himself much more to weigh before the start of Season No. 25 — for the Sparks and the WNBA.
Teams are allowed to have 15 players in the gym during training camp, when women often are trickling in following their overseas commitments. Then, once the season starts, teams are allotted a maximum 12 roster spots.
By design, Fisher said, he’s set up a cutthroat camp.
“We are definitely creating a highly competitive environment,” said Fisher.
“Obviously the stars and the veteran players we have coming to camp, they know the game. They understand a lot about what it means to be in this league — usually they have the advantage,” Fisher said. “But we’re very intentional about the players that we are adding ... so training camp is gonna be different in a lot of ways, and we’re excited about getting to that point, and I think our players are excited about it.
“It’s a new era of Sparks basketball. We’re moving in a different direction and I think everyone’s looking forward to the process and the journey.”
Upgrading season is fully underway, and nothing signaled its arrival like Detroit agreeing to buy out Blake Griffin from his supermax deal that was dragging behind him like a ball-andchain this season. ESPN was first to report Griffin was being bought out, and The Athletic reported that Griffin is expected to cast his fortunes with the Brooklyn Nets. Even though Griffin is diminished at nearly 32, averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists on under 37 percent shooting, seeing a lineup with James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan and potentially Griffin will be ... a sight.
That news comes at a time when the Lakers have looked particularly vulnerable, largely because of injuries. They finished 3-7 in their 10 games before the AllStar break, playing almost all of that stretch without Anthony Davis and parts without Dennis Schröder and Marc Gasol.
They’re still the No. 1-ranked defense by a reasonably wide margin (106.1 defensive rating, to 108.1 for No. 2 Utah), but the offense has been sliding (No. 17, 111.3). Notably, the Lakers are just No. 25 in 3-point percentage, dropping all the way down to 35.1 percent from a starting point above 41 percent in the first 15 games.
With some of the parameters set for where the Lakers are halfway through the season, here are some common questions answered:
HOW MUCH DO THE LAKERS HAVE TO SPEND? » Because of the structure of the offseason contracts for Montrezl Harrell and Wesley Matthews, the Lakers are hard-capped, meaning they can’t spend above $138.9 million in salary. They are currently $3.1 million under that number, which is not a lot in NBA money, and even less when you consider that the Lakers can only add veteran minimum contracts because they are above the salary cap threshold ($109.1 million).
Those are a lot of technical terms, but the practical meaning is the Lakers can’t add anyone that they can’t pay a pro-rata veteran’s minimum deal, which at the current moment is less than $1 million. That may hurt them in the hunt for a buyout market candidate: Free agents will have to be motivated to sign with them to win rings.
The hard cap also means that the Lakers will have a
What draft picks?
Just kidding. Yes, there’s some draft capital to trade, but not a lot. The Lakers have sent much of their future first-round picks and swaps to New Orleans in the deal for Anthony Davis. The earliest they can trade a first-rounder is 2027, which doesn’t seem appealing as a chip yet. They have secondrounders, but also not for a while: Their first available second-rounder to trade is in 2023. The going rate for a helpful playoff piece usually involves some salary and a first-round pick in the near future.
There are a lot of hurdles for most. ESPN had a good breakdown of the sticking points last month and here are a few of them: Kyle Kuzma has a poison pill stipulation in his contract extension; Jared Dudley and Markieff Morris have the power to veto trades; by virtue of a player option for next summer, Montrezl Harrell is difficult to trade because of his ability to walk; you can technically trade LeBron James and Anthony Davis by mid-March ... but ya ain’t gonna.
There are some other guys in the mix, but the biggest chip is not exactly a glamour piece at the moment: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is earning $12 million, which seemed like a bargain over the summer, but he’s prone to hesitation and droughts like he’s in now (even though his percentages are still good). It’s hard to imagine the Lakers getting a piece they deem more valuable using KCP, and it is probably sensible to ride out the rocky stretch and trust that he’ll return to his playoff form.
Wesley Matthews hasn’t had a good season, but he also only makes $3.6 million, and again, it will be tough to get a better piece (ESPN points out that coveted forward P.J. Tucker makes $7.9 million, which the Lakers have to send out $7 million to make work). That’s the problem with most of the Lakers’ tradeable pieces: They don’t make enough money to get something valuable back.
The biggest one is Dennis Schröder’s future: He is up for an extension, and the Lakers can sign him to one whenever they agree. He’s making $15.5 million now and likely looking for a raise. Going 0-4 during his league-mandated quarantine was a strong indicator of how much impact the point guard has.Signing Schröder has expensive consequences, keeping the Lakers well into the luxury tax for the foreseeable future. Not signing Schröder could be expensive, too, in the sense that it would be hard to find a replacement point guard next year in free agency stooped against the salary cap.