Kings shooting guard Zach LaVine was limited to just 39 regular season appearances in 2025/26 due to injuries. He tells Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints he’s looking to bounce back in ’26/27 ahead of 2027 free agency.

“I had a little hand injury, but every year for me, I go into the offseason, I see what I can do better,” LaVine said. “I see how I can try to help the team and what what role or what area I’m gonna be fitting in. Obviously, they going to put you in a role that’s best case for you.

“But I’m super excited. It’s unfortunate that I had the injury last year, even the season we had, we started off very well. I started off well. But for standards for myself, I have them extremely high so I’m looking forward to this year.”

LaVine, a two-time All-Star who’s 31 years old, says he’s motivated for both internal and external reasons.

“I think if you don’t have something to prove to yourself or anybody, you’re being very complacent,” LaVine said. “I think I’m my biggest critic. So if anything, I have something to prove myself every year.”

We have more from around the Western Conference:

• With Mark Williams set to miss most of the season due to a torn labrum in his left shoulder, Gerald Bourguet of Sports360AZ makes the case for Khaman Maluach to be the Suns’ new starting center. As Bourguet writes, the 2025 lottery pick is viewed as the team’s center of the future, and there’s an argument to be made that his development would be accelerated if he’s given the opportunity to play with the starters. The South Sudanese big man offers more size, length, shot blocking and shooting potential than Oso Ighodaro, Phoenix’s primary backup last season, Bourguet notes.
• The Mavericks recently announced Rob Fodor as one of their new assistant coaches under first-year head coach Dusty May. Fodor has spent the past decade as Miami’s shooting and player development coach, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal, and has drawn previous praise from former Heat sharpshooter Duncan Robinson as well as head coach Erik Spoelstra. Before his Heat tenure, Fodor spent one year with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and coached professionally in several countries overseas, among other basketball-related jobs.
• For the second straight year, the Grizzlies will hold their training camp at Belmont University in Nashville, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The Grizzlies’ training camp will be held from Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, with their preseason opener scheduled for Oct. 5 (at Atlanta).