Lakers

The Denver Nuggets (8-9) helped to facilitate the trade that brought Dwight Howard to the Lakers, acquiring Andre Iguodala for Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington. Iguodala is one of the Nuggets leading scorers at 15.6 points per game while shooting 46.3% from the field and 40% from behind the arc. He's also collecting 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. "I've been a fan of his since he came out of Arizona," said Lakers All-Star Kobe Bryant, who has a strong relationship with Iguodala off the court.  "I've always tried to look out for him as much as I could, talk to him about the game and things like that.

Nowadays, it's the price tag that makes a house famous. The most expensive U.S. home ever sold, a single-family Connecticut house bought by a company, recently went for $120 million. It used to be the owners who made the house famous. Which made Beverly Hills' Pickfair, after the White House, perhaps the most famous house in the country as the home of moviedom's Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. The next owner of Pickfair rose in the pantheon as well: Jerry Buss, who made the L.A. Lakers one of the winningest franchises in NBA history.

The showdown at center will be more for fans than the franchises when Andrew Bynum plays against Dwight Howard on Friday. The Lakers and Orlando haven't had trade talks in "a while," according to a person familiar with the teams' thinking, putting a damper on proponents of a Bynum-for-Howard deal. Howard, 26, can opt out of his contract at the end of the season and become a free agent. Orlando is hoping for the best, thinking a strong season by the Magic might persuade Howard to stay another year, if not longer.

Nick Young finished the season as the Lakers' top scorer, at 17.9 points a game, but he also led the team in a less impressive category -- technical fouls. Through 64 games, Young collected nine technicals, placing him in the top 25 in the NBA. Blake Griffin (Clippers) and DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings) led the league with 16 apiece, both serving one-game suspensions. Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) avoided suspension with 15. No other Laker came close to Young's nine.

Both the Lakers and the Utah Jazz have started the season slowly with matching 1-3 records. The Lakers are set to visit Utah on Wednesday night, with hopes of building their first win streak of the season. Utah is looking to end a three-game slide. Utah has four powerful big men in Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. Mo Williams is off to a fast start and yet the Jazz has just a single victory. With Steve Nash still recovering from a leg injury, the Lakers will have to play an excellent game of basketball to escape Utah with a win. Key matchup Jefferson's scoring is down a bit, to 12.3 points per game on 44% shooting, but he's a true back-to-the basket center.

The Lakers are the only team with a losing record in the league to have scored more points this season than they've given up. It's not much of a consolation prize: The Lakers are in 10th place in the Western Conference at 15-20, 4 1/2 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers are averaging 103.2 points per game while giving up 101.7, a difference of 1.5 points. Where the Lakers are primarily lacking is on defense.  Only four teams allow more points a game (Charlotte Bobcats, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings)

The Lakers have the worst record in the NBA at 0-3, slightly below four other teams at 0-2 (Detroit, Boston, Sacramento and Denver). Of course, the Lakers are the only team to have played in three games over the four nights of this season, a difficult task given the team's injuries. Coach Mike Brown is working in a new offense.  As a group, the Lakers have spent less time going over defense. In comparison to the rest of the league, the Lakers are 18th in points per game at 97.3 but third in field-goal percentage (49.8%)

The Lakers finished the Grammy road trip with two wins in four tries, surviving in Charlotte and a solid victory in Brooklyn. The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat were too much to deal with, but the Lakers finished their extended road trip with a 4-3 record. With the All-Star Game this weekend, the Lakers only have two on the schedule. The playoffs are still in range, but the Lakers simply need to win and win often. Overall, the team is still five losses below the cumulative predictions for weeks 1-15 . Tuesday vs. Phoenix Suns The biggest letdown on the seven-game road trip was in Phoenix on Jan. 30. The Lakers completely fell apart in the fourth quarter, giving up 29 points while scoring just 13 in a 92-86 defeat.

The Lakers host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night with hopes of getting their first win of the season after an 0-3 start. The Pistons are also winless (0-2) but catch the Lakers without Steve Nash, who will be out at least a week with a non-displaced leg fracture. Detroit might struggle to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this season but they do have a talented roster with such players as Brandon Knight, Greg Monroe and Rodney Stuckey. The way the Lakers have played since the start of the preseason, they're vulnerable.

Jim Buss says he will resign in three or four years [April 20] if the Lakers are not back on top because that will mean he has failed. Dude, you have already failed both the team and its fans by your evident lack of leadership, so why must we wait so long for you to ultimately depart? How about in three or four months you turn over the team reins to someone more competent than you! Why should we twist in the wind for the obvious to become even more obvious? Goodbye and good riddance, Jim, we won't miss you at all. Roy Reel Culver City :: Jim Buss said if the Lakers aren't contending for an NBA title in three or four years he will step aside and let someone else run the team and make player personnel decisions.

Early in the season, the Lakers gave Kobe Bryant a $48.5-million, two-year extension -- a gamble that he'll fully recover from the Achilles' injury that ended his season in April 2013. After six games played, Bryant went down with a knee fracture in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 17.  The Lakers went on to win 27 games, a full 30 behind the Clippers (57-25). Bryant returned to the court Monday, cleared to start training in anticipation of a full return for the 2014-15 season.

Jerry Buss' show-stopping mansion in Playa del Rey has sold for $5.1 million. The custom Italian-style villa was built in 1998 by the late Los Angeles Lakers owner and billionaire, and it shows. Lakers logos are incorporated in the home's stained-glass double-door entry, which opens to a rotunda. Spanish tile floors, wood-beam ceilings and a winding staircase continue the architectural style inside. A three-stop elevator also connects the 10,846 square feet of living space. There are multiple balconies, three fireplaces, seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms -- just enough excess to befit the man who transformed the local professional basketball team into what became known as "Showtime" by giving seats to celebrities and entertaining fans with the Laker Girls.

On Wednesday, the NBA announced Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic was selected as the league's most improved player this season. Lakers guard Jodie Meeks was recognized in the voting, albeit with a single second-place vote, tying for 20th place. With Kobe Bryant playing just six games this past season with Achilles' and knee injuries, Meeks made the most of his opportunity to start 77 games for the Lakers. Meeks averaged 15.7 points per game while shooting 46.3% from the field and 40.1% from three-point range.

There was an open seat in Section 106 amid the sellout crowd at Staples Center. Row 10, Seat 14. It belonged to Mychal Thompson for Game 2 of the Clippers-Golden State Warriors playoff series. He wasn't sitting in it. One of the Lakers' radio voices, Thompson is better recognized these days as the father of Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson. He doesn't see his son play often in person and he didn't want to sit for Monday's game. Too nervous. The elder Thompson carved out some standing room near the tunnel by the Warriors' bench.

Kentucky forward Julius Randle has declared for the NBA draft. "I've been blessed and fortunate to be put in a position to have to have decisions. A big decision for me is whether to declare for the NBA draft or not," Randle said in a press conference on Tuesday. "Talking with my family, a lot of prayer, I'm deciding to declare for the NBA draft. " Randle, 19, is a physical power forward who helped the Wildcats advance to the NCAA finals, where they ultimately fell to the Connecticut Huskies.

The Lakers have promoted Jim Perzik from general counsel to senior vice president of legal affairs/secretary, while hiring Dan Grigsby to fill Perzik's former position. Grigsby previously was partner and chairman of the National Sports Law Group with the law firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell. "Having worked with Dan as our outside legal representative for over 30 years, we're very familiar and comfortable with him, and have the highest regard for him as both an attorney and person,” said Jeanie Buss in a statement Tuesday.

The Lakers wrapped the 2013-14 season with two straight wins, finishing 27-55 on the season. Week 25 started with a 119-104 win over the Jazz in Utah on Monday, which dropped the Lakers to sixth in the NBA draft lottery . On Wednesday, the Lakers closed out the year with a 113-110 victory on the road in San Antonio against the Spurs. All-star Kobe Bryant took off early, heading to France before the Lakers' season ended . Kent Bazemore underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon in his foot.