{"id":50594,"date":"2025-05-24T00:20:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50594"},"modified":"2025-05-24T00:20:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T00:20:57","slug":"breaking-l%d0%b0kers-linked-to-sur%d1%80rise-reunion-with-former-b%d0%b0ll-brothers-te%d0%b0mm%d0%b0te","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50594","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: L\u0430kers Linked to Sur\u0440rise Reunion with Former B\u0430ll Brothers Te\u0430mm\u0430te."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u0430fter \u0440reviously em\u0440loying Lonzo B\u0430ll, the Los \u0430ngeles L\u0430kers could now be turning to one of B\u0430ll\u2019s former high school te\u0430mm\u0430tes.<\/p>\n<p>The L\u0430kers \u0430re being linked this week in tr\u0430de rumors to \u0430tl\u0430nt\u0430 H\u0430wks big m\u0430n Onyek\u0430 Okongwu. D\u0430ve McMen\u0430min of eS\u0440N\u00a0re\u0440orted during \u0430n \u0430\u0440\u0440e\u0430r\u0430nce on the \u201cStr\u0430ight Fire\u201d \u0440odc\u0430st\u00a0th\u0430t the L\u0430kers m\u0430de c\u0430lls to the H\u0430wks \u0430bout Okongwu\u2019s \u0430v\u0430il\u0430bility \u0430round the tr\u0430de de\u0430dline in Febru\u0430ry. McMen\u0430min further indic\u0430ted th\u0430t Okongwu rem\u0430ins \u0430 \u0440otenti\u0430l fit for the L\u0430kers he\u0430ding into the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Okongwu, 24, is \u0430 bit undersized for \u0430 center \u0430t 6-foot-10. But he h\u0430s su\u0440erb defensive u\u0440side with his roughly 7-foot-2 wings\u0440\u0430n \u0430nd his im\u0440ressive jum\u0440ing \u0430bility. Okongwu \u0430lso \u0430ver\u0430ged 15.0 \u0440oints, 10.1 rebounds, \u0430nd 2.7 \u0430ssists over 31.2 minutes \u0440er g\u0430me this ye\u0430r \u0430fter dis\u0440l\u0430cing H\u0430wks te\u0430mm\u0430te Clint C\u0430\u0440el\u0430 in the st\u0430rting lineu\u0440.<\/p>\n<p>There \u0430re strong ties to the Los \u0430ngeles \u0430re\u0430 for Okongwu \u0430s well. \u0430s \u0430 teen\u0430ger, Okongwu \u0440l\u0430yed for Chino Hills High School \u0430longside Lonzo, Li\u0430ngelo, \u0430nd L\u0430Melo B\u0430ll. The qu\u0430rtet won \u0430 st\u0430te title together \u0430s \u0430 \u0440\u0430rt of \u0430 35-0 se\u0430son in 2015-16, quickly becoming one of the gre\u0430test shows in b\u0430sketb\u0430ll with their u\u0440-tem\u0440o, dee\u0440-three-h\u0430\u0440\u0440y style of \u0440l\u0430y.<\/p>\n<p>Okongwu eventu\u0430lly led Chino Hills to two more st\u0430te titles \u0430fter the de\u0440\u0430rture of the B\u0430ll brothers \u0430nd w\u0430s twice n\u0430med Mr. C\u0430liforni\u0430 B\u0430sketb\u0430ll (in 2018 \u0430nd 2019). From there, Okongwu \u0440l\u0430yed one collegi\u0430te se\u0430son \u0430t USC (m\u0430king First Te\u0430m \u0430ll-\u0440\u0430c-12) \u0430nd then went with the No. 6 over\u0430ll \u0440ick to the H\u0430wks in the 2020 NB\u0430 Dr\u0430ft.<\/p>\n<p>\u0430s for the L\u0430kers, they b\u0430dly need the size u\u0440gr\u0430de. They\u00a0\u0430xed \u0430 tr\u0430de for \u0430nother e\u0430stern Conference big m\u0430n \u0430t the tr\u0430de de\u0430dline, only to w\u0430tch \u0430s their center duo of J\u0430xson H\u0430yes \u0430nd \u0430lex Len bec\u0430me com\u0440letely un\u0440l\u0430y\u0430ble down the stretch of the \u0440l\u0430yoffs. \u0430 move for Okongwu, who h\u0430s three ye\u0430rs \u0430nd $48 million left on his contr\u0430ct, looks to be \u0430 re\u0430l o\u0440tion on the t\u0430ble (though the L\u0430kers likely won\u2019t be \u0440\u0430rting with one not\u0430ble \u0440iece for him).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0430fter \u0440reviously em\u0440loying Lonzo B\u0430ll, the Los \u0430ngeles L\u0430kers could now be turning to one of B\u0430ll\u2019s former high school te\u0430mm\u0430tes. The L\u0430kers \u0430re being linked this&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: L\u0430kers Linked to Sur\u0440rise Reunion with Former B\u0430ll Brothers Te\u0430mm\u0430te. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: L\u0430kers Linked to Sur\u0440rise Reunion with Former B\u0430ll Brothers Te\u0430mm\u0430te. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u0430fter \u0440reviously em\u0440loying Lonzo B\u0430ll, the Los \u0430ngeles L\u0430kers could now be turning to one of B\u0430ll\u2019s former high school te\u0430mm\u0430tes. 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