NBA News Roundup, Saturday, April 13th: Kyrie Irving Staying With The Celtics?, Paul George Injury Update, and More

After six months of relentless basketball, the postseason is finally here. The 2019 playoffs will begin tonight, and there are a number of exciting first-round matchups to look forward to. Meanwhile, there is also major news emerging from already eliminated teams, so, here are all the latest NBA stories you need to know for April 13th.

Luke Walton leaves the Los Angeles Lakers

Luke Walton has exited the Los Angeles Lakers after three seasons in charge

After more than a year of speculation over his future, Luke Walton has finally been removed as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Walton's departure comes just days after Magic Johnson's sudden departure, and the Lakers provided the following statement:

The Los Angeles Lakers and Luke Walton have mutually agreed to part ways.

We would like to thank Luke for his dedicated service over the last three years. We wish Luke and his family the best of luck moving forward.

Walton joined the Lakers back in 2016 following two successful seasons as Steve Kerr's assistant at Golden State. Walton finished with three losing seasons, and the Lakers have now failed to reach the playoffs since 2013.

This 18/19 season was undoubtedly the final nail in Walton's coffin, as despite the addition of LeBron James, the Lakers were officially eliminated from postseason contention with 10 games left on the schedule.

Following his departure, Walton thanked the Lakers saying:

'I want to thank Jeanie Buss and the Buss family for giving me the opportunity to coach the Lakers, This franchise and the city will always be special to me and my family'.

Walton has been linked with an immediate return to coaching with the Sacramento Kings, while Tyronn Lue and Monty Williams are the leading candidates to replace Walton in Los Angeles.

Paul George

Ever since the All-Star break, Paul George has been nursing a persistent shoulder injury. The injury has caused PG13 to miss a number of games, and ESPN's Royce Young is reporting that George is a doubt for tomorrow's game against the Trail Blazers:

'Billy Donovan says Paul George is “day to day” with his shoulder. He says OKC didn’t do much contact today in practice. Wouldn’t speculate either way if George will be available for Game 1.'

'Paul George said the pain in his right shoulder was too much to try and play through against Milwaukee, but says “as much as I can get it 100 as possible or close to it, you can expect me out there Sunday.'

Over the course of the regular season, George averaged 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game -- and his participation will be crucial to the Thunder's chances of pulling off a first-round upset.

The Celtics still remain hopeful of retaining Kyrie Irving

Irving's future with the Boston Celtics is in doubt

Kyrie Irving has been widely backed to walk away from the Boston Celtics after the conclusion of the playoffs, although during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, team president Danny Ainge confirmed that the Celtics were still hoping to lock down Irving's future. Ainge also spoke highly of Irving's impact on the team, stating:

There's moments where he's happy and things are going well [and] there's moments where he's frustrated and wishes things were different and talks about how can we get better. I mean he wants to take responsibility. He wants to carry a load and knows that he is capable, because of his experience and how a good player he is, that he’s capable of carrying a bigger load than a lot of guys on the team.

Irving joined the Celtics back in 2017, although he is widely expected to test his value on the free agent market this summer. He has been strongly linked with both the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers.