Lakers hire Judy Seto as director of sports performance

The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Judy Seto as their director of sports performance, the team announced Friday.

Seto worked for the Lakers from 2011-16 as the team’s head physical therapist. She spent the last two years as director of sports performance for Select Physical Therapy, where she worked on concepts and technology to maximize the performance, limit the risk to injury and provide the most timely return to competition for athletes.

The Lakers’ news release said she “will oversee the medical care and optimize the health and performance of Lakers players.”

The Los Angeles native previously worked for the Dodgers as well as HealthSouth and the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic.

Seto has bachelor’s degrees from UCLA in kinesiology and psychology, master’s degrees from Stanford in physical therapy and Troy State University in business administration, and a doctorate from Temple in physical therapy.

NBA moves up free agency

The NBA free agency period will start at 3 p.m. PDT June 30 instead of 9 p.m., the league announced after reaching an agreement with the players’ union.

Teams can schedule meetings and negotiate with players after that time on June 30 but can not sign contracts until 9 a.m. PDT July 6.

Trail Blazers extend contracts

The Portland Trail Blazers announced that coach Terry Stotts signed a contract extension through the 2021-22 season. The Trail Blazers also announced president of basketball operations Neil Olshey has signed to a contract extension through the 2023-24 season.

Stotts, Portland’s coach since 2012, led the team to its first appearance in the Western Conference finals in 19 years. The Trail Blazers finished the regular season 53-29 to secure the third seed then got past Oklahoma City and Denver in the opening rounds of the playoffs. The Blazers have made the playoffs in six straight seasons under Stotts.

Olshey joined the team in 2012 as general manager and was promoted to his current role in 2015.