Lakers News: Latest on LeBron James, Paul George Rumors and More
The Los Angeles Lakers' ambitions this summer are clear: make a big splash in free agency and start contending for an NBA title. The cap room is there, the young core is in place, the fanbase is getting hungrier by the second. The front office is betting their jobs on the summer of 2018, right?
Well, maybe it will take another summer. Here's Lakers legend and current team president of basketball operations Magic Johnson during a Tuesday press conference introducing 2018 draftees Moritz Wagner and Svi Mykhailiuk, per The Athletic's Bill Oram and ESPN Los Angeles' Allen Sliwa:
Wagner and Mykhailiuk might get more opportunities than they expected in 2018.
While the whole world is expecting Los Angeles to get at least one veteran star this offseason—the three names being bandied about the most are Paul George, LeBron James and a disgruntled Kawhi Leonard—Johnson is acknowledging it might not be in the cards. He's committing to stepping down after two years if nothing does happen during that span, and he could very well need all of that time, though it's not something the purple-and-gold faithful will be happy to hear after five years of missing the postseason.
The Lakers executives have blown through self-imposed deadlines before (as Oram alluded to), so Johnson setting another timetable for success might not inspire a ton of confidence.
Johnson could also be making a bet that the Lakers' young core of Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball might also be exciting enough to keep the fans satiated for another year, especially if they can sneak into the playoffs without significant veteran help.
Another reason Johnson is hedging on a make-or-break summer of '18 is that the three names the team is most often linked to aren't yet free agents as of Tuesday. If the Lakers want Leonard, they will need to give up a bundle of young players and assets in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs. Leonard's current contract extends through 2020, though he has a player option he can invoke in 2019.
Signs might be pointing toward George leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he still has to make a decision on a player option.
Same goes for James, who also has a player option this season and could remain in Cleveland. ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne reports that James still hasn't decided if he is going to pick up that option, which he has until Friday to do. She also notes that if James does become a free agent, he's been around long enough to know exactly what he wants:
"James might meet or speak with a club official or owner at some point, but the elaborate presentations that have become common in NBA free agency over the years are unnecessary after 15 seasons in the league.
Should James become a free agent, league sources believe he and his agents Rich Paul and Mark Termini have enough understanding of the stakes and NBA landscape to handle the process without much fanfare."
James, at 33 years old and with 15 years of NBA experience, is savvy enough and powerful enough to re-shape the league according to his priorities: championships and family. Whether it's leading a young core in Los Angeles or Philadelphia, or perhaps joining an MVP-winner and a great but aging point guard in Houston, James knows what role he wants to play on a team and what he is still capable of after many thousands of minutes in the league.
Hearing something like that could also lead Johnson to believe that James already has his mind made up on which team he wants to join if he leaves Ohio.
And if elaborate pitches are something that will turn the biggest star in the NBA off, Lakers' fans are probably hoping he's on a media sabbatical and far from the long, winding freeways of Los Angeles.
According to ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk, Lakers season-ticket holder and attorney Jacob Emrami has paid for at least 40 billboards to go up around Los Angeles enticing George to come home. The five-time All-Star is a native of nearby Palmdale, California, part of the reason why many think he might join the Lakers this summer.
SI.com's Robin Lundberg also reportedly obtained a script of a potential Lakers pitch to George should he become a free agent. Here's some of the set-up and text, via SI.com's Scooby Axson:
"An apparent recruiting pitch was leaked to SI.com's Robin Lundberg and it is in form of a voiceover the Lakers plan on using with video.
A person contacted to potentially audition for the voiceover was given directions that it should be 'less Morgan Freeman/Denzel Washington, and more Jamie Foxx.'"
Per Axson, lines from the pitch include: "When you were just a kid/In your room/Dreaming from Palmdale/We were dreaming too," which makes it pretty clear it's about George.
It's not the most ostentatious pitch idea, but it might come off as hokey to some. Either way, the poems and billboards are not directed at James, they are for George. If the Lakers can convince him to join the team, perhaps James—or other top free agents whose contracts are up over the next two summers—will follow suit.
Johnson's deadline isn't a very long one in the grand scheme of things, but Lakers fans will be hoping that he doesn't use up that entire calendar. They're dreaming of something, too: a big free-agent haul, and championships.
Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com
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