Lakers Rumors: Latest on Kawhi Leonard Pursuit, LeBron James' Interest and More?
The buzz around the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason is nearing a fever pitch, and NBA free agency hasn't even started yet.
It's going to be that kind of summer, folks.
As it should be. While the Lakers are technically trapped in a five-year playoff drought, they're also in the thick of the chase for three of the game's brightest stars.
And let's be honest—L.A. is interesting even when it shouldn't be interesting, given its massive market size and rich history.
While we'll find out soon whether all this optimism turns into tangible progress, we can at least dig into the latest Lakers rumors.
Kawhi Trade Talks Heating Up?
Even Ron Burgundy thinks this situation escalated quickly.
A recent report from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said the Lakers' attempt to pry disgruntled superstar—and L.A. native—Kawhi Leonard away from the San Antonio Spurs was swiftly rebuffed.
But now Shelburne, Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst hear not only that trade talks have restarted, but there's a chance San Antonio might be interested:
"The Los Angeles Lakers re-engaged the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in pursuit of a trade for All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, league sources told ESPN.
" ... The Spurs have wanted to find a way to repair the franchise's relationship with Leonard, but an overwhelming Lakers offer could convince San Antonio to part with its franchise star, league sources said."
If the Lakers are feeling aggressive enough, they might have the pieces to overwhelm their potential trade partners.
The ESPN reporters mentioned San Antonio's demands could include a combination of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, restricted free agent Julius Randle and future first-round picks. League sources said the Lakers "are in no rush" to sign 25th pick Mo Wagner, which would allow his draft rights to be dealt. They also said the club is pursuing an extra future first—perhaps in a salary dump—to sweeten the offer.
Even if only a few of these pieces make up the final package, that sounds like a ton of sacrifices. On the other hand, Leonard is 26 years old and a former Finals MVP, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and 25-point scorer. He might be the Association's top two-way talent when healthy; the Spurs would be more than justified to ask for a king's ransom in return.
LeBron Could Come Before Roster Overhaul?
While the Lakers' hasty pursuit of Leonard could well be to strengthen their recruiting pitch to LeBron James, some executives think pre-emptive additions may not be necessary to sway the King.
"That's the sense you get with him and his people," a general manager told Sean Deveney of Sporting News. "They're doing enough research to suggest that he's going to be willing to take that plunge and let the roster come together."
That's a dramatically different tune than what we've been hearing.
In fact, USA Today's Sam Amick previously described the notion of James joining the Lakers without a second star in the fold as being "widely viewed as lunacy."
This might come down to semantics.
Logic says if James hopes to escape the loaded West as a Laker, he'll need at least another substantial upgrade alongside him.
They might have some interesting young pieces in place, but Ingram, Kuzma and Randle tied for the team lead with 16.1 points per game last season. And even though Lonzo Ball displayed an advanced floor game as a rookie, he also shot just 36.0 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from range.
That's not exactly the level of production Kyrie Irving and Dwyane Wade reached while filling the sidekick role during James' championship runs.
But maybe James doesn't have to see the support pieces in place to know that they're coming. As ESPN described last September, "for the most part the league has looked the other way on player-to-player tampering, even as the practice has become more common in the past decade."
And even if James doesn't have any assurances yet, he may just believe his personal recruiting pitch is strong enough to convince at least one star to join him. Since his presence has meant eight consecutive trips to the Finals—granted, all of them in the Eastern Conference—his sales pitch couldn't be easy to resist.
Julius Randle Suitor Surfaces?
Because there's been so much interest in the Lakers' external targets, it can be easy to forget they have some interesting players of their own entering free agency.
Randle, a 23-year-old former No. 7 pick, might be atop that list.
He just completed the most productive campaign of his career. His 2017-18 effort featured personal bests in points (16.1), field-goal percentage (55.8) and player efficiency rating (19.9).
It comes as little surprise, then, to see his name mentioned as someone else's target. According to Wojnarowski, Randle might be on the Dallas Mavericks' radar:
While the Mavs have constructed a better record than last season's 24-58 record would indicate, they still need an athletic big man to anchor their interior.
As Woj's tweet shows, there are no shortage of options, but Randle—a Dallas native—is the second-youngest of the bunch. And he might prove easier to pluck than fellow restricted free agents Clint Capela and Aaron Gordon, since the Lakers have higher offseason priorities.
Statistics used courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com.
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