Lakers News: Latest on LeBron James Post-Opt-Out, Possible Nuggets Trade, More

The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be in a perfect position to return to the top of the NBA in the coming days and weeks. 

Now the pressure rests on the Lakers to execute the deals they've been rumored to make and become a direct challenger to the Golden State Warriors. 

If everything goes the way the franchise wants it to, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard will be wearing the Purple and Gold for the foreseeable future. 

But until each rumored move is confirmed, the Lakers have plenty of work to do in order to persuade James to come to Los Angeles and appeases San Antonio enough to make a trade for Leonard. 

Below is an update on the latest news surrounding the Lakers' pursuit of James and what they're willing to do in order to acquire Leonard. 

LeBron James' Interest In Joining Lakers Is Reportedly Strong

The James news everyone around the NBA was waiting for broke Friday morning.

Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon reported James will not exercise the $35.6 million option on his contract, which makes him an unrestricted free agent. 

According to Vardon, the interest in the 33-year-old joining the Lakers is strong, which comes as no surprise as the potential courtship between the Lakers and James has been reported for a while. 

As ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst noted, James' decision to opt out favors the Lakers and puts teams with less cap space, like the Rockets, at a disadvantage: 

The Lakers' direct competition for James' signature could come from two fronts. The Philadelphia 76ers have long been interested in James and they have the cap space to get a deal done if the 33-year-old wants to remain in the Eastern Conference, while the Cavaliers aren't completely out of the picture yet.

Because James decided to opt out of his contract, a sign-and-trade deal is likely off the table, which leaves the Lakers, Sixers and Cavaliers as his only realistic options, per ESPN's Bobby Marks: 

Cleveland is still on the table for James, as the Cavaliers can offer James a five-year contract for $207 million, per Vardon. 

Although playing with another superstar in Leonard with the Lakers would be a plus, the potential trade for the San Antonio Spurs star won't sway James' decision, as Vardon mentioned Thursday: 

No matter where he lands, James will be playing for a championship contender. The Lakers have work to do on their roster if they bring in James, and the task becomes a bit more difficult if they offload young players in the Leonard deal, but it's still possible to build a squad that threatens the Warriors. 

When it comes to roster-building, the Sixers should have more leverage, as Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are already installed as key parts of the roster. 

However, if James prefers Los Angeles, the Lakers must worry about the first step of securing his spot on the roster and then look at how to build around him. 

Lakers Doing Everything They Can to Sweeten Deal for Leonard

Most of James' potential teammates in Los Angeles might not be on the current Lakers roster if they break the bank in a trade for Leonard. 

In order to make sure the deal pleases the Spurs, the Lakers are attempting to bring on extra assets that could sweeten the potential trade even more. 

According to Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post, the Lakers have discussed a possible trade with the Denver Nuggets in which Los Angeles would take on bad contracts to bring in a future draft pick. 

Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur and Wilson Chandler have expiring deals that Denver is looking to offload because it is going to sign restricted free agent Nikola Jokic to a new deal. 

However, Denver might not be the only potential trade partner for the Lakers in their quest for a first-round pick, which in turn would be sent to San Antonio as part of the Leonard trade. 

The Lakers have searched across the league for an additional first-round pick, per ESPN.com's Zach Lowe.

Even if the Lakers aren't able to conjure up a deal for a draft pick to sweeten the pot, they still have intriguing assets to offer the Spurs, including Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart. 

Ingram averaged 16.1 points per game in his second season with the Lakers, and he hasn't been offered in any potential deals yet, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times: 

Kuzma also averaged 16.1 points per contest during the 2017-18 campaign, his first in the NBA. 

Hart isn't a prolific scorer like Ingram or Kuzma, but he's a valuable player to have at 22, as he comes from the hard-working mold at Villanova that seemingly would be perfect for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to work with and turn him into a 10-year NBA player. 

While most of the pieces in the deal could be discussed at length, the one player the Spurs want nothing to do with is Lonzo Ball, as Bontemps reported the Spurs aren't believed to be interested in the point guard. 

If the Lakers are able to pull off a deal for Leonard and sign James in free agency, they'll be seen as the winner of the NBA offseason, but until then, they need to put the right pieces in play in order to make that happen. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.