Tyreke Evans Schedules Meetings with Lakers, Warriors, Hornets in Free Agency

Free-agent swingman Tyreke Evans will meet with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets, his brother told John Martin of ESPN 92.9 in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday. 

Evans averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists for the Memphis Grizzlies this past season.

The 28-year-old is coming off the most efficient scoring season in the NBA. He shot a career-high 39.9 percent from three-point range, which led to career bests in effective field-goal percentage (.523) and true shooting percentage (.561), according to Basketball Reference.

One could argue Evans' numbers were a bit hollow. The Grizzlies finished with the second-worst record in the NBA (22-60), and somebody had to pick up the slack with Mike Conley limited to 12 games.

Should he regress in 2018-19—he's shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three-point range over his career—his overall value falls noticeably.

That's why Evans makes sense as a bench scorer for the Lakers or Warriors.

Los Angeles became a title contender overnight when Klutch Sports Group confirmed LeBron James agreed to a four-year, $154 million contract. The Lakers will want to surround James with proven talent, and Evans more than fits the bill.

Golden State, meanwhile, has more than enough firepower between Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Evans would be a big upgrade off the bench from Nick Young.

Evans makes a little less sense for the Hornets, who missed the playoffs in 2017-18 and seemed to wave the white flag when they traded Dwight Howard for Timofey Mozgov and a pair of second-round draft picks.

James' departure opens up the Eastern Conference title race, so Charlotte may suddenly like its chances of reaching the postseason.