The Los Angeles Lakers’ long, drawn-out plan to acquire a pair of max free agents has been talked about, mocked and dissected ad nauseam since the team dealt D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to begin clearing cap space.
However, it looks like their plan may be working.
On ESPN on Tuesday, NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski spoke about the impending free agency of Paul George and LeBron James and reported the two would discuss joining the Lakers this summer.
Per @wojespn, Paul George and LeBron James will discuss this summer about teaming up with the Lakers https://t.co/cYYVi0tFsa pic.twitter.com/qdgvEyNsFV
— Lakers Outsiders (@LakersOutsiders) June 5, 2018
Woj called the scenario of George and James joining forces in purple and gold “intriguing” and stated that the two will have a “conversation or conversations” about the possibility of doing so as the calendar moves closer to July.
There would require a little maneuvering for the Lakers to reach the cap space necessary to acquire James and George, but it’s a fairly straight-forward process that results in Luol Deng either being traded or waived and stretched, most likely.
With free agency approaching rapidly, the likelihood of the Lakers acquiring both George and James seems to be increasing with each passing moment as LeBron James recently gave an interview with Rachel Nichols were he gave a less than convincing answer when asked how much his relationship with Dan Gilbert matters in his upcoming free agency.
The chances of the two signing in Los Angeles still remains a long shot but it’s certainly better odds than one would have given the Lakers one year ago.
Kudos to the Lakers front office for dumping the Russell and Mosgov contracts and making this a possibility. The Western Conference power dynamic would change significantly if James and George made the move out to LA. Suddenly Houston and Golden State would have a legitimate contender to their recent dominance.