Ever since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka were hired to run basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers, they have coveted any salary cap space they could create.
A number of moves have been made in the past two years with the goal of freeing up enough cap space to offer two max contracts. The Lakers were able to accomplish that.
Los Angeles was able to fill one of those slots with the best player in the world when they signed LeBron James back in July. Next up in their mission to find a star to pair with James will be the free agency period in July of 2019. The Lakers will have a few big time names they can pursue, so it comes as no surprise that they are reportedly interested in the top name that should be on the market.
According to Chris Haynes from Yahoo! Sports, the Lakers will “take a run” at Golden State Warriors superstar Durant next summer, along with the Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks.
Durant will be the top player available on the market, so any team that has the necessary cap room will try to sign him away from the defending champions. Durant has technically been a free agent the last two offseasons as well, but it was common knowledge that he would not leave the Warriors.
This time around, there appears to be a different vibe around the back-to-back NBA Finals MVP. Would Durant leave a team that is already so dominant? Only time will tell, but if he wants out, the Lakers have positioned themselves to at least be in the mix.
You can follow this author on Twitter @garykester.
One thought