The Los Angeles Lakers have had preliminary discussions with free agent forward James Ennis, according to Ian Begley of SNY. The 28-year-old also reportedly has interest from the LA Clippers and New York Knicks.
In addition to the Knicks, the Lakers and Clippers are among the teams with cap space who have touched base with James Ennis since the start of free agency, per sources. https://t.co/GkXupihcaX
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 2, 2019
The Lakers currently have about $32 million in cap space but are hoping to use that money to sign Kawhi Leonard. If they do so, they would only have veteran minimum deals and the room exception (roughly $4.8 million annually) to hand out and fill out their roster.
Ennis averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last season on the Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers. The 6-foot-7 combo forward is a career 35.7 percent shooter from deep. He appeared in 11 postseason games for the Sixers and averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game but made only 28.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
The Lakers need shooters and defenders from their role players the most. Ennis is not great at either but can be a solid player off the bench to provide a bit of both.
Earlier on Monday, the team was reported to sign Troy Daniels to a veteran minimum deal. He has been the only reported signing for the team thus far.
