The Los Angeles Lakers are 'all in' to sign another big name to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Will they land a third superstar when free agency begins?
The Los Angeles Lakers agreed some time ago to a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that will see them land Anthony Davis in exchange for a plethora of young pieces and trade assets.
Davis is one of the very best players on the planet, a truly gifted basketball talent who can do a bit of everything. He will now pair with LeBron James, the player with the most legitimate argument to Michael Jordan's best-of-all-time crown, another truly gifted basketball talent who can do a bit of everything.
That, however, is no reason to stop there. Even with the signing of Lebron and the trade for Davis, the Lakers have long been trying to position themselves in such a way that they would have the cap space available to sign a third true superstar of the game.
With the minor deal of Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones and Isaac Bonga to the Washington Wizards now finalised, plus the announcement from the NBA yesterday of the specific size of this year's salary cap, the Lakers now know for a fact that they are a mere circa $587,000 short of being able to offer a full maximum salary contract to the choice free agents on the market.
Close enough, I'd say. Over four years, that is a difference of barely $2.5m, which, when we are talking about contracts totalling nearly $140m, is a small-enough percentage that it is very hard to imagine a star player who really wants to join the Lakers turning down the opportunity over such a relative fraction of money. The question, then, is who should they try to spend it on?
The beauty of LeBron as a superstar is that not only is he an excellent passer, he is also a very willing one. We cannot say the same for many of the game's greats down the years, and as he enters the final quarter of his career, James would probably welcome not having to shoulder quite such a scoring burden going forward.
Just like when LeBron himself joined the Miami Heat back in 2010 and Dwyane Wade - recognising how challenging the hierarchy would cause unnecessary discord and waste a brilliant opportunity to win titles - gave over some of the glamorous big possessions to James, the superior player, if James can do the same for someone else, it should increase the Lakers' chances of winning in the near future, as well as potentially lengthen his own career.
If James is willing to relinquish some of his go-to guy status down the road, there is just an opportunity for a back-court player or a wing who can be that primary player. This then opens the door to players such as Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Kemba Walker and Jimmy Butler. Kyrie Irving has been left off of this list simply because there seems to be no chance he ever pairs with LeBron again. A fair enough assumption, we feel.
Considering LeBron's age and the fact that Davis will enter free agency next summer, there is some urgency here to be very competitive very quickly. This perhaps rules Durant out of the running considering that he will almost certainly miss the entirety of next season with his torn Achilles tendon. It also would appear as though, per the latest reports, his Warriors team-mate Thompson is going to re-sign for the maximum salary with Golden State even with his ACL tear, thus removing one more All-Star from the free agency field.
It has similarly been reported that Nikola Vucevic will re-sign with the Orlando Magic once free agency commences, as will Kristaps Porzingis with the Dallas Mavericks. This then leaves the Lakers down to essentially four main targets; Leonard, Butler, Walker, and a possible return for D'Angelo Russell that until a couple of weeks ago would have looked hugely unlikely.
Leonard, so recently the best player on the best team in the NBA, is of course the best player in that group. He is the closest thing to LeBron since LeBron, and as an ageing James gives less and less defensively, to have one of the league's very best and most versatile forward defenders to cover for him would be a huge relief, no doubt.
Leonard could also be the crunch-time star who is also willingly deferential when required, and the Lakers would be able to manage his load in the regular season assuming James and Davis are healthy. If you have a realistic chance of getting Kawhi Leonard, I am sure even Kemba Walker can understand making 'The Klaw' your top priority.
Speaking of Kemba, although there are reports that he will sign with Boston Celtics, the only thing we definitely know for certain is that he will be leaving the Charlotte Hornets. Having clogged up their payroll with lots of far inferior players, the Hornets decided they could not afford to pay what Walker could get from others on the market, and he is thus very much available.
A star scorer and one of the best makers of tough shots the league has, Kemba could single-handedly do a huge amount for the Lakers' long-standing shooting problems. The perfect player to run off the ball alongside James and to play pick-and-roll with Davis, the main thing counting against a big four-year maximum contract for Walker is his age - he is in the prime of his career now, but will be in his mid-30s by the time the deal ends. But if the Lakers want to potentially win a title next season, Kemba Walker can help them with that, hugely.
Butler is a more complex case, for it is hard to know what he wants. With a reputation for being somewhat prickly at his previous stops, the things that make Butler tough to please are also the very same qualities that make him such a mercurial, excellent player on both ends. He takes no guff, and he has high expectations of others.
In the same style as Leonard albeit to a slightly lesser degree, Butler could be the teams 'go-to guy' and best perimeter defender, a genuine star on both ends of the court who would give essentially the same things to the team they were hoping Paul George would last summer, save for some less explosive shooting. Turning 30 before the season starts, age again is a factor to consider here with Butler, yet the short term is prioritised right now ahead of the long term, and Butler is distinctly available at this time.
The sneaky candidate thus far has been Russell, who the team traded away in one of their salary-saving moves that made this free agency dream possible, and who ironically may now use the cap space on to sign him back. Russell made big strides this season as a player and won his first All-Star berth, and although he is streakier than most All-Stars giving his very heavy reliance on the jump shot and a knack for frustrating turnovers, he remains very young, aged only 23, and clearly is still improving.
The rumour mill is very fluid and very fast, and so any appraisal of whom the Lakers are considered most likely to sign any given moment will probably be out of date by the time it is read. Considering they are thought to be signing at least Kyrie Irving, however, the Brooklyn Nets will let Russell go, which puts the Lakers very much in the running for Russell, the current rumour-mill leader.
It is probably the one bidding war that they can definitely win. But the dark irony of trading Russell to get cap space only to then spend it on Russell will create some difficult optics, and the timelines of he, Davis and James do not match up well.
Anyone beyond these top selected few would not move the needle much. Players such as Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverley, Jeremy Lamb, Willie Cauley-Stein or others in those ranges would probably not suffice.
Due to the fact that Davis will require a huge pay increase next summer, this is a one-time-only deal to add a third star or superstar to their team via free agency, and because of the quality of the Davis and James pairing, they will never have such opportunities again in the Draft either barring disaster. It will not come again.
If they have to settle for players outside of that range and split up the cap space to spread it several ways, acquire some decent quality and hope to be able to land a third star down the road by trade, that would be a last resort rather than the aim.
The Lakers, then, are all in on the above names. They really need to land one of them.