NBA Rumors: The Los Angeles Lakers are preparing to pursue Kyrie Irving, Andrew Wiggins, and other big names next summer.
There’s still a chance that the Los Angeles Lakers could make a big move before the NBA Trade Deadline, but no matter what ends up happening this season it would be surprising if the team did something that would clog up their salary sheet heading into next summer.
And that’s because the Lakers appear to have their eye on making a big splash next offseason. According to a recent report, with Russell Westbrook’s contract coming off the books, the expectation is that the Lakers are going to pursue one of the big star free agents.
Can the Los Angeles Lakers lure a big name next summer?
A few of the bigger-name free agents that will be on the open market are Kyrie Irving, Andrew Wiggins, and Jerami Grant – all players that the Lakers will likely be interested in. The question is, can the Lakers lure any of those players to Los Angeles?
The team’s interest in Kyrie has been long documented. In fact, there was a point this offseason when it appeared that Kyrie landing in Los Angeles was a foregone conclusion.
Of course, that didn’t end up happening and, instead, there was somewhat of a reconciliation in Brooklyn. There’s still a strong chance that Kyrie leaves the Nets but I don’t think it’s as inevitable as it once was just a few months ago.
Grant was just traded to Portland and if he enjoys his time with Damian Lillard, perhaps he re-signs this offseason without considering another landing spot. And, ideally, the Golden State Warriors would like to re-sign Andrew Wiggins. But the difficulty in the Warriors doing so has also been well documented.
But the Lakers do have the draw of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. I’m not sure if that trumps all else, though.
This season should be interesting for the Lakers. From all indications, it seems that the Lakers are going to roll the dice, at least initially, with their current roster as set. And if things begin to fall apart, that’s when the Lakers will likely try and secure a deal involving Russ and their first-round picks.
And if they don’t secure a star by the trade deadline, it seems that they’re going to try and snag one in free agency next summer.