Outside of the 15th spot on the roster potentially fluctuating over the course of the final 23 games of the season, no more major changes are expected for the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the rest of the season will be business as usual, the upcoming offseason will be extremely busy for Magic Johnson and company.
NBA free agency will get underway on July 1 as it does every summer. This time around, however, the Lakers may be a force to be reckoned with under a new regime led by Johnson.
Apparently, the team may have an opportunity to sign All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry, according to Sean Deveney of Sporting News (http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/nba-trade–free-agency-deadline-2017-wade-porter-noel/14f0f0j7a6oyz1btem4nvufon5):
“Lowry was very interested in signing with the Lakers in 2014, but was scared off by the lack of a direction in L.A. That’s changed, and even with D’Angelo Russell in place, Lowry is expected to be a Laker target. Lowry’s hometown Sixers, badly in need of a point guard, figure to be in the mix, too. An outside contender: the Nuggets, who are expected to be aggressive in free agency this summer.”
With the evaluation process of D’Angelo Russell still underway and no guarantee he’ll live up to expectations, the Lakers brass would have to consider Lowry if he is genuinely interested in coming to Los Angeles. The 30-year-old floor general continues to play at a high level for the Toronto Raptors while sharing the spotlight with California native DeMar DeRozan.
The three-time All-Star is currently averaging a career-high 22.8 points per game to go along with 6.9 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. Lowry is also shooting a career-high 46.3 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range, which is among the league leaders in that category.
The availability of Lowry and the potential to land superstar Paul George in a trade over the summer makes this summer one of the most intriguing in recent memory for the Lakers franchise.
Other notable players hitting the free agent market this summer include Blake Griffin (player option), Chris Paul (player option), Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant (player option), Gordon Hayward (player option), Paul Millsap (player option), and Jrue Holiday.
