The Los Angeles Lakers have spent the past few seasons carefully cultivating their salary cap space, hoping that at some point they would be able to use it to bring superstar-level players to Los Angeles.
Now, with more cap space at their disposal than any team in the league, the Lakers will attempt to sign the likes of LeBron James and Paul George this summer. Of course, they won’t be the only suitor.
A number of teams will be vying for the services of James, who is largely recognized as the best team in the league. After coming up short against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, the feeling is that James is ready to move on.
And the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, and the incumbent Cleveland Cavaliers will all be in hot pursuit.
However, James may be leaning toward signing with the Lakers, as Stephen A. Smith dropped this tidbit on his podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show:”
“According to my sources, several things are happening. A) Chris Paul is telling folks LeBron ain’t trying to come to Houston. He wants to be in L.A. These are things I’m getting through the grapevine. Chris Paul is saying LeBron wants to be in L.A.”
It should be noted that speculation runs rampant during the NBA offseason, but Paul is indeed one of James’ closets friends. So it stands to reason he already has an idea of which team James is may sign with.
Paul is expected to attempt to lure James to join himself and James Harden in Houston, but that could be a futile effort if he does indeed already want to be in Los Angeles. It was previously reported that James himself expressed a disdain for Houston as a city.
Another suggested James and Paul could ultimately team up with the Lakers, given their salary cap space. Free agency officially begins on July 1 and the NBA world will be awaiting James’ decision, though it may not come right away.
The Lakers hope that when the dust settles they emerge victoriously and can get back to the winning ways they are accustomed to.
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