The start of NBA free agency is only a few days away, and the rumors have begun to swirl about teams around the league preparing to make pitches to the top players available. One veteran player that was recently linked to a handful of teams as free agency approaches is Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks.
The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to make a run at Horford this summer with the team looking to upgrade the frontcourt. It appears that many other teams in the league will be doing the same with hopes of convincing the 30-year-old to sign a long-term deal, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN:
Heard today Wizards/Celtics/Heat also expected to be in mix for Horford. #Twolves likely call. But won’t get him. https://t.co/4Jt06QC6jp
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) June 25, 2016
On Saturday, a rumor surfaced that the Lakers would be aggressively pursuing free agent center Hassan Whiteside as of July 1. All signs point to the Lakers not having much of a chance to sign superstar Kevin Durant, therefore, putting all their efforts into signing a big man may be the way to go. Whiteside will likely be at the top of the list followed by Al Horford.
Other notable frontcourt players expected to hit NBA free agency in July include Joakim Noah, Bismack Biyombo, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Festus Ezeli (restricted), Pau Gasol (player option), Zaza Pachulia, and Andre Drummond (restricted).
There’s no shortage of options for Los Angeles as they attempt to bring in some help to bolster the frontcourt in free agency, but it remains unclear which players the team has a legitimate shot at signing this summer. Horford and Whiteside appear to be the two primary targets with Biyombo and Ezeli potentially being backup options.