Lakers Rumors: ‘Pressure Is Mounting’ To Trade For Kawhi Leonard In Order To Sign LeBron James

Dan Duangdao
3 Min Read
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

With free agency nearing, Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka are looking to execute their plan. After the Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell, Timofey Mozgov, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. within the past year, they have enough salary cap space to sign two max-contract players.

Although Johnson and Pelinka have established a two-year window, the immediate focus is on LeBron James, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard (via trade) this summer.

As George is undecided on his future with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs reportedly being reluctant to trade Leonard within the Western Conference, this could have a major impact on James’ decision.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, there is mounting pressure on the Lakers heading into free agency:

As LeBron James remains hesitant to be the first superstar to decide on the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, pressure is mounting for the Lakers front office to execute a trade with the San Antonio Spurs to acquire disgruntled All-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard, league sources told ESPN.

Similar to the George situation last year, the Lakers have a major decision to make. If Leonard truly wants to play for his hometown team regardless if he gets traded, Johnson and Pelinka can wait until next year’s free agency.

However, it would give Leonard’s new team time to persuade him to re-sign. Oklahoma City took that gamble, and signs are pointing to it possibly paying off.

Regardless of what happens in free agency, the Lakers have options and at minimum are considered a free agent destination once again.

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Dan Duangdao was the managing editor at Lakers Nation (2013-16, 2018-20). He is currently the founder at LA Sports Media, Lake Show, Raiders Nation, Rams Nation, Kings Nation, Galaxy Nation, and MMA Rumors. Born and raised in Southern California and a lifelong Los Angeles sports and mixed martial arts fan, his first NBA game was Kobe Bryant and the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors with Michael Jordan in attendance during the 1998-99 NBA season. He was previously a contributor at HOOPSWORLD (now Basketball Insiders) and an NBA editor at ClutchPoints. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @DanDuangdao.