July is when all the free agency frenzy begins. Teams can start meeting and negotiating with players on July 1st, but they can’t officially sign with any team until July 8th. Players can still have verbal agreements, but those are not always guaranteed.
-== Best Lakers Draft Pick & Free Agent Pairings ==-
The Lakers are hopeful they will be able to lure several free agents to Los Angeles. The Lakers need a lot of help, so they need to be very aggressive because they have plenty of holes to fill.
Shooting guard is the one position the Lakers don’t have to worry about too much, but that won’t stop them from being interested in Dwyane Wade. According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, there is mutual interest between the Lakers and Wade:
While many execs still see Wade/Heat as contract saber rattling, a Wade option will be the Lakers. Mutual interest, per league sources.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) June 21, 2015
As our own Anthony Irwin pointed out when this rumor first surfaced, adding another aging shooting guard that has injury problems would be a mistake. Wade is a fantastic player and will go down as one of the best two guards in the history of the NBA, but he is past his prime and cannot stay healthy enough to make an impact.
The Lakers have money to use, but they need to concentrate on getting young athletic pieces to make this team a contender again. If this was 10 years ago, then this would be an exciting rumor, but Wade is no longer the animal he once was. He could be a serviceable player on a contender, which is why the Lakers are not a good fit. Also, he is demanding a lot of money and the Lakers should offer nowhere near the amount he wants.