Los Angeles Lakers: Speculating what their offseason might look like

There has never been more speculation about what moves the Los Angeles Lakers will make in the offseason than there is this year.

What you want the future of the Los Angeles Lakers to look like depends in part on how highly you regard the young Lakers core. Do you think that Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma will be good but not great players, and should be looked at as assets to be moved? Or is your opinion that each of the three, along with restricted free agent Julius Randle, are potential all-stars and that, if kept intact, they will bring a bright winning future to L.A. (which is the view here).

The hot rumor in recent days is, of course, that Kawhi Leonard wants out of San Antonio, and instead prefers to play in L.A. Many fans and media members have then concluded what the logical next sequence of events will be: that the Spurs will trade him to the Lakers, and that both Lebron James and Paul George will sign here too.

But before you buy season tickets, you might want to pause and understand that it’s far from a sure thing that all three players will end up in LA this coming season. Several things must happen in the right manner, none of which are guaranteed.

To begin with, Leonard has said nothing publicly, nor apparently even privately to the Spurs. It is his ‘camp’, which includes his uncle, ostensibly acting as Kawhi’s agent, that has made the ‘I don’t want to play with San Antonio anymore’ proclamation. Nobody other than Leonard himself knows if this is really true.

But let’s assume for the moment that it is. That means that next, the Spurs have to decide that it is in their best interests to immediately trade Leonard, who still has a year left on his contract. We can all guess but nobody can be certain just what the San Antonio front office and coaching staff are thinking.

But let’s further assume that the Spurs are indeed ready to swap Kawhi away. The next consideration is whether it makes good sense for them to deal him to a division rival like the Lakers, thereby helping LA to build a new ‘super-team’? Wouldn’t they rather send him to an Eastern Conference team, like Boston?

The Celtics just happen to have a star player of their own, Kyrie Irving, who also has one year remaining on his contract, and who has publicly stated he will not extend his contract at this time. Might an offer of Irving and one or two future draft picks (of which Boston is loaded) or one of the Celtics promising young guys in exchange for Leonard entice San Antonio?

Or perhaps the Spurs might be interested in Sacramento’s reported offer of the #2 pick in this week’s draft plus a player or two. Everybody knows what great success San Antonio has had with international players, and European stud Luka Doncic might be a perfect replacement for Manu Ginobili.

The point is that trading partners are available to the Spurs other than the Lakers, who reportedly would have to give up Ingram, Kuzma and 1-2 draft picks to acquire Leonard.

From the Lakers point of view, they would have to be absolutely convinced that Kawhi has recovered 100% from his quad injury, which caused him to miss most of the season. The Spurs doctor purportedly cleared him for return, but Leonard’s own doctor apparently advised him that he needed more time to heal.

More from Lake Show Life

Before his injury, Leonard was one of the top 5 players in the NBA. If he has indeed recovered, just how much should the Lakers be willing to give up for him?

The next player in the sequence is James. Despite his statements that family considerations would help guide his decision, few people doubt that Lebron’s primary goal is to win a championship (or multiple titles) as soon as possible.

James has been in this situation twice before. Each time, he helped engineer things so that he’d end up on a team with two other all-stars. In 2010, he recruited Chris Bosh to sign with him and join Dwyane Wade in Miami. Four years later, he returned to Cleveland to team with Irving, after receiving assurances from the Cavs that they’d trade the player they just picked #1 in the draft, Andrew Wiggins, for an all-star, which turned out to be Kevin Love.

Therefore, it seems fair to assume that James will now seek a similar arrangement. If Leonard signs with the Lakers, and James can persuade George to join them, then he’ll have his trio. However, James has possibilities other than LA to find the situation that he seeks.

If Houston can figure out a sign-and-trade deal with Cleveland, he can team with probable league MVP James Harden and future Hall-of Famer Chris Paul on the Rockets. He could also sign with Philadelphia, joining All-Star Joel Embiid and probable Rookie-of-the-Year, Ben Simmons. And there’s always a possible reunion with Irving (or Leonard, if he ends up there) as well as All-Star Gordon Hayward and star rookie Jayson Tatum in Boston.

The final player in the sequence is George. The Oklahoma City media reports that Thunder management is optimistic he will re-sign there. Nobody really knows what PG13 wants- to be the #2 option in OKC behind Russell Westbrook, to be the third banana behind Leonard and James with the Lakers, or to be the top dog in LA if he signs there alone.

The bottom line is that Lakers fans have a right to be excited about the prospect of landing 3 of the top 15 players in the NBA. But there is probably just as good a chance that LA will end up signing only 2 of them, or perhaps just 1. There’s also a decent possibility that they won’t sign any of them at all, and they’ll have to rely on the development of the young core.

Next: 3 Benefits of pursuing Kawhi Leonard

Whatever happens in the next month or so will determine the direction of the Lakers future. In the meantime, it’s fun to speculate about the offseason. What do you want, and expect, to happen?