Lakers Rumors: Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant to consider Brooklyn Nets
Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve two potential free agent targets, as Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard will reportedly consider the Brooklyn Nets as a landing spot.
There are going to be plenty of Los Angeles Lakers rumors circulating in the coming weeks. With a lottery pick, the 2019 NBA Draft will present some Lakers rumors. However, what fans will really be paying attention to will be the Lakers rumors involving free agents.
The Lakers are in a great spot to upgrade their roster. With a lottery pick and enough cap space for a max free agent, they can take a number of different routes to improving the roster as a whole.
With LeBron James and recent draft picks such as Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Moritz Wagner and Isaac Bonga in place, the Lakers could quickly turn things around and become a playoff team. The question is, who can the Lakers convince to join them?
With vacant head coach and president of basketball operations positions, the Lakers have some things to figure out before they are ready to tackle the draft and free agency. There have been numerous Lakers rumors about the head coaching position, but nothing about the front office spot yet.
It has also been reported that the Lakers are focusing more on free agents than trade talks. Two of the players they are expected to pursue this summer are Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.
Los Angeles won’t be the only organization pursuing those two players. Any team that has enough cap space for a max free agent, and there are a number of them, will be looking to persuade players of Leonard and Durant’s caliber to their teams.
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The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers, in addition to the Lakers, are the teams mentioned most about landing marquee free agents. However, according to SportsNet New York, the Brooklyn Nets are beginning to garner the attention of high-level free agents.
"Several league sources have told SNY that top-tier free agents, including Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Tobias Harris, will at least consider Brooklyn this upcoming July when it’s time to find their next home — if they decide to leave.“Making the playoffs definitely helped their chances,” one source said."
The Nets have undergone quite a transformation with Sean Marks in the front office and Kenny Atkinson as head coach. Brooklyn qualified for the playoffs this season as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
It was the first time since 2015 that the Nets made the postseason, as they had to overcome the disastrous trade with the Boston Celtics in 2013 that involved four first-round draft picks.
There is a caveat, however, to the Nets chances of landing multiple free agents. They would have to renounce the rights to D’Angelo Russell, one of the cogs in their turnaround, and find a taker for Allen Crabbe.
As we have seen in the past, no contract is untradeable in the NBA; even Timofey Mozgov has been traded multiple times since signing that huge contract with the Lakers.
Many people question why Durant would leave the Warriors. He has won two consecutive Finals MVP awards and looks poised to win a third this June. However, execs around the NBA believe he is gone whether the Warriors three-peat or not.
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If that is the case, expect a bidding war to ensue this summer. Anyone with cap space will want Durant, but at this time, it sounds like the Knicks are the front runners for his services.