Lakers Rumors: Kyrie, Kemba, Russell out, Kawhi not yet, what’s next?

There haven’t been many Los Angeles Lakers rumors coming to fruition during free agency, so we catch up and see what is next for the purple and gold.

The Lakers rumors are heating up for the official start of the NBA free agency bonanza that started Sunday, June 30th. Some reported deals pending for a couple of players shortened the list of options for the Los Angeles Lakers with Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving close to signing deals with other teams.

The Lakers did a lot of furniture moving to get to the $32 million dollar cap space to sign a star. On Thursday, the front office hijacked the NBA sports media trading Isaac Bonga, Moritz Wagner and Jemerrio Jones to the Washington Wizards and convincing Anthony Davis to waive his $4 million dollar trade kicker bonus. When it was all said and done, the Lakers came up about $700,000 short of the full 30 percent max they could offer.

But was this done too late to obtain the star that they covet?

Kemba Walker was a definite possibility for the Lakers at $32 million dollars. Nate Wimberly, the Executive Sports Producer at WBTV in Charlotte saw the writing on the wall and stated that the Hornets would not pay the price tag of Walker. T

hen the Celtics came out of nowhere and became a major player for Walker’s services.

With that happening, it was a foregone conclusion that Kyrie Irving was out as the starting point guard of the Boston Celtics. Officially the Hornets and the Celtics made a deal that landed Terry Rozier in Charlotte.

Well, after Sunday, when the NBA free agency started, Kyrie Irving was widely believed to go to the Brooklyn Nets. Everyone seemingly knew that.

What nobody knew was about his “friends” that he brought to the party in the “Boogie Down Bronx.

Not only does that eliminate Kyrie Irving from the max level list, but also DeAndre Jordan, who was listed as a possible piece to the Lakers bench at center position. Lake Show Life laid out what his contributions could have been to help boost the frontcourt with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Even with the major haul that the Brooklyn Nets brought in, the Lakers still had plans to take a chance on reuniting with D’Angelo Russell for about $20 million of the cap they had and fill out the roster with the rest.

That was late last week, but even that is no longer possible after late Sunday night. The Golden State Warriors made a deal for D’Angelo Russell while unloading Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies for cap space to make the deal happen.

You know the Lakers will be linked to him as soon as he is waived.

The Lakers are running out of options quickly if they want a star. Kawhi Leonard is the only player at this point (Kyrie Irving was the other) that the Lakers would spend the max money they collected on.

It was questioned throughout the first day of NBA free agency if Kawhi Leonard had met with any team even though it was rumored that he talked to Magic Johnson over the phone.

It was not until Yahoo! Sports insider Chris Haynes stopped all the guessing with some insight on Leonard’s plans.

Now the Los Angeles Lakers front office has a very big decision to make. All the NBA fans saw how many of the top players of the league changed teams. It was not only the stars but the second and third tier players as well.

Look, the Lakers are right to wait for their meeting with Kawhi Leonard. He’s the best player in the world and if the Lakers can sign him, the franchise can easily be set for the next five years after LeBron James retires.

But the message is getting clearer and clearer for the Lakers. They have to get a deal done and sign him. Time is not on the Lakers side as other players that the team is interested in that could be signed with the same cap are being snatched up.

Players like J.J. Redick (Pelicans), Terrence Ross (Magic), Brook Lopez (re-signed with the Bucks) are just a few examples of players that the Lakers can lose out on by the hour waiting for a meeting with Leonard.

At least the Lakers don’t have to worry about Reggie Bullock‘s cap hold anymore. He signed with the Knicks on a two-year, $21 million dollar deal. Wayne Ellington will be joining Bullock in New York as well.

It is already being reported that the Dallas Mavericks are taking a look at Danny Green, who is waiting on a decision from his longtime teammate. If Kawhi stays in Toronto or goes to the Clippers, the Lakers could lose out on two players on two different levels.

This is not to say that the Lakers will not land Kawhi Leonard because rumors are rampant that the Lakers have a legitimate shot. What is being said is the Lakers better have plans B, C, and D ready if they don’t.

They started with one of those plans picking up Troy Daniels, who spent his last couple of seasons in Phoenix. Hopefully, this is not the highlight of the free agency for the Lakers.

Lake Show Life will be on top of the free agency bonanza over the next coming weeks as they chase Kawhi Leonard and fill out the roster. Keep it locked for further updates.