Lakers Rumors: Fallout from Anthony Davis Trade, Pursuit of Kawhi Leonard

The Los Angeles Lakers have been at the center of the NBA offseason so far, most notably for their acquisition of Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.

Acquiring Davis is obviously the most important move of the Lakers' offseason, but Davis and LeBron James can't win a championship by themselves. The more difficult portion of general manager Rob Pelinka's offseason is arguably just getting started as he attempts to fill out the remaining roster spots and build around his two stars with limited resources.

On Friday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Lakers are shipping Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones to the Washington Wizards in a move that would officially make the Davis trade a three-way deal. This addition to the trade was completed to clear more cap space for Los Angeles.

In a corresponding move, the Lakers also convinced Davis to waive his $4 million trade bonus, which helped clear enough room for Los Angeles to potentially sign another max contract free agent.

So with Davis on his way to L.A. and enough cap space cleared for another max deal, what's next for the Lakers?

The Lakers first order of business once free agency begins appears to be a pursuit of Kawhi Leonard, who is coming off leading the Toronto Raptors to their first NBA Championship.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Leonard intends to meet with both the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers in the upcoming days.

And, because nothing involving the Lakers can happen without some added drama, former team president Magic Johnson has apparently been inserted into the mix again.

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Magic said that Leonard requested his presence at the meeting with Los Angeles. Since Johnson is a Lakers legend, this wouldn't be entirely unprecedented if he hadn't just exited his role with the team.

However, as Shelburne reported, "the league has specifically told the Lakers that Johnson can't be a formal part of the free-agency process" due to him exiting his official role with the organization this past spring.

Another alternative for the Lakers, rather than locking up a player such as Kawhi to a max contract, could be to spread that money out to multiple players on smaller deals. However, that path recently got a little more difficult to navigate due to the unexpected retirement of former Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison.

According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Collison was previously a potential target of the Lakers if they chose to divide their cap space over multiple veteran contracts.

Another less expensive veteran option for the Lakers is DeAndre Jordon, who spent the first 10 years of his career in Los Angeles with the Clippers.

ESPN's Shelburne and Brian Windhorst reported that Jordan is expected to be pursued by the Lakers. However, they also noted that Jordan is good friends with free agent Kevin Durant and will also be a candidate to team up with the Warriors star this offseason.

Regardless of how the Lakers end up spending the rest of their cap space, it's sure to be a wild offseason ride for Lakers fans with their team at the center of the basketball universe once again.

Source: Bleacher Report

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Anthony Davis (basketball) • Kawhi Leonard • Los Angeles Lakers • Center (basketball) • National Basketball Association • Anthony Davis (basketball) • New Orleans Pelicans • Los Angeles Lakers • LeBron James • General manager • Rob Pelinka • ESPN • Adrian Wojnarowski • Los Angeles Lakers • Billy Wagner • Terrence Jones • Washington Wizards • Anthony Davis (basketball) • Trade (sports) • Salary cap • Los Angeles • Los Angeles Lakers • Los Angeles • Free agent • Los Angeles Lakers • NBA salary cap • Kawhi Leonard • Toronto Raptors • NBA Finals • Yahoo! Sports • Los Angeles Lakers • Los Angeles Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Magic Johnson • ESPN • Los Angeles • Los Angeles Lakers • Free agent • Indiana Pacers • Point guard • Darren Collison • ESPN • Los Angeles Lakers • Los Angeles Lakers • Los Angeles • Los Angeles Clippers • ESPN • Brian Windhorst • Jordan national football team • Los Angeles Lakers • Jordan national football team • Free agent • Kevin Durant • Golden State Warriors • Los Angeles Lakers • Salary cap • Los Angeles Lakers • Basketball •