League-wide speculation of the Lakers pursuing superstar talents such as LeBron James, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins this summer has been rampant, but it appears to be cooling down.
According to a report from ESPN.com, Los Angeles, faced with numerous hurdles standing in the way from them and the three superstars, are beginning to shift their free-agent focus to the summer of 2019 instead.
The Lakers aren’t abandoning a summer pursuit of stars, but rather they are recalibrating their focus on a 2019 class that could include San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler, league sources told ESPN.
The belief has been that the Lakers were cutting an unapologetic path to salary-cap freedom for two maximum contract slots this July, clearing the way toward a pursuit of superstars like Cleveland’s LeBron James, Oklahoma City’s Paul George and New Orleans’ DeMarcus Cousins. Now, Cousins has a torn Achilles tendon, George has suggested to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that the Thunder have an advantage in re-signing him, and James is believed to have a reluctance toward signing with the Lakers without an established star immediately joining him.
For the Lakers, waiting until the summer of 2019 could allow the team’s young core of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram to develop further and become even more of an attractable destination for free agents.
Paul George and LeBron James have been linked to Los Angeles for much of the past calendar year, and it’s unlikely the Lakers completely give up on pursuing one or both players in free agency this summer.
