The Los Angeles Lakers have managed to land LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Could Kawhi Leonard be next?
Although they were once considered long shots — especially after acquiring Davis and having as little as $23.7 million remaining in cap space for the 2019 free agency period — the Lakers have reportedly secured a meeting with the reigning NBA Finals MVP after reworking their trade with the Pelicans to include the Washington Wizards so the Purple and Gold could open enough space to offer a max contract this summer.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, Leonard and his representation intend to grant meetings to the Lakers and the Clippers, in addition to meeting with the Raptors, once free agency opens on June 30.
In addition to those three meetings, Haynes is also reporting that the New York Knicks are working to secure a meeting of their own with the All-Star forward.
This news comes on the heels of a report from Marc Stein of the New York Times which stated that the Lakers considered themselves in the running for the reigning Finals MVP even before they were able to rework this trade and open up the cap space needed to sign a max contract player this summer.
Leonard will be a free agent this summer after officially opting out of his deal with the Toronto Raptors. Considering he is coming off the biggest season of his career after leading the Raptors to an NBA championship and winning Finals MVP in his first season with the franchise, Leonard won’t have any shortage of suitors. However, it was largely expected that there would be two teams as the front-runners for his services — none other than the Raptors and hometown Los Angeles Clippers.
It had been reported over the weekend by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that the Raptors — not the Clippers — are the favorites to sign Leonard.
“The appeal of returning home to Southern California is enticing to the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, but with the trust the Raptors built while Leonard led the franchise to its first NBA title by upsetting the Golden State Warriors, rival executives view his current team as the favorite to land him when the free-agent negotiating period begins June 30, sources said.”
Considering the Lakers have only three players under contract after reworking this trade (James, Davis and Kyle Kuzma) for the 2019-20 season, Rob Pelinka will have to get creative in attempting to fill out this roster whether Los Angeles adds Leonard or another max contract level free agent to the fold in the coming weeks.
