The NBA Draft is over and the Los Angeles Lakers have turned their complete attention to the start of free agency on July 1. The Lakers have plenty of cap space and will try to add at least one big name this offseason. Here are all the latest Lakers rumors and news and you need to know:
Lakers And Durant
The Lakers, like nearly every other team in the NBA, want Kevin Durant. But their chances at landing the Oklahoma City Thunder forward aren't looking that great.
"So Golden State and Miami become the only real players," one agent told The Oklahoman. "It's too hard to justify a move to Los Angeles (Lakers) or New York because they are not close to winning. Houston's out."
Landing Durant would be great for the Lakers, but it sounds highly unlikely to happen.
Lakers Will Pursue Whiteside
Hassan Whiteside is the top free agent center on the market and teams the Mavs, Trail Blazers and Heat have already expressed their interest in signing (or re-signing) him. The Lakers are also in that mix and they plan to "aggressively pursue" him this summer, reports ESPN's Marc Stein:
The Los Angeles Lakers plan to aggressively pursue Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside when NBA free agency starts, according to league sources.
With rim protection and perimeter shooting ranking as the Lakers' foremost areas of concern heading into the open market, sources told ESPN.com that Whiteside has emerged a priority target for L.A.
The Lakers can sign two max players, so if they are able to pull a stunner and land Durant, they could add Whiteside too. Still, Whiteside the more realistic of the two targets.
LA To Add Veterans?
The Lakers have a very young team at the moment, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the Lakers are planning on getting a few veterans this offseason.
"We like this young Laker core, yes," Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told ESPN. "It doesn't mean we're not going to pursue some veteran leadership. When July 1st rolls around, I think we will. I think historically, history tells you that a bunch of young guys on the team is probably not a good thing. They look around for leadership or they look around for advice from somebody who's been through this a couple times, and if there's nobody to talk to, well, you don't know how to handle the situation. So I think we will look to add some veteran leadership and hopefully it's not only leadership but guys who can help us win games."
The previous two names mentioned are the big targets for the Lakers, but a few under-the-radar veterans could also be targets. A veteran point guard to help mentor D'Angelo Russell should be one of those targets.
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