The Los Angeles Lakers’ grand 2018 free agency plans are becoming grand 2019 free agency plans, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, as the team begins to view their rebuilding process through a longer lens.
For more than a year, the Lakers have been linked to Paul George and later LeBron James, a potential destination for the two free agents in the 2018 offseason. It increasingly looks like there’s no chance either free agent would consider Los Angeles, with the Lakers far from a playoff push with a 21-31 record. Honestly, the James report never made much sense, while George has been talking about how much he loves Oklahoma City ever since being traded there.
The other major 2018 free agent, DeMarcus Cousins, suffered a torn Achilles last month and will head into the summer with much uncertainty.
It appears that the Lakers are now looking ahead to 2019, where more star players will become available on the open market: Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler, Golden State’s Klay Thompson, and San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, to name a few.
Los Angeles has star appeal due to their location, lifestyle, and long history of success. Magic Johnson, the team’s president of basketball operations, is thought to be a major draw for free agency meetings, too. However, star players aren’t flocking to play with the Lakers’ current core, which is still young and developing, even considering Los Angeles’ successful 2017 draft that netted them Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart. (The team’s future core also includes Brandon Ingram, plus expendable players like Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle.)
The Lakers thought they could appease free agents by offering two max-salary roster spots at once — the ability to bring in a star and one of his peers at the same time. They still can do this, but it appears that there aren’t two realistic options this summer, which is why Los Angeles has cast their gaze ahead to 2019.
Did the Lakers mess up last summer?
It’s worth remembering that the Lakers could have entered the George sweepstakes and likely could have outbid the Thunder. (That was before we expected Victor Oladipo to become an Eastern Conference All-Star, after all.) Instead, they stood pat, confident that they shouldn’t give up assets for a player who was reportedly set on joining them in the summer of 2018. (Recall that they tampered with George in violation of league rules last summer.)
Now, with George’s most recent comments, that scenario looks much less likely.
Los Angeles is still a prime free agent destination, and likely more so next season if their young talent continues to develop. But George’s presence on this roster might have been something they could have made happen last summer if they were interested in it, and now it seems less likely that they’ll bring in the hometown star at all.