As pressure mounts on the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire Kawhi Leonard and thus entice LeBron James to sign with them, it appears two of the game’s biggest starts have started talking about joining forces.
According to Jordan Schulz of Yahoo Sports, San Antonio’s star forward reached out to James to talk about the possibility of playing together. According to the report, the pair talked about Leonard’s ability to provide lockdown defense and take pressure off James.
A source close to #LeBron tells me that #Kawhi Leonard reached out to James, telling him he very much wanted to play together. They spoke about Kawhi's lockdown defensive ability, which would alleviate pressure off of LeBron.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) June 28, 2018
The Lakers have been heavily interested in acquiring the 26-year-old forward for some time. But it wasn’t until Thursday that San Antonio was ready to move him and started to fully engage with teams in trade talks.
If LeBron does sign early in free agency, Los Angeles could turn the phone conversation between the two All Stars into reality.
If that happens, then it could be enough to lure Paul George to Los Angeles despite how comfortable he is in Oklahoma City.
Needless to say, this will be a crucial offseason for the Lakers. If they land Leonard, LeBron and George will follow. If they don’t, things could get ugly in Los Angeles.