It’s looking more and more like the Los Angeles Lakers are in fact going to land Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James.
Clearly seen as the favorites to land James, Los Angeles is currently attempting to construct a roster that would be appealing to the three-time champion. A report earlier on Wednesday noted that Los Angeles is already looking to make moves that would enable it to land Kawhi Leonard in a trade (more on that here).
An unnamed general manager around the NBA is now telling Sean Deveney of the Sporting News that LeBron could ultimately sign with the Lakers before any other roster moves are made.
“That’s the sense you get with him and his people,” the general manager told Deveney. “They’re doing enough research to suggest that he’s going to be willing to take that plunge and let the roster come together. It’s what happened in Cleveland four years ago.”
This means that LeBron to Los Angeles could happen relatively early in free agency. Players are allowed to negotiate with teams starting at midnight Sunday morning. If this report is accurate, we could be days away from James making his decision.
As the unnamed GM noted, it’s the exact scenario that brought James back to Cleveland four years ago. He signed prior to the team eventually acquiring Kevin Love in a trade for the draft rights of Andrew Wiggins and change.
Los Angeles has the capability to add two max-contract players in free agency. It also has the assets in the form of young players and veteran contracts to acquire a big-ticket player in a trade.
Maybe that’s what James will end up hanging his hat on.