With their trade deadline move, the Los Angeles Lakers have positioned themselves to have enough room to sign two max-level free agents this offseason. The obvious two names that will be brought up in this scenario are LeBron James and Paul George.
The question is what are the odds the Lakers can land one, or either. James reportedly is reluctant to potentially sign with the Lakers without another star. And George seems to grow closer with the idea of staying in Oklahoma City long-term with each passing day.
In regards to potentially joining the Lakers, the two are closely linked and in an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, NBA Insider Chris Broussard noted that George signing the Lakers would greatly increase their chances of landing LeBron as well:
“I think it will break down to two things for LeBron. One, what does he feel is better, and not necessarily even in this order, but what does he feel is better? Staying in the East, dominating, keep getting to the Finals but losing maybe more often than not. Or, going to the West, and if you get to the Finals, you’re going to win it. But you might not get there, or you might only get there once. Is he that upset about 3-5, 3-6 possibly, 3-7, 3-8 in the Finals, and concerned about what people say about that and how that could impact his legacy.
“Second thing, what does Paul George do? Because I don’t see LeBron going to L.A. by himself. If Paul George is ready to go to the Lakers this summer, then I think they have a very good chance of getting LeBron and Paul George.”
This scenario would be a home run for the Lakers and would immediately vault them into championship contention. But with that, it is a long shot scenario to land both.
Of course, president of basketball operations Magic Johnson is confident the Lakers will be able to make a splash this summer. Even if the odds are long, the Lakers front office has done a great job of positioning themselves to be able to make a big move.
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