Kyrie, Kawhi, Durant, Klay: Who LeBron Should Recruit In Free Agency

The Los Angeles Lakers have enough cap space to sign one big free agent in the summer and have made it clear that they will do so to add to their acquisition of LeBron James last summer. They are desperate to get back to competing for honors after having missed the playoffs for five consecutive campaigns and are in danger of making it six.

The Lakers, even with James on board, are struggling in the Western Conference and are currently 10th, two places outside the playoff positions. They tried desperately to bring in Anthony Davis before the trade deadline but failed in their efforts and now their eyes will be on free agency in the summer.

There are a bunch of top drawer players who are about to become unrestricted free agents and Magic Johnson, the Lakers president of basketball operations, has indicated that they want to sign at least one among them.

Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson are the gold standard players who will be available to the Lakers in the summer. While the next few on the list are also highly rated in the NBA, namely, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, DeMarcus Cousins, and Tobias Harris.

The Lakers will certainly want to add one from the first quartet and any one of them can make the team an instant title challenger. There is also Anthony Davis, who can be included in that category but he will only be available via trade which will mean the Lakers have to give up some of the young talent on their roster.

Apart from the Lakers, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers have cap space for two big free agents and could tempt some of the top stars to snub James’ team and join them. Irving for one is said to be a known admirer of the Knicks due to their close proximity to his family’s home in New Jersey, and they are being touted as the favorites if he leaves Boston Celtics in the summer.

Similarly, Durant is also Knicks’ top target and going by his comments earlier in the season he likely joins a team that does not have James on their roster. According to many NBA experts, he is likely to want to lead a team of his own if he leaves the Golden State Warriors in the summer.

Thompson, meanwhile, has continually stated his desire to remain with Golden State beyond the summer, but if they win their third straight NBA championship in 2019 – the shooting guard could want to look for a new challenge.

Leonard, according to Fox Sports’ Nick Wright, is one player that James should target to recruit for the Lakers this summer. The forward joined the Toronto Raptors via trade last summer, but it was against his wish as he wanted to be traded to one of the teams in Los Angeles.

The 27-year-old has enjoyed a stellar campaign with his new employers and thus it is unclear if he will leave them when he enters free agency or re-signs and commit his long-term future to the Raptors in the summer.

If he does have designs to return to Los Angeles in the summer, the race for his signature will be among two teams. The choice for the player will be if wants to share the spotlight with James or be the star of his own team by joining the Clippers.