The Los Angeles Lakers will have to find ways to shed salary this offseason if they are in a position to sign LeBron James and potentially another star player, but it does not sound like filling out their bench would be an issue in that scenario.
Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype.com said Thursday that he has been told by several “notable” NBA veterans that they would be willing to sign with the Lakers for the league minimum if LeBron heads to L.A.
Several veterans have told me they'd settle for a minimum deal with the Lakers if they land LeBron James. All eyes will be on L.A. and very few teams have cap room this summer, so they'd have no trouble adding complementary pieces to fill out the roster: https://t.co/T7krjvPCDw
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 29, 2018
Kennedy notes that there are a lot of teams with minimal cap space heading into free agency, so veteran players may have to take somewhat less than in years past anyway. While he doesn’t mention any specific names, Kennedy says there are numerous free agents who “would jump at an opportunity to have this kind of prominent role on a team like the Lakers.”
The Lakers probably don’t have enough to contend with the Golden State Warriors if they add only LeBron to their current roster, but they can make other moves. If they acquire another star player like Paul George or Kawhi Leonard, you can understand why veterans would be willing to take less to join. This offseason has the potential to be a crazy one in L.A., and players on the current roster have already seemingly acknowledged that.
