The Los Angeles Lakers are entering one of the most pivotal offseasons in the history of their franchise. At this time last year, the Lakers were gearing up for a summer run at LeBron James, and pretty much everyone already knew that Los Angeles already had James in the bag and that free agency was a mere formality for LeBron.
But, the Lakers also expected to land another big fish with James. Paul George then spurned LA to remain with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant re-upped with the Golden State Warriors and trade attempts for Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis both failed.
Los Angeles then ended missing the playoffs, and at the end of the season, Magic Johnson stepped down as team president.
Now, the Lakers find themselves in a position where they have to land someone in free agency, and Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard thinks Los Angeles should turn its attention to Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker.
While Irving wanted out of Cleveland back in the summer of 2017 specifically because of LeBron, there have been some rumblings that Irving is considering a reunion with James, and if Kyrie ultimately does not land in LA, Walker would be the next natural target at point guard.
Of course, both Irving and Walker will have plenty of other options in free agency, including their own incumbent teams in the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets, respectively.
With free agency still a month-and-a-half away, expect a whole lot more of these rumors between now and then.