Should the Los Angeles Lakers fail to sign Kawhi Leonard in free agency, they may then turn their attention to Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic, as the Lakers could absorb his salary in a trade, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN.
The Heat are trying to move Dragic, who exercised his player option for the 2019-20 campaign and is set to earn $19.2 million as a result.
Dragic played in just 36 games this past season due to knee issues, averaging 13.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 27.5 minutes per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent from three-point range and 78.2 percent from the free-throw line.
The 33-year-old has spent the last four-and-a-half seasons with the Heat, making the All-Star team during the 2017-18 campaign while registering 17.3 points, 4.8 assists and 4.1 boards across 31.7 minutes a night while making 45 percent of his field-goal attempts, 37 percent of his long-distance tries and 80.1 percent of his foul shots.
However, his best year in Miami actually came during the 2016-17 season, when he recorded 20.3 points per game while connecting on 47.5 percent of his shots and 40.5 percent of his triples.
Dragic, who is from Slovenia, was originally selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round (45th pick overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft but was immediately traded to the Phoenix Suns.
He spent the first two-and-a-half years of his career with the Suns before being dealt to the Houston Rockets midway through the 2010-11 campaign. After spending a year-and-a-half in Houston, Dragic returned to Phoenix and was a member of the Suns for two-and-a-half seasons before being traded to the Heat during the 2014-15 campaign.
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