Now armed with a young core that has been learning and maturing together in the NBA, many are starting to believe that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be one of the league’s teams of the future. Others also think that they are just one superstar away from returning to their championship caliber status, and that free agency next summer could be their biggest chance to add one, or even multiple elite players to their fold.

However, the team’s president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, made it known recently that even if they have enough salary cap space to do so, their fans should not expect that they will automatically use it all after the season. He also added, via Spectrum SportsNet’s Connected With, that they can opt to save their money for the next year, if they’ll only be able to sign one of their targeted stars.

“I feel really good about it. Now, we have cap space for probably two max guys, but that’s not to say we’ll use both of them. We want to if we can, but we have a Plan A and we have Plan B. Say we only get one of those guys, then we’ll make a decision on not to use the cap space. We can do that and save it for the class that’s coming the next year. We’re not going to give money away just because we have the cap space. I’m not about that. If the guy can’t really take our team to another level, and we see what Kyrie Irving has done for the Boston Celtics. Put him with that young talent the Celtics have, and they’ve taken off. We feel the same thing can happen for the Lakers. If we get the right free agent, that guy can take our young talent to a whole ‘nother level.”

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The likes of LeBron James, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins, just to name a few, are all expected to test free agency waters, and could sign with any team that shows interest in them, and are willing to pay them the max contract they will most likely command. The Lakers are always considered a free agent destination, being a big market team, and having the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to entice stars to sign with them.

It still unclear who Johnson and company will go after in the summer, but whoever they’ll target, he and his team will definitely give their best in leaving a lasting impression to the free agent. If everything goes according to plan, they may even end up with the ones they have always wanted to bring in to their fold, which will make them instant contenders.