The Los Angeles Lakers have long been touted to be major players in free agency this 2018. They have plans to open up cap space in the hopes of attracting not one, but two max-caliber stars to L.A. However, the Lakers apparently have plans to move much earlier in their quest to get some superstars back to town.

According to NBA insider Eric Pincus in a recent appearance on the LakersNation podcast, the Lakers will be looking to land Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins in potential deals at or before the February trade deadline.

“Plan A for the Lakers is still LeBron James. Having said that, at the deadline, the Lakers have two targets: Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins. I think George is more of a long shot since the Thunder seem to have figured things out over the last 10 games. However, the Pelicans are a different story because they’re just above .500. If they don’t climb the standings, they will be open to move Cousins.”

The possibility of the Thunder dealing George was much higher a couple of weeks ago when Oklahoma City was still struggling. But as Pincus notes, they’ve been playing so much better in recent games, and it will be unlikely that they deal Paul George if they continue to play at such a high level ahead of the deadline. The Lakers would still have a shot at acquiring George, but they'd likely have to wait until free agency.

The DeMarcus Cousins part is the more interesting tidbit, though. The New Orleans Pelicans star is clearly one of the top three players who could be available in free agency this summer behind LeBron James and George. The Lakers haven't really been linked with him before, but if they are really desperate to land stars, he definitely fits the bill.

The possibility of Cousins becoming available by February is much higher than George with the Pelicans still in peril of falling out of the playoff race. The Lakers also have assets in Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson which they would be able to offer New Orleans, making them an ideal trade partner.

It should be an interesting next few months for the Lakers and the rest of the league to see exactly how things unfold in Oklahoma City and New Orleans and if their big names will, in fact, hit the trade market.