Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach and former player Byron Scott believes the team is planning to jump-start a rebuild with LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

Leonard; a Riverside native, reportedly wants to wind up in L.A. — having attended San Diego State University for two seasons before declaring for the NBA Draft in 2011.

“I think they go in hard for Leonard once the season is over and once the dust settles in San Antonio,” one executive said. “(Leonard) wants to go to LA. There probably won’t be public demands on that, but he has leverage. He is going to be a free agent (in 2019). He’s an L.A. guy and he can just let teams know he won’t re-sign next year with anyone but the Lakers.”

Leonard will be in the penultimate year of his contract next season and owed $20.1 million in 2018-19, which can force a trade to any team by explicitly saying which teams he won't be willing to re-sign with.

His interests are also tied to a multi-year potential deal with Jordan Brand, who are offering a standard four-year, $20 million shoe deal. Moving to a bigger market like Los Angeles would likely boost that offer to something more lucrative.

“I would say that’s the most likely thing,” another general manager said. “He’s going to be their target any way you look at it, this summer or next summer. There’s not many other ways to explain what’s been going on with that situation other than him trying to get out of San Antonio.”

With Paul George showing more of a commitment to staying with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Lakers could opt for sure-shots to want out of their respective franchises — potentially replacing one hometown kid with another this summer.