The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off their fourth straight season missing the playoffs, which is the longest stretch in franchise history.
However, the Lakers' new management bosses led by team president Magic Johnson are looking to change this stigma that has stuck with the team over the last few years. In an interview on “Afternoons with Marcellus and Kelvin” on ESPN LA 710 radio, Johnson once again voiced the front office's plan to focus on the summer of 2018 for potential major free agency moves.
“Yeah because, you know, I think that most of the guys we’re looking at right now are pretty much going to sign back. If you look at the potential free agents, they’re all high-profile guys. The two that play for Golden State, you already know they’re pretty much going to get the max deals. You got two incredible and one that I love in Chris Paul. My man you know. And this is crazy. Here I am just not running the Lakers, but in my heart, I still want Chris Paul to play in a Western Conference Finals and then in an NBA Finals. I really want that for him because he deserves that. I think the two high-profile Clippers, along with JJ, will probably sign back, right? Where do you go if you don’t sign them back? It’s not going to be the same for the Clippers not having them. Them guys are guys they need that they build their incredible foundation on the backs of those guys.”
“But we feel that those guys all go back, so this is not going to be one of those years where guys leave because the teams that have a lot of cap space, I don’t think that those guys will leave for those teams. I really don’t.”
The free agent market for this upcoming summer is top heavy, but many of the best available players in the market will likely stay with their current teams. It's all but certain that both Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry will re-sign with the Golden State Warriors. Meanwhile, both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin could very well re-up on lucrative long-term deals to remain with the Los Angeles Clippers.
There are also other possibilities out there in terms of All-Star talent such as Kyle Lowry and Gordon Hayward, but both could very well return to their respective mother teams. That said, next summer is when things could get quite interesting for the Lakers with two hometown stars in Russell Westbrook and Paul George holding the option to become unrestricted free agents.
Los Angeles has already expressed plenty of interest in acquiring George over the last few months while Westbrook has been linked to the franchise in the past. All in all, the Lakers appear to be willing to wait for at least one more summer to shake things up with a big push.
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