On Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers opened up a max salary slot by trading some pieces to the Washington Wizards and by Anthony Davis waiving his $4 million trade kicker.
With that max salary slot, the Lakers are going big or going home, at least according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Windhorst is reporting that Los Angeles has two big-name targets: Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving. The franchise wants to land one of those two players, and if it can't, it will break up its cap space into multiple signings.
He adds that LeBron James and Davis are “ready to recruit” and will show up in person to free-agent meetings in order to try to convince free agents to sign with the Lakers.
Article Continues BelowLos Angeles shook the NBA landscape earlier this month when it landed Davis in a blockbuster trade with the New Orleans Pelicans, sending Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and three first-round draft picks to the Pelicans in return.
However, initially, the Lakers didn't have the ability to sign a max free agent based on the initial terms of the trade. But Los Angeles went on to rectify that issue on Thursday.
Whether or not the Lakers are a serious contender to land either Leonard or Irving remains to be seen. The general consensus for a while has been that Leonard will either return to the Toronto Raptors or sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Irving seems set on signing with the Brooklyn Nets.