Now that Klay Thompson is officially off the free agency market, the Los Angeles Lakers have been left on the outside looking in. They struck out on the former Golden State Warriors superstar, who has now pledged his future to the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million deal.
Lakers fans need not worry too much at this point, though, with LA reportedly set to activate their contingency plan.
Los Angeles Lakers Eyeing DeMar DeRozan
ESPN’s Briand Windhorst recently reported that Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan could now be on the Lakers’ radar. The six-time All-Star, who is currently an unrestricted free agent, is possibly part of a short list of players LeBron James is willing to take a pay cut for:
“LeBron and Rich Paul met with the Lakers on this topic last week and they agreed, from what I am told, on a short list of players that LeBron would feel good about taking less money to get on the Lakers and, obviously, one of them was Klay Thompson,” Windhorst said (h/t Anthony Amador of Game 7). “…I think there’s more than three [players on the list]. I think DeMar DeRozan is on that list as well.”
The three players Windhorst is referring to are Thompson, James Harden, and Jonas Valanciunas, who are all officially off the market already.
Lakers, DeRozan Have Had Talks
A more substantial report came from Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, who indicated that there has indeed been communication between the Lakers and DeRozan’s camp.
“It will either take a one-year deal or a sign-and-trade where you can get a three-year deal going,” Haynes said (h/t NBA Central on X, formerly Twitter).
All things considered, DeRozan is not at all a bad backup plan for the Lakers.
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