LATEST NEWS: LeBron James Has Given A Reply To Lakers

The Lakers may have had big plans for free agency after LeBron James agreed to take a pay cut, but with the push for Klay Thompson coming up short as other players were signed, things are looking a little less rosy.

With DeMar DeRozan in their sights and a trade of D’Angelo Russell still plausible, there’s plenty still to unfold. Here’s a look at the latest reports and rumors.

Klay Thompson offer

On Monday, Thompson signed a three-year, $50 deal with the Mavericks. At the time, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Thompson turned down more money from other teams, but it wasn’t known if that was from the Lakers.

Spoiler: it was the Lakers.

At least according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the Lakers offered Thompson roughly $20 million annually, which would clear the Mavs offer.

“I was told the Lakers made a pretty compelling offer. It was around a three-, four-year mark, somewhere along the lines of $20 million per. And they didn’t get their guy.”

Haynes went on to talk about D’Angelo Russell being part of the sign-and-trade — more on that shortly — which means the contract would have to had been close to Russell’s current deal, which is $18.6 million.

Notably, that means Klay was never signing for the MLE, so LeBron’s pay cut wouldn’t have even mattered or been needed.

D’Angelo Russell trade

The Lakers are very much trying to trade D’Angelo Russell, even before a potential Thompson sign-and-trade. He’s the most tradeable contract and most expendable player on the roster and if they’re looking for a “big fish” as Haynes noted, Russell will almost certainly be included.

In negotiations with the Warriors, Russell was made available in a sign-and-trade but there was no interest on their part, according to Haynes.

There could be interest, however, with another former Russell team. According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Nets are open to a Russell reunion.

The Nets have been open to welcoming Russell back to Barclays Center since this past trade deadline, sources said.

Brooklyn has a pair of wings in Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson who would make sense for the Lakers. The question will be the asking price outside of Russell and any returning player.

DeMar DeRozan next target?

It’s unclear exactly who the Lakers move onto after missing on Thompson, but most people think it’ll be DeRozan.

It won’t be seamless because, again, it’s not going to be for the mid-level exception. Fischer reports that the Lakers still have an “affinity” for DeRozan.

The Lakers, sources said, still hold an affinity for veteran scorer DeMar DeRozan after Los Angeles finished as the runner-up for Thompson.

Likewise, Haynes appeared on NBA TV and suggested that the Lakers could move onto DeRozan after missing on Thompson, but made he did make it clear that he was speculating.

To acquire him, though, the Lakers will have to make a trade. While this is not as iron-clad reporting, Fischer does suggest that Russell or Gabe Vincent could be the guys sent out.

For the Lakers to bring on DeRozan, Los Angeles may have to work with a third team to offload some salary, such as D’Angelo Russell or Gabe Vincent, sources said.

There’s still a lot of chips that have to fall for the Lakers this summer if they’re looking for a notable addition.

Time running out with LeBron?

Most of this chasing of notable free agent is possible because of LeBron’s flexibility in his next contract. Multiple reporters, though, suggested that time could be running out on him waiting to sign his max.

First, Woj said as much on ESPN in the immediate aftermath of Thompson joining the Mavs.

Then, Fischer said the same when talking about LeBron in his piece as well.

While LeBron James has indicated a willingness to take less salary, sources said, in order to help Los Angeles add more talent to a roster that fell in the first round of the playoffs, time seems to be running out for how long James is willing to wait before securing his next deal.

Honestly, I’m not sure why he would suddenly be running out of patience now. There is no deadline on him signing a deal. He can get a max contract whenever he wants this offseason, so any deadline would be a self-imposed one.

And unless the Lakers are going full Jim Buss, a self-imposed deadline helps no one.