NBA Free Agency: Lakers offered Kent Bazemore a 4-year, $72 million contract but he passed

Kent Bazemore was one of the best available young wings on the free agent market, but the Atlanta Hawks managed to retain his services with a four-year, $70 million contract. The Los Angeles Lakers were rumored to have interest in Bazemore -- the same Bazemore that was on the team for a quick stretch during the '13-14 season -- and it appears they made a serious run at him. The Lakers offered him a four-year, $72 million contract to return to Los Angeles to no avail, according to NBA writer David Aldridge.

The Houston Rockets offered Bazemore a contract worth the same as the Lakers, but he decided to stay put in Atlanta. The Lakers have been making a clear push to sign a wing in free agency but have come up empty thus far. Chandler Parsons and Nicolas Batum were their "pie in the sky" options, but they're both off the market as well. Options for L.A. have begun to dwindle.

The Lakers made the first move in free agency by signing Timofey Mozgov and appear to have since been working on nabbing a wing. Center and small forward are two areas they definitely needed help at going into the offseason, even with the addition of No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram into the perimeter rotation.

Keep an eye out for where the Lakers go next to address their hole at small forward.