Lakers Free Agency Rumors: Magic Johnson met with Rajon Rondo in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make a free agency signing but president of basketball operations Magic Johnson met with Rajon Rondo in Los Angeles sometime Tuesday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Rondo’s camp initiated discussions with the Lakers shortly after free agency began. LA’s front office instead reportedly focused their attention on offering one-year contracts to Dion Waiters and George Hill, each player signing larger multi-year deals elsewhere. They’ve also reportedly poked into Rondo’s background, asking former teammates and coaches about the mercurial former champion.

The Lakers lack a backup point guard behind No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball. Currently Jordan Clarkson and Josh Hart are set to likely be filling in backup point guard minutes, while the team could also look to bring Tyler Ennis back on a budget contract. Rondo would naturally slide into the backup point role.

Rondo and the Lakers are both kicking around their options late in free agency, with the majority of signings already going down. LA has approximately $17 million in salary cap space to offer, and reportedly had that sum available to both Waiters and Hill.

It’s unclear what kind of contract Rondo is looking for, but the Lakers have stuck to their plan of not committing extra money going into the summer of 2018.

For more on the Rondo rumors and an interview with Thomas Bryant, listen to the latest episode of Locked on Lakers below: