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NBA Free agency kicks off in about 48 hours and, well, our podcast hosts are not sure they’re ready. They try to preview what promises to be an insane weekend for the Los Angeles Lakers (and their fans).
The 30
In this episode, I hopped on with Jas Kang and kick things off by discussing the Lakers shipping Moe Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones to the Wizards, clearing up enough cap space to sign another max-level free agent, and how this provides some level of vindication for Rob Pelinka, although the job is not done yet.
With the move, the rumors are pouring in.
Kawhi Leonard will reportedly meet with the Lakers once free agency kicks off, and if the Warriors don’t offer Klay Thompson the max, he will apparently meet with the team as well.
What if neither guy ends up in the purple and gold next season? We get into if the Lakers should chase a player like Jimmy Butler with all the cap space they have available, or use the money to bring in multiple players, including D’Angelo Russell.
Following that, the guys look into which of the older, cheaper veterans would be a good fit on the squad next year, as well as who is the best option available to fill in the center spot. To wrap things up, we detail our sales pitches to Leonard to come join the Lakers.
You can listen to the episode below, and for more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.
Locked on Lakers
On today’s episode, Pete and I reacted to the Lakers opening up max cap space and do so by laughing at the notion that it was some Herculean task. That was never the case. Teams do this kind of thing all the time, and seeing as none of Wagner, Bonga or Jones are some kind of irredeemable project that no one wants to touch, the idea that Pelinka couldn’t pull this off was fairly nonsensical.
From there, we turn our attention to what this means, and whether we think the Lakers actually have a chance at Leonard. Both Pete and I think they have about as decent a chance as anyone for the simply fact that no one really knows what Leonard prioritizes in his next team.
Finally we preview the weekend that will be, and laugh about whether we or anyone is ready for any of this. Exciting stuff.
You can listen to the entire episode below, and make sure to subscribe on iTunes, where you can also leave questions in the form of a five-star review to guarantee your topic makes the show.