Stephen A. Smith and Jared Dudley are both saying Kawhi Leonard is heading to the Lakers

It’s “league sources” season in the NBA, and while nothing is official until an announcement is made, most people seem to believe Kawhi Leonard will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers before the regular season starts. Who are those league sources talking to, you ask? Well, I’m going to need you to humor me for a second.

During Wednesday’s episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” Smith reported TO Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (yes, you read that correctly) that “reliable sources” of his are telling him Leonard is going to suit up in the purple and gold next season:

“Before I let you get on out of here, man, I’m getting word from a couple of reliable sources Kawhi going to the Lakers. I don’t know how true it is, to be quite honest with you, but they’re telling me, ‘Lakers, Lakers, Lakers,’” Smith said.

Haynes’ reaction at the end is one of the best things you’ll see all day:

These days, Smith is mostly known for his meme-worthy reactions on his radio show and ESPN’s “First Take,” but there was a time long, long ago where Smith would break news with the best of them. In 2010, he was the first to report that LeBron James was headed to the Miami Heat, so it’s not entirely impossible that he’d have the scoop on where Leonard is headed.

Then again, he tweeted this just a few days ago:

Smith isn’t the only one that thinks Leonard is moving to the west coast, though.

The Lakers’ newest acquisition, Jared Dudley, was on FS1’s “The Herd” on Wednesday and he told Colin Cowherd that he thinks he feels confident that he’ll be playing alongside Leonard next season:

Unfortunately, Dudley said his opinion wasn’t based on inside information and, quite frankly, he probably only said that because the Lakers are the team that employs him now. Last week, when Dudley was asked where he thought Leonard would end up, he gave an answer that wouldn’t thrill Lakers fans:

So, what does this all mean? Ultimately nothing, probably.

Thanks for reading.

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