Amid the team’s trying season, James was still very productive when healthy, averaging 27.4 points, 8.3 assists and 8.5 rebounds in 55 games. But he is now preparing for his 17th season at age 34, and he has three years left on his contract with the Lakers, who want to maximize the time that he has left as one of the league’s best players.
With that in mind, the Lakers plan to make a strong push to sign Charlotte’s Kemba Walker when free agency begins on June 30, according to two people familiar with their plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
The Lakers are expecting to have $28 million to $33 million in salary-cap space to pursue Walker to fill the void in their backcourt created by the departures of Ball and Hart. Walker, a three-time All-Star, has said he will give the Hornets first crack to re-sign him but is also expected to be pursued aggressively by the Dallas Mavericks as well as the Lakers.
James, a four-time N.B.A. most valuable player, still wants to vie for championships, and the race in the Western Conference next season may be fairly wide open as the Golden State Warriors — after three championships in the past five seasons — face unexpected uncertainty; Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, two members of their All-Star core, sustained devastating injuries in the N.B.A. finals.
Both players are bound for free agency, and while Thompson, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, is likely to re-sign with the Warriors, Durant will still have several suitors despite tearing his Achilles’ tendon in the finals. The Kawhi Leonard-led Toronto Raptors clinched that series on Thursday to prevent the Warriors from winning a third straight title.
Even as the finals were underway, the Lakers remained in the headlines, as they had all season. After hiring James’s agent, Rich Paul, shortly before the start of last season, Davis informed the Pelicans in late January that he wanted to be dealt ahead of the league’s February trade deadline and listed the Lakers as one of his preferred destinations. But the Pelicans, with Dell Demps heading their front office, rebuffed several overtures from the Lakers, choosing instead to keep Davis and weigh their options after the season.
Now the Lakers are surrendering numerous assets to get Davis in negotiations with David Griffin, who replaced Demps in May, but Los Angeles did manage to keep forward Kyle Kuzma out of the trade. The New York Times first reported last week that the Lakers were adamant about keeping Kuzma out of the deal.
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