Kevin Durant reportedly is set to meet with six teams once NBA free agency opens this Friday. The Los Angeles Lakers believe they’ll be the seventh.
While not on Durant’s initially reported list, the Lakers are confident they at least will be able to convince the former NBA MVP to sit down with them as he weighs his options this summer, a “person with knowledge of the club’s thinking” told ESPN’s Chris Broussard.
“I can’t imagine Durant wouldn’t talk to us,” Broussard’s source said. “That would shock me.”
In other words: We’re the Lakers. Why wouldn’t you want to play for us?
These aren’t your father’s Lakers, though, or even your older brother’s. L.A. has just 65 combined wins over the last three seasons, including a franchise-worst 17 in 2015-16, and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2012.
One thing the Lakers do have, however, is salary cap space — more than $60 million worth. And they plan to use a whole bunch of it this summer, as Durant, Hassan Whiteside, Harrison Barnes and Al Horford all reportedly are in their free-agent crosshairs.
“We want to pitch guys on combinations, as opposed to just one guy,” Broussard’s source said. “We’ll say to a guy, ‘Who do you want to play with? We’ve got the room to go get him.’ ”
Will that be enough to lure KD to L.A.? We’ll find out soon enough. NBA free agency opens at 12:01 a.m. ET Friday.
Thumbnail photo via Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports Images
