LeBron James isn’t getting any younger, and the Los Angeles Lakers know they need to find him more help to win another NBA championship before riding into the sunset.
Rob Pelinka and the front office could only do so much with the current salary cap they have, so they had to let Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley go to get some money off their books.
So, now that they could be in play for the non-tax midlevel exception, Dave McMenamin of ESPN recently reported that they could go after Milwaukee Bucks star Brook Lopez.
NBA Rumors: Lakers Could Target Brook Lopez
“Among the players L.A. has interest in signing with the non-tax midlevel are Denver Nuggets forward Bruce Brown and Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez, sources told ESPN,” McMenamin wrote.
“The Lakers plan to stay in touch with the representatives of both Bamba and Beasley as free agency unfolds, however, and could bring back one or both on different contract structures, sources told ESPN,” the report added.
Then again, the Bucks will be very aggressive to try and get Lopez back, as he’s been a key contributor to their recent success, and they won’t have more cap space to pursue someone else if he leaves.
Lopez has already played for the Lakers and is quite familiar with the perks and demands that come with it, so he’ll have a big decision to make in the following weeks.