Lakers: Two superstars could join forces; latest news, rumors and more
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers continue their somewhat busy offseason with more speculation, rumors and news. The team has not been this relevant in quite some time.
Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have already done a great thing for the Los Angeles Lakers; they have made them one of the hottest topics in the NBA. Whether it is by trading young talents, drafting polarizing players or being connected with every superstar there is, Los Angeles is becoming the talk of the NBA.
Quite frankly, this is great for the NBA. The NBA is better when the Lakers are more relevant. While they do have a bad image after a tampering case, the NBA only benefits from the massive market of Los Angeles.
Much to the NBA’s delight, the Lakers are continuing to stay relevant in perhaps the dryest part of the NBA offseason. Whether it is whispers of two stars joining forces in Los Angeles, or a former NBA Champion joining the team this year, speculation around the Lakers continues to grow.
LaMelo Ball may sit out of college, become an NBA free agent.
We all know that LaVar Ball’s biggest dream in life is to have all three of his sons play for the Los Angeles Lakers. A lot had to go right with son number one, but luckily for Ball, his son Lonzo is now the starting point guard in Los Angeles.
However, with a superstar coming to LA almost inevitable at this point, it could significantly hurt the chances of the youngest son, LaMelo Ball, making the Lakers. LaMelo will graduate high school in 2019 and could sit out one season to enter the 2020 draft.
However, if the Ball family wants LaMelo to be a free agent, it could get more difficult. LaMelo would need to be drafted in both 2020 and 2021, refuse his contract and become a free agent in 2022. While the layoff is the same amount of time that one would spend playing college ball, LaMelo would only be hurt from missing so much basketball.
In an interview with Baxter Holmes of ESPN, LaVar Ball said the following regarding the situation:
"We’ll sit out a year or two. Just get stronger and faster, and then go into [NBA training] camp as a free agent. He already got the narrative — he can play, he can play. You see what he’s doing at 15 and 16."
All of this is stemming from LaMelo potentially making money off of his newly released Melo Ball 1 sneakers. We will see if those sneaker sells are worth missing out on college basketball.