Los Angeles Lakers: Why Anthony Davis is the only option this summer
By Jason Reed
1. Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard will ask for max contracts and aren’t great fits with the Lakers
There are two great defensive forwards that will be free agents this summer in Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler. Both have had their own connection to the Los Angeles Lakers, with Leonard’s being much more prominent.
Leonard is from Los Angeles, after all, and the Lakers are the perfect hometown destination for him. Go home and play alongside LeBron James to win a championship.
Like Davis, the Lakers struck out on getting Leonard because of the asking price of the San Antonio Spurs. Perhaps because the front office knew that the only way to convince Leonard to be a Laker long-term was to give him a taste of it first.
Both Butler and Leonard are rightfully going to be asking for max contracts and neither are great for the Lakers. There will be teams willing to give Leonard the contract but Butler might not field as many suitors.
But either way, the Lakers should not pay. Butler has been a headache on every team he has played for an is exactly the last thing the Lakers should want alongside LeBron and this young core.
Leonard, on the other hand, does not strike anyone as the kind of guy that would want to play second fiddle to LeBron, although he might like not having the spotlight.
Either way, the Los Angeles Clippers look like a better fit for both guys in Los Angeles. The 76ers are going to try their best to keep Butler and the Brooklyn Nets could even be a sleeper team as well.