The Lakers have made it known that they are facing pressure during free agency this summer and it appears they are adding one more big name to their pursuit.
According to ESPN's Marc Spears, the Lakers are going after DeMarcus Cousins. Los Angeles was among one of the first teams to call the first-time unrestricted free agent and a meeting is expected to be scheduled soon.
It's been heavily speculated that LeBron James could end up with the Lakers and several reports have surfaced of Los Angeles pursuing other star players around the NBA to build its roster to help land James. Cousins could be a part of that plan.
The report also notes that the Pelicans are still very interested in re-signing Cousins as the two are expected to meet as well. It's not clear at this time whether the meetings would be in person or over the phone as Cousins is currently in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., according to ESPN.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters in May that the team will do everything it can to keep Cousins. He said, "“There's not one single person, player, coach or in the basketball ops department or ownership that doesn't want him back."
Cousins also told ESPN in May that he was open to re-signing with the Pelicans, but he wants to ultimately go to a team that's "ready to contend."
The 27-year-old is coming off a 2017-18 season cut short by a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered Jan. 26 in a game against the Rockets. Despite the injury, he is still expected to be highly sought after in free agency. He told ESPN that he expects to be ready to play by the start of training camp.
Cousins averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 48 games last season as he was named an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year.
