The Lakers and Spurs are again talking about a deal for Kawhi Leonard, and if a deal were to get done, the likelihood of Los Angeles landing LeBron James would increase immensely, according to ESPN.
James, of course, can opt out of his contract with the Cavaliers on Friday.
San Antonio reportedly shut down trade talks with the Lakers last week as they were adamant they did not want to trade Leonard in the Western Conference, but the team seems to have backed off on that front and are talking again with Los Angeles.
According to ESPN, it would take a massive deal to land Leonard, especially considering the Lakers are in the Western Conference, and it would appear Los Angeles is doing all they can to incentivize a move to southern California.
The Lakers are reportedly trying to find a way to acquire a future first-round pick to include in a trade for Leonard, and also are holding off on signing the 25th-overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft Mo Wagner, so they could trade his draft rights as part of the deal as well.
San Antonio also reportedly may want to include a bad contract in the deal to get some cap relief. In addition they are looking for a package resembling either the Paul George or Kyrie Irving deals which occurred in 2017.
This all comes on the heels of Leonard asking to be traded before the draft due to the way the Spurs both handled his injury last season and how his teammates and coach addressed the issue in the media.
The two-time All-NBA forward played just nine games last season but remains the premier two-way player in the league.
