It has been a few weeks since Kawhi Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors in blockbuster move in exchange for All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan.
However, it hasn’t wavered the belief that Leonard will wind up with the Los Angeles Lakers next offseason via free agency. This has especially been the notion with ESPN in their latest summer forecast panel predicting that Leonard will make that move in the summer of 2019.
The Lakers didn't trade for Kawhi this summer, but the majority of our panel still thinks he'll be in LA eventually. https://t.co/R4GLAoJqU8 pic.twitter.com/1DuzbGs7P6
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 17, 2018
Despite landing All-Star forward LeBron James this summer, the Lakers have been able to maintain a significant amount of salary-cap flexibility for next summer with a plethora of one-year deals to the likes of Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Michael Beasley. On top of that, the front office has made it clear they have their eyes on being active next July.
Leonard may not be a member of the Raptors, there is an overwhelming belief that he wants to make a move to Los Angeles to either play for the Lakers or Clippers. At the same time, the Raptors shouldn’t be counted out in this situation by any means as it could very well play out in a similar manner as to how things went with All-Star forward Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ultimately, it looks like the Lakers will factor in the equation in some sort of fashion in Leonard’s free agency decision in the summer of 2019. Regardless if it’s the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, things have become quite clear that Los Angeles will once again be a major factor in the free agent market.
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