Los Angeles Lakers: 3 NBA free agency targets with ties to LeBron James
By Dalton Sell
The Los Angeles Lakers could reunite LeBron James and Derrick Rose in 2021 NBA Free Agency
Despite adding Westbrook and having another premier playmaker in James, the Los Angeles Lakers will look to add a backup point guard this offseason. One such name that will likely surface in that search is Derrick Rose, a player that the team has been chasing for the past two seasons via the trade market.
Rose and James had a very brief stint together to begin the 2017-18 season, but the 2011 MVP never quite found his footing with the team. He battled through injury, which prevented him from meshing with the team, and was soon traded and subsequently waived. While it appeared the guard might not have anything left in the tank at that point, Rose has since turned his game around and transformed into one of the better sixth men in the league.
The 32-year-old is coming off a stellar playoff run with the New York Knicks that saw him average 19.4 points, four rebounds, and five assists across five games. He may have raised his free agency stock with that fantastic stretch, but the 2011 league MVP has made it clear that winning is at the forefront of his mind at this stage in his career, and he will certainly be looking for a situation that would allow him to do that in free agency. It goes without saying that Los Angeles can offer him that.
If he were to sign, Rose would give the Lakers another lethal ball-handler that can orchestrate the offense by scoring the basketball and making plays for others off the bench. The team had been adamant about targeting him over the past few seasons, and that interest could be intact this offseason.