The LA Lakers are going through another very rough season and next summer the team will be going hard after Rajon Rondo in free agency over working a trade for him now and names like Greg Monroe and Marc Gasol also could be free agent targets for Kobe Bryant as well as the NY Knicks, as Kobe needs as much support as he can get after two years of losing in Los Angeles.
The Lakers have long been speculated as a team that will be active in free agency in 2015 and the reports from Pro Basketball Talk and SI.com have the team looking at Rondo. According to Chris Mannix at SI, who also writes that the team should consider trading Kobe Bryant, the team may target Rajon Rondo very hard next summer when he hits free agency. Rondo is likely to leave Boston and the Lakers have a ton of cap space ready to use and he likely will be the main target, as LA can afford max money.
Mannix writes that the drafting of Marcus Smart along with the fact that the team is rebuilding and may not want to give out a max deal gives credence to him leaving and Los Angeles could be an option. Rondo is still a couple years under 30 and he is an intense player and while many think that could be an issue with someone like Bryant, as Mannix also says: both players have the same "win-at-all-bleeping-cost attitude". The Lakers will need a point guard with Steve Nash done and Jeremy Lin becoming a free agent and getting Rondo could be a game changer.
The NBA blocked the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers and that totally shifted the course of the future for both LA franchises and now the Lakers could be getting their savior with Rondo. This year the Celtics may consider trading Rondo, but it's likely in the best interest of both sides to remain until the season is over. Rondo can talk with the Celtics about a deal and he also can hit the market and allow teams like the Lakers and Knicks, who have also expressed interest, the chance to bid on his services.
Greg Monroe and Marc Gasol are also free agents next summer and both players are expected to get chased by the Lakers, Celtics and Knicks. All three teams will have some money to spend and PBT writes that there are "rumblings" about the Lakers and Monroe, while the NY Post has reported the Knicks will be going hard after Gasol. The Celtics also could be a target for Gasol, as Pro Basketball Talk added there is a chance that the team would try to sign both Rondo and Gasol.
The Lakers are Celtics are both expected to miss the playoffs this season, but with Marcus Smart and other young players in the fold, many see Boston as a better long term team than LA. Bryant and the Lakers need to sign someone or a couple of guys, as they have lost Julius Randle for the season this year and they just are bereft of talent overall. This will be another tough season, but Rondo could be on the horizon.
