The Los Angeles Lakers are trying to rebound after a tough season and come next summer, the team has more trade and free agent options to look at, as names like Eric Bledsoe, Greg Monroe, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan as well as Luol Deng could be on the market in 2015 and if the team trades Steve Nash eventually, they will have more cap space to work with to sign players.
The Lakers come into the season looking for some improvements and they will be getting Kobe Bryant back healthy and that is huge for the team. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Lakers are a team to watch for next season and not right now, as they will have money to spend next summer and they could go after some big names on the market. The team will have Steve Nash on the books and PBT writes that players like Marc Gasol, Rajon Rondo and Greg Monroe could be major targets for the team if those names hit the market.
Monroe is a restricted free agent now along with Eric Bledsoe, but those two players have not been able to come to an agreement with their teams. Monroe and Bledsoe each are looking for security, but they could end up signing the one year qualifying offer and that would make them free agents next summer. The Lakers were big on the Kevin Love trade, but they didn't have the package to do it now and while they hoped he would be on the free agent market next year, he now clearly is going to stay in Cleveland.
The Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo are starting the season together and they will look at things as the year goes on. Rondo has been mentioned in numerous trade rumors and he is looking to sign a big free agent deal, while the Celtics want to see if Rondo can stay healthy after his ACL injury before signing him long term. Rondo is getting into Kevin Love territory and he could be the next player to move ahead of a major free agent deal.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Lakers considered signing Eric Bledsoe to an offer sheet this summer, but since they realized that the Suns would match, they opted not to. The team was interested in signing Bledsoe since they have the money to spend, but they went for Carlos Boozer and other free agents since the offer sheet would have counted on the salary cap, keeping them from making more moves. Boozer is going to be a solid player to help replace Pau Gasol and while he is not as good of an offensive threat, he is a cheap option that can produce.
The LA Lakers have free agent moves they can still make and after working out Michael Beasley in Los Angeles, as the team could look at signing Jordan Crawford and this comes after the hiring of Byron Scott and the team also could look at a trade with Steve Nash down the line this season if they feel it will help in the long run. The team has Nash on an expiring deal and that could be attractive to some teams as they try and clear out cap space eventually.
