The Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and D’Angelo Russell headline today’s NBA rumors. If the Lakers miss out on the free agency, will LeBron James leave the Lakers? To get rid of some high-salaried players, will the Miami Heat land J.R. Smith? In hopes of landing Kyrie Irving, will the Nets trade D’Angelo Russell? How much longer does Anthony Davis have in New Orleans? Here are today’s hottest NBA rumors!

NBA Rumors

LeBron Could Leave if Lakers “Whiff” Free Agency

Rumor: NBC’s Dan Feldman reports that LeBron James could demand a trade if the Lakers don’t get any star free agents. 

Analysis: Woah. This is big, especially considering that the likelihood of the Lakers getting a star is low. All of the major free agents will probably not be signing with the Lakers, especially with their neighbor, the Los Angeles Clippers, being a much more attractive destination. It is hard to find a star that would be okay with being in LeBron’s shadow.

This begs the question of what is LeBron’s trade value. Answer: a lot of assets. It’s hard to think of teams that could want LeBron that have the assets to trade for him. Think of the Anthony Davis trade saga this February. What the Pelicans wanted for Anthony Davis will probably be what the Lakers want for LeBron – high valued prospects and a lot of draft picks.

Heat Eyeing “Salary Designed” Deal For JR Smith

Rumor: According to Shams, the Miami Heat are trying to make a JR Smith deal to get rid of some bad long-term contracts this offseason.

Analysis: No surprise here. The Heat have a lot of awful contracts on their books, such as Hassan Whiteside, Dion Waiters, and James Johnson.

Smith is on a partially guaranteed expiring contract, so the Heat attaching one of those bad contracts for Smith could help them clear some cap space off the books in hopes to sign a valued free agent. Attaching one of the high salaried players with a young player or some picks could get the deal done with the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers.

D’Angelo Russell’s Market Heating Up

Rumor: According to Shams, the Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers are all expected to pursue Restricted Free Agent D’Angelo Russell this summer. 

Analysis: All of these teams have needs at the point guard position, and have the needed cap space, with the exception of the Timberwolves. Russell blossomed this past season after Caris LeVert went down with an injury and led the Nets to their first playoff appearance since 2014.

The Magic could use Russell, as he could make a good duo with Nikola Vucevic. Karl-Anthony Towns helps the Timberwolves’ chances at landing the star point guard as he and Russell are good friends.

The Jazz getting Russell would be a good fit after the news broke that the Jazz aren’t planning on bringing Ricky Rubio back.

Pelicans Listening to Anthony Davis Trade Offers

Rumor: According to Shams, the New Orleans Pelicans have begun listening to trade offers for Anthony Davis.

Analysis: Even though the Pelicans struck gold by winning the lottery, and essentially Zion Williamson, it still isn’t enough to convince Davis to stay. The Pelicans will be getting a lot of good offers, mainly from the Lakers and Boston Celtics – teams with young players and a lot of draft picks.

However, it’s going to be tough to get as much for Davis than they could have at the trade deadline because Davis is on an expiring contract. Therefore, he can just leave any team he gets traded to after just one season.

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