NBA Rumors: Free Agents Would Best Stay Away From Lakers To Avoid Taking In Heat

The Los Angeles Lakers will now pursue players who end up getting bought out and there are several interesting veteran names.

The list of potential candidates includes Goran Dragic, Tristan Thompson, Dennis Schroder, Kevin Knox, Rodney Hood and Kent Bazemore among others in a report from CBS Sports.

For these players, the intent is to finish the current season gracefully. It will be a short-term stint where they will be settling for the veteran’s minimum.

As far as getting the right minutes and roles, it will depend on which team a player hooks up with. But from the list of teams, one club that any free agent may be wary of joining is the Los Angeles Lakers.

The purple and gold are in a lot of heat and a destination likely feasible for players who need money. From the names of potential buyout candidates, Dragic will be interesting.

The Lakers are reportedly interested in the Slovenian guard together with the Golden State Warriors, ESPN reported. Other teams include the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets.

The Lakers may not be a good place to be for Dragic unless he is ready to join the turmoil and be ready for the punishing criticism the team has had since this season started.

Book author Roland Lazenby feels that joining the Lakers would be a bad idea. The 70-year-old weighed in on that when he appeared on the Sports Bytes PH podcast last Feb. 13.

“If you think about it, let’s say if you are one of these guys in this trade and you’ve been a pro for 10 years and you get bought out and you can go with several teams, there are the Lakers up in Los Angeles. All that media pressure. All of that fan pressure. All of these difficulties to resolve," Lazenby explained.

"Would you want to go out there and get in the middle of that at the end of your career and be publicly humiliated if you’re not some magician who suddenly saves the Lakers and you’re doing that for the veteran minimum?” he added.

That is not solely for Dragic but other free agents who the Lakers have on their list. It isn’t pretty so it may be wise to check out other teams first and possibly consider the Lakers a distant last.