Getty Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant going to the Los Angeles Lakers is NOT a lock, according to NBA insider, Chris Sheridan.
Per Sheridan’s blog via Get More Sports:
The Lakers may or may not have the cap room depending on what they do at the trade deadline.
The Clippers will have the cap room but will not have a championship caliber supporting case.
The Knicks will have the cap room and the allure of playing in the Big Apple … and the same goes for the Nets.
The possibility of @KDTrey5 joining the @Sixers next season is not as farfetched as some might think because #Sixers have crazy cap flexibility plus #NBABigFive allure.
Yes, @Lakers are the favorite, or maybe he stays with @warriors, but read this: t.co/6bfIWA2MKa
But let’s get back to the Sixers.
Philadelphia has only $71.7 in committed salary for 2019-20 when Butler’s $19.8 million player option is included. If Markelle Futz can be moved, that creates another $9.7 million in cap room. Players on expiring contrasts include Wilson Chandler ($12.8 million), Redick ($12.8 million), Mike Muscala ($4.5 million) and Amir Johnson ($2.4 million) — all of whom can be re-signed if the Sixers spend their room on free agents.
So that right there is the makings of a superteam, even if Danny Ainge can lure Anthony Davis to Boston from the Pelicans via a trade.
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently a favorite.
Durant, a two-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, is highly considering joining the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2019 , I was told in September.
“Just like LeBron planned his move to LA a year or more earlier, KD is doing the same right now,” a league source told me.
“They want to form the best duo in the NBA and set up KD to be the face of the Lakers post-LeBron.”
Durant signed a two-year, $61.5 million contract with the Warriors and has the option to opt out ahead of the 2019-20 season, per Spotrac.