LA Lakers Rumors: Team Wants Warrior's Festus Ezeli in Team
New reports coming out from NBA rumor mill suggest that LA Lakers is planning to acquire for Golden State Warriors reserve giant Festus Ezeli in the free agency season.
The purple and gold team is reportedly on a hunt for NBA talents to come up with a credible line-up as the team seeks to reverse the losing streak they had for the past two seasons. With almost $60 million cap space this offseason, the Lakers have more than enough to sign in two new recruits on a max contract with large space remaining to cover other potential hires for supporting roles.
Now that the franchise enters a post-Kobe Bryant era, their looming challenge is to rebuild their lineup with fresh strong add-ons while developing its young roster of talents. Previous reports indicate the team's interest to get hold of Indiana Pacers star Paul George and Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Harrison Barnes this July.
Currently, the Lakers does not have center player locked in for the 2016-17 season. The team reportedly tries to poach from other teams to fill out the rest of the roster with competent non-max players. No wonder Warriors Festus Ezeli falls under the franchise's talent radar.
According to Sporting News, the Lakers has recently expressed its desire to get the 26-year-old big man in the fold which sounds a pretty logical decision as the team just got Warriors assistant Luke Walton to assume the role of head coach following Byron Scott's departure.
A potentially serviceable big man, Ezeli could be fetched for a three-year contract worth $50 million, Hall of Fame Magazine reported. But apprehensions remain over his serviceability after sustaining injuries for the past two seasons. In the last regular season, the center player only got to play 46 games after going under the knife for knee injury.
Despite ongoing concerns regarding his injuries, Ezeli has a lot of upside too to soften the downside. Even with limited playing time last season, he still managed to average 16.7 per game while playing behind Andrew Bogut. His potential is enormous as soon as he fully recuperates from his injuries.
While seeking greener pastures remain a possibility for the young Ezeli, some observers believe that Ezeli might stay with Golden State for reasons other than landing a juicy deal.
Apart from money, the ego-boosting prospect of winning championship titles is what most NBA players want to do. Golden State Warriors was built and trained to be a serious title contender (title defender as of this time) for the foreseeable future as per the Inquisitr.
