The Los Angeles Lakers have been actively seeking NBA stars to serve as potential replacements for the gap Kobe Bryant is bound to leave once he decides to hang the jersey and retire from basketball. While no official confirmation has been provided by the Los Angeles Lakers with regard the retirement of Kobe Bryant, the move of the NBA team to sign more rookies in the roster serve as a sign for such foreseen move.
Although the addition of D'Angelo Russell and Larry Nance, Jr could prove to be promising to the future of the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA team still need a veteran to lead the pack. As 2016 draws nearer, a number of NBA stars will be up for grabs in the free agent market and it looks like the Los Angeles Lakers have their sights at Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant.
Pegged as one of the most notable NBA stars to enter free agency next year, alongside Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kevin Durant's future in the industry has been hounded by speculations of his transfer out of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Apart from the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant is also reportedly wooed by other NBA teams such as the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls.
As for the Miami Heat, the rumor mill churned out information pertaining to the potential release of both Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen in an effort to accommodate the salary demand of the current Oklahoma City Thunder star. While this alleged by the Miami Heat seem a bit drastic, especially since it would mean letting go of two veteran NBA stars in exchange for one, it looks like Kevin Durant expects nothing less from the teams wooing him.
Sources claim that the Oklahoma City Thunder star, should he opt out of his current basketball team, wants a deal akin to that offered by the Cleveland Cavaliers to prized player LeBron James - that is, preferential treatment and the highest or maximum salary combined.
With Carmelo Anthony reportedly making noise to lure Kevin Durant into the New York Knicks next year, it looks like Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is not far behind from heaping praise for the skills of the Oklahoma City Thunder player. In an interview with Shaquille O'Neal in the latter's podcast, Kobe Bryant pointed out the incredible ability of both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to work together despite being pegged as the alpha males of the same NBA team - a feat that the Los Angeles Lakers consider as very impressive and difficult to achieve.
"Durant and Westbrook have turned the Thunder into one of the rare exceptions," said Kobe Bryant in the said podcast via SB Nation. Taking cue from the description of the Los Angeles Lakers star, Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK.com shared, "Through all the talk about who's Batman and who's Robin, whether they're friends who actually are at odds, a dramatic irony in which the Thunder stars have been likened to lead characters Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell from HBO's hit series "The Wire," and questions about which will skip town first to truly be "The Man", Durant and Westbrook have learned to ignore the outside noise and coexist."
