Lakers free agency rumors: JR Smith could be reunited with LeBron James

Thomas Lott

Lakers free agency rumors: JR Smith could be reunited with LeBron James image

It looks like JR Smith and LeBron James could be together again.

It would take a couple of moves to make that happen, but according to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes, that is what very well could occur.

Haynes said:

"Cleveland, right now, they are trying to trade JR Smith and whichever team trades for JR right now, most likely he will be waived and when he's waived, it is my belief he will end up with the Lakers."

The big thing with Smith is that he has one season remaining on the four-year, $57 million deal he signed with the Cavaliers in 2016.

The Cavaliers are trying hard to trade him, and because he has an expiring contract, he is appealing to several teams who could use the cleared out cap space next offseason.

So, the general consensus among pundits is that Smith will be moved and then waived. And if that happens, the Lakers could be a great destination for him as he has played with James before and shares an agent with him, as well, in Rich Paul of Klutch Sports.

As of right now, the Lakers don't have enough cap space to sign a third max player and it is very logical they could go into next season without a third star alongside Anthony Davis and James.

If that happens, according to Haynes, the team will likely look to land some complementary pieces. Kyle Korver is someone they could go after, as is Smith.

The reason being is the Lakers shot horribly from 3-point range last year. Los Angeles went 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, which was 29th in the NBA.

Adding Korver or Smith would be a good addition who could address that issue for a relatively affordable price.

We'll see exactly what happens when free agency opens up, but this scenario very well could happen. At the same time, if the Lakers do get Davis to waive his trade kicker, they could sign a third max player, so there are several things that could happen over the next couple of weeks.

Thomas Lott