‘Pressure mounting’ on Lakers to trade for Kawhi Leonard

James has until late Friday night to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. A recent report by the Orange County Register's Mark Heisler included this quote from a source identified as a general manager for an Eastern Conference team: "LeBron is doing what he does: calling players on other teams he wants to play with". He didn't bite on possible swings for former Indiana Pacers wing Paul George, who eventually went to the Oklahoma City Thunder, or former Chicago Bulls wing Jimmy Butler, who flipped to the Timberwolves.

While the Lakers had once seemed like a front-runner for Leonard, a Los Angeles native, once he hit free agency, that was also previously the case with George.

Landing Leonard would be a huge first step in the Lakers attempting to sign big free agents like LeBron James and Paul George in free agency, creating a core of star players to bring the team back to relevance in the National Basketball Association. The two Cavs with most trade value are Kevin Love and Collin Sexton.

"I'm Magic Johnson, I'm still the same dude", Johnson said.

Should the Boston Celtics change their timeline and sign Lebron James?

Once free agency starts, keep checking back to see where the top players have signed. It is a bold prediction, but one that makes flawless sense and certainly could come to fruition. This automatically disqualifies them from going with the potential James-George combination. It was obvious a year ago that "The King" could use a lockdown defender on his team.

Over 22 playoff games this past spring, James registered four triple-doubles, four double-doubles of points and assists and seven double-doubles of points and rebounds. This season, he led the league with a 30.4 point average and lifting the Rockets to a franchise-best 65 wins, many felt it was time that he earned his dues. Both players have big decisions to make and perhaps playing with each other in L.A. will be the one they come to.