NBA Rumors: Lakers To Sign Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony Or Taj Gibson?

NBA Rumors: Lakers To Sign Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony Or Taj Gibson?

Are the Los Angeles Lakers going to sign Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony or Taj Gibson this year?

There is a very good chance at least one of those players will be wearing purple and gold by season’s end.

As it stands, most sports books have the Lakers as one of the two or three teams with the best odds to win an NBA championship this year.

It makes sense that this would be the case.

Over the summer, Los Angeles traded away a ton of young assets that were not producing a whole lot in Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram for Anthony Davis.

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Now, between Davis and LeBron James the Lakers have two of the five best players in the sport.

The fact that LA upgraded is not even up for debate.

All of that being said, depth wins championships.

Part of the reason why the Toronto Raptors were able to win a championship this season was because they were a very strong team even without Kawhi Leonard.

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In many ways, the thing that separated the early dominant Golden State Warriors teams from the one that just lost in the NBA Finals was depth.

So who can the Lakers bring in for some much-needed depth?

Adding Dwight Howard after the injury to DeMarcus Cousins is a nice little low-risk move, but it is up for debate how effective it will be.

Howard played in nine games last year. It remains to be seen if he can even stay healthy enough to remain on the court.

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Either way, though, the Lakers are reportedly eyeing a few other players.

Namely: Iguodala, Anthony and Gibson.

As noted by Bobby Marks of ESPN, currently the Memphis Grizzlies have no incentive to grant Iguodala a buyout.

They know teams like LA are interested, and they would want Iguodala to give up a substantial part of the money owed to him in any deal.

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As the year progresses, though, that will likely change. While appearing on ESPN, Brian Windhorst indicated that he believes Iguodala will eventually be bought out, and that he thinks the former Finals MVP would be a great fit on the Lakers.

If not Iguodala, Anthony remains a viable option. As we reported in depth, the Lakers only have a couple of players currently on the roster who are capable of creating their own shot.

Anthony’s athleticism may have declined in recent years, but he can still get buckets.

That coupled with his relationship with James means there is a decent shot that he finds his way onto the Lakers if they cannot get Iguodala at some point over the course of the season.

Finally, Sam Quinn of CBS Sports wrote recently that Gibson will likely find himself on the open market soon.

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“When that happens, Gibson becomes a very intriguing trade piece,” he wrote.

“The Lakers would need to fold a bit more salary into the deal (with Quinn Cook being the easiest solution), but Gibson is well worth the price.”

Gibson, 34, would provide strong support in the low post if turns out that Howard cannot contribute – something that could very likely be the case given his recent history.

With the start of the NBA season quickly approaching, it will be interesting to see what moves the Lakers make to shore up their depth.

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Charles Kruger

Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.